Four home hacks for a great night’s sleep

Summers in the desert are brutal. Just when you’re ready for some relief, triple digit temperatures keep taking their toll with no signs of slowing down, even in the evening. Considering 50-70 million people suffer from sleep disorders, those hot summer nights can make matters even worse.

“Research has shown that there seems to be an ideal temperature for sleep, and when this temperature is very high, it takes longer to fall asleep,” the National Sleep Foundation states. Even when you do manage to fall asleep, sleep time might be fragmented and you’ll experience less dreaming, which means your sleep is not restful and rejuvenating.

Here are some steps you can take to increase the likelihood that you’ll be able to have peaceful sleep when the temperature outside feels like an oven.

Start at the head

Feeling cool starts with your head, face and neck. Conventional pillows surround your head and trap heat. To sleep cooler, start with a Cool Gel Infused Foam pillow with new open-cell breathable technology. The gel-infused material provides ultimate temperature relief. There is no need to constantly flip the pillow trying to find the cool side because the gel technology always feels cool.

Ice packs and chilled eye masks not only reduce puffy eyes, they can also help lower your body temp to get some good shut eye.

Home hacks for a good night sleep

Make sure your air conditioner is working at peak efficiency by changing the filter every three months and by having the unit serviced regularly. If you are experiencing a room that’s extremely warm, you may consider checking the AC system. One room that stays warmer than the others may be a sign of leaky ductwork or the wrong size unit.

• Circulate

Moving air makes conditions seem cooler. Keep the flow going with strategically placed fans to move cooler air around inside your home. Make certain inside doors stay open as much as possible to help keep air moving from room to room.

Because hot air rises, ceiling fans are especially effective when it comes to cooling power. They can lower temperatures and your electric bill by as much as 40 percent, reports the National Association of Home Builders. A ceiling fan directly over the bed helps many people sleep easier in summer. Don’t forget to set the direction of the ceiling fans to a counter-clockwise position so the air directly under the ceiling fans should push down to create a wind-chill effect.

• Stay low

Heat rises. In a home, that means lower floors will be cooler. So when the temperature spikes, spend as much time as possible in the lower floors of a multi-story dwelling. Sleeping in a cooler guest room may also be an option until the temps start to cool down. Staying lower to the ground by buying a low profile bed may be an option for those with a contemporary taste.

• Live like a cave man

Any Phoenician knows keeping windows shuttered and shades drawn provide comfort when a heat wave strikes. In an average home, about 30 percent of unwanted heat comes through the windows, so adding a tinted window film to bedroom windows may be a consideration for some homeowners.

Many Valley residents have discovered ‘Super Cooling’ as an effective way to save money and stay comfortable in their homes in the summer. Super Cooling involves chilling your house at the right time of day to ensure an optimal sleeping temperature at night. Some people even claim it lowered their power bill between 25-30 percent!

• Upgrade your mattress

The wrong kind of mattress only adds to your discomfort when the mercury rises. TitanFlex foam can help provide a comfortable night’s sleep in hot weather with a gel that helps dissipate body heat before it becomes trapped in the mattress. The gel even increases the overall durability of the foam, making TitanFlex foam the longest-lasting hyper-elastic material on the market.

The hot nights of summer don’t last forever but they sure feel like they do. Until the cooler weather arrives, try some of these tips to help you survive.

Founded in 1995, Brooklyn Bedding is a family-owned and operated company committed to delivering high-quality mattress products at affordable prices with great customer service. In 2015, Brooklyn Bedding built and expanded into a 145,000-square foot, state-of-the-art production facility in Phoenix, AZ, where each mattress is skillfully crafted with expert quality. Visit one of Brooklyn Bedding’s 15 showrooms in the Valley today.