Ideas for cooling bedroom temp

[lenarenee]

I've always preferred colder temperatures anyway, but now my aging hormones have brought more challenges during the summer. We can't run the air conditioning to the degree I'd like to because it's just financially and environmentally stupid.
My neighbor also recently had to cull a large shade tree that provided a lot of shade on my side of the house.

I'm looking for inexpensive ideas to keep my room cooler; things like window film, using wool mattress pads and pillows to vent more body heat, etc.

Have any of you been successful with things that helped keep you sleep cooler during warm weather?

 

[KristaY]

This will use electricity but hopefully less than running the full AC unit. Have you tried an oscillating fan? We recently bought one for our guest room which normally stays a bit warmer than the rest of the house. It was really inexpensive and the family members from the north who are used to cooler temps at night have said it kept them very comfortable. We tried one from Home Depot but it started squeaking after about a week so got one from Walmart that is basically noiseless and works great. Good luck @lenarenee. Hormones are a killer!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-27-Oscillating-Tower-3-Speed-Fan-Model-FZ10-10NB-Black/48947404

 

[lenarenee]

Yes I have a fan - a noisy one at that so I'm going to look at that Wal mart one!

 

[dillsandwitch]

Get a couple of those gel cooling mats for dogs. Put them in the freezer and then alternate them on the bed when its really hot. They only need about 10 mins in the freezer to give good cooling on those really hot yucky nights. We used to use them in our old house that got the full force of the afternoon sun into our bedroom

 

[Lin19687]

I bought Black Out film for the Windows.
My LL cut down 2 Large trees that shaded the whole house and then put up siding (but they took off the clapboard )
It made a HUGE difference. It is dark up there and I do have a small PEEP view out each window but it keeps the temp down HUGE !
Also, get one of those small fans to put in the window to push the hot air OUT of the house, but do that on the shadier side of the upstairs. This will draw cooler air from downstairs or basement. I have a stinky basement so I can't do this ... so hate my rental

 

[Obsidian]

I use a window fan. It sits in a open window and pulls the cool air into the room at night.

Not super effective when the night temps doesn't drop but its great right now. Once it gets really hot, I turn the oscillating fan to blow right on me and I only use a thin sheet as a blanket.

 

[DeeAnna]

If you're getting into night sweats and all that fun menopause stuff, a small fan blowing just on my head helped a lot. I'd use it when a hot flash woke me up -- it helped convince my brain that the rest of me really wasn't burning up without over cooling my body.

Otherwise, for keeping cooler when it's truly warm in the bedroom, in addition to the fans mentioned, I also like to take a shower right before bed. Not hot water, but not cool/cold either -- just pleasantly comfortable.

 

[Susie]

I find that hot flashes start either at my head or feet. So, running the ceiling fan (or any fan) blowing directly on me with my head and feet out from under all covers helps decrease those tremendously. If you just need a cooler room, I can't help. We keep the air conditioning running here in the summer.

 

[lsg]

One hint that I read suggest putting a bowl of ice in front of your window fan. That should work OK until the ice melts.

https://www.dailynews.com/2018/07/24/how-to-cool-down-your-hot-house-the-old-fashioned-way/

 

[dixiedragon]

Cooling sheets - https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home-products/best-sheets/g27482059/best-cooling-sheets/

Also, try wiping yourself down with a cool/cold washcloth before you go to sleep. It's counter-intuitive, but since our body temps drop in preparation for sleep, a cool bath (vs a hot bath) can help you go to sleep faster! I find that wiping down my feet thoroughly seems to really help.

 

[Susie]

If all else fails, you can make one of these:

 

[Cindy Kott]

I've always preferred colder temperatures anyway, but now my aging hormones have brought more challenges during the summer. We can't run the air conditioning to the degree I'd like to because it's just financially and environmentally stupid.
My neighbor also recently had to cull a large shade tree that provided a lot of shade on my side of the house.

I'm looking for inexpensive ideas to keep my room cooler; things like window film, using wool mattress pads and pillows to vent more body heat, etc.

Have any of you been successful with things that helped keep you sleep cooler during warm weather?

Insulated blackout drapes have helped in our house. They are inexpensive and easy to hang.

 

[Nanette]

LOLOLOL good idea!! The homemade ac!

 

[Susie]

LOLOLOL good idea!! The homemade ac!

I'm from Louisiana, famed for hurricanes and other nasties that knock out power when it is 100F and 100% humidity. I have many elderly/ill relatives still there. Many of them swear by these. Get some insulated black out curtains, hang them in a bedroom on a shady side of the house. Set this up with frozen gallon jugs of water, and cool off. It may not be pretty, but you will do much to keep cool. Best of all, those fans can be run off an inverter in your car or truck, so at least that has the power to cool as long as you keep that vehicle running. It is the cheap way around a generator many can't afford, and they are too proud to go to a shelter or accept help.

 

[Nanette]

There may come a day when these diy devices are what we have, period. I am a great fan of sustainability.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I had horrendous hot flashes for over a decade and this is what I came up with. I generally avoid eating heavy meals in the evening and cut back on alcohol consumption (from a glass of wine a night, to no alcohol in weeks...) I absolutely avoid red wine. We have AC, but I also have an overhead fan in my bedroom that is on every night, even in the middle of the winter. I have to keep my feet and neck cool. I stick my feet out from under the covers and pull my hair up every night. We had a tempurpedic type mattress and ended up moving it to the guest room because it drove me into spontaneous combustion. When we lose our power in the summer, I close every curtain in the house. It seems to help a bit. I had a whole house fan in my previous house, which was great for exhausting a house full of hot air after/if the temps went down in the evening.

 

[lenarenee]

Well that's quite an array of ideas!

I also found a contraption called a bedjet that sits under the bed and pipes blown air under your sheets. Very expensive - why it's better than simply using a regular fan I don't know.

There's also this: https://www.chilitechnology.com/?rf...medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=1443244.b3dde8e Chilled water is piped through silicone tubes in a mattress pad. Extremely expensive, questionable reliance according to the reviews. If money were no option - I would try this.

I also looked into portable air conditioners. A pain: heavy to get upstairs (and these new floors scratch if you rub silk across them!), and pretty loud. Plus you have to set up a ventilation pipe out the window and I have all vertical sliders and a young foster cat who has to have access to her outdoor entertainment so I would have to tear down and replace every day. Don't know that it's worth the hassles.

I ordered some solar window film (not blackout). And I'm considering the Slumber Cloud mattress pad - another outrageous expensive item - $255 for a queen mattress pad! So....I'd get a twin and hope I can get it to lay properly. One of their pillow would be nice too - but that's at least another $70.

The DIY air conditioner is intriguing, but that means having to keep large quantities of ice in the freezer and re-freezing them daily and I just don't see that happening.

 

[dibbles]

What about one of those cooling neck wraps? You could maybe even keep a few in a cooler by your bed. At least it would be something inexpensive to try. I feel for you. Night sweats are the worst.

 

[Nanette]

I had an indoor evaporative cooler-portable-and had it blowing directly on me at night. It did help, in spite of it being another evaporative cooler in humid weather. I only filled it once daily. They are about $180.

 

[MGM]

Get a couple of those gel cooling mats for dogs. Put them in the freezer and then alternate them on the bed when its really hot. They only need about 10 mins in the freezer to give good cooling on those really hot yucky nights. We used to use them in our old house that got the full force of the afternoon sun into our bedroom

I recently got one of these at the dollar store....the dog has zero interest in it (the cool tile floor is enough for her) so it ends up all over the house. The few times that I've stepped on it or sat down on it, I start to cool in seconds. And that's with it not in the freezer, just the room-temperature water in it drawer heat away from me faster than the room-temperature air (water is 10x the conductor that air is, I think). If I were too warm at night, I think I'd start by sleeping with that kind of pad under my shoulders and neck, but you could put them all the way down the bed ;-)