Your sleep quality is key to your health and as we head into Summer, the uncomfortable long hot nights are not far away. We all look for ways to help keep us cool, so use these tips and tricks to wake up energised and refreshed.

Getting a comfortable night’s sleep in a heatwave is never easy – but did you know that the temperature of both your body and your surroundings can affect your sleep quality? Excess heat makes it hard to fall asleep – it also affects how well you sleep.

The key to understanding how to deal with the heat is to understand how your body temperature affects your sleep. We have multiple stages of sleep and the temperature affects how we attain the stages. To reach a deep sleep your body temperature needs to drop two or three degrees. If your temperature stays too high your brain finds it difficult to know if you are awake or asleep, with consequences for the quality of your sleep. Your bedroom temperature can also affect your sleep quality as 16 to 18 degrees is considered optimal to keep your core temperature correct.

So it is quite evident that a cool bedroom is an essential environment for quality sleep. Previously we could blast the air conditioner but with energy prices as high as they are, that bill is going to be a large one, not to mention that they are not very environmentally friendly.

Here are the top tips to keep cool, get a great night’s sleep, and not blow the household budget.

1. Open the windows

This one seems obvious but if your bedroom is warmer than outside, open the windows to let in a breeze. In the early hours of the morning, the air tends to be cooler and it can help the room feel less stuffy.

2. Use a fan

Fans are cheaper to run than an air conditioner. Use one at night to keep the air moving and you can even put a bowl of ice cubes in front to cool the air even more. There are even fans now that can mist water at the same time and they are very economically priced.

3. Keep Hydrated

Drink chilled water before bed to help your body keep hydrated and cool, this will also replenish water loss due to sweating and help your sleep quality.

4. Have a warm shower

Bear with me here. So you are feeling hot and were planning to have a cold shower before bed. Why is that wrong? Because a cold shower will decrease blood flow to your skin and your body is then going to warm back up a few minutes later when the blood supply returns. Having a warm shower before bed will increase the blood flow and assist with the heat loss from your body.

5. Use ice

You can’t sleep no matter what, grab some ice. Get an ice pack, a bag of ice or even a bag of frozen peas, wrap it in a tea towel and place it wherever feels comfortable. You could also purchase a hot water bottle, fill it with cold water and put it in the freezer before bed.

6. A cold compress

Some old tried and tested methods still work very well. Just moisten a towel or cloth and place it on your body or forehead. A sure-fire way to cool down, just don’t soak the towel or you will end up with a wet mattress.

7. Use breathable bed linen

Time to put away the silk, satin and polyester sheets till later in the year. Swap them out for bamboo fibre, cotton or linen. Quality lightweight, breathable bed linen will not trap body heat as much and keep you cooler.

8. Freeze your sheets

This may sound a bit wacky, but give it a try. Place your sheets in a plastic bag and pop them in the freezer for ten minutes or so before bedtime. Put them on your bed and get some instant relief as you settle for the night.

9. Invest in a good bed

A modern high-quality mattress could help keep you cooler. There are even mattresses designed specifically for cooling the body down. These advanced cooling mattresses use a special temperature regulating materials, mostly gels and foams, which help draw heat away from the body.

10. Keeping your distance

We would all agree a snuggle on a cold winter’s night is delightful, but not on a hot sticky summer evening. Keep your distance to allow airflow between the two of you. The closer you are the more difficult it is to keep the temperature down and reach the optimal point for a good night’s sleep. Keeping further apart is preferable when you’re trying to keep cool, you could even try separate rooms!

11. Bye Bye Pets

If like most pet owners your pet is allowed on your bed, this is not the time for Fido to get a cuddle. The more bodies in the bedroom the harder it will be to keep cool

12. Wear loose clothing

If you wear bedclothes you need to be using cotton and make sure they are loose-fitting. Cotton will absorb sweat and evaporate helping to cool you in the night and their breathability increases airflow around the skin.

13. Bed Spread

Starfish! This is the perfect position to help keep your temperature down. With your arm and legs spread wide across the bed that all-important airflow is maximised and allows you to sweat more evenly.