It’s official. New Zealanders are too hot in the bedroom. We typically sleep under a mountain of blankets while wearing thick pyjamas at the same time. Let’s not forget a heat pump in NZ bedrooms is also a common fixture and that is often left to run during the night. Because of this, we Kiwis are missing out on all of the benefits of sleeping in a cool room.
There are many advantages to creating a cooler space to sleep in. For a start, when night approaches, it’s natural for our body temperature to decrease. This is a signal that it is time to slow down and get some rest. Therefore, when you keep your bedroom cool, you’re reinforcing the natural instinct to sleep. On the other hand, if the room is too warm, this signal might not kick in and it will take you longer to fall asleep.
Your body has an internal thermostat that works like clockwork. Its temperature bottoms out right before bed, and rises again as you get closer to the waking hours. This rise in temperature causes people to experience a common sensation, commonly called “sleeping hot.” This is what happens when you wake up in early hours of the morning drenched in sweat, but if you keep your bedroom cooler and regulate the temperature in sync with your body, you’ll stay cool and enjoy a less disruptive sleep.
The production of the melatonin hormone is another reason why you should keep your bedroom cool. Melatonin is a miracle! It encourages sleep and rooms with a temperature range of 15 to 20 degrees can stimulate the production of the hormone. Along with promoting sleep, melatonin is also renowned for its anti-aging properties, as well as being beneficial for regular menstrual cycles, better moods and increased brain health.
But melatonin’s magical properties don’t end there. When your room is set to a cooler temperature, the melatonin that your body produces will cause your body to store what is commonly called “beige fat”. Don’t be put off by the name. Beige fat is also a good fat, as it eats white fat cells for energy, which means it is possible to burn calories and control your weight while you sleep. As well as the phenomenon of beige fat increasing in cooler temperatures and making your body burn off more calories, it also increases insulin sensitivity, which lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. Plus, it also promotes glucose disposal, another indicator of type 2 diabetes risk. And while we’re on a roll, melatonin also acts as a potent antioxidant with the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, so it can help to prevent Alzheimer’s and slow down aging of the brain.
It’s comforting to envisage a toasty warm bedroom, especially in winter. But a cooler room is better for us. Little wonder that this heat pump installer in Auckland says an important part of their service is showing customers how the cooling function on their devices works. After all, there are some rooms in the house where pays to play it a little cooler.