People Who Crank The Heat At Night

I turn my heat off completely at night and just warm my bed.

I live in an old apartment building in NYC that has forced heat I can't control. My winter nights are spent throwing off the covers because it's too hot and then pulling them back on because it's too cold when the heat clicks off. I've tried opening the window and having a good quality comforter on my bed, but I always wake up in the morning congested from the cold air.

Cool nights - that's what flannel jammies are for!

I prefer a bit cooler at night, though I rarely have it especially warm at other times.

My parents kept a too warm house 24-26C/75-78F. I generally prefer 20-23C/68-73F, a degree or two cooler for sleeping.

Now I can control the temperature for each room which is great. I don't have to justify heating the whole house when I'm using only my office or the sitting room for hours. The rooms heat and cool quickly so it's easy to control.

I could never get it. I enjoy bundling up with my blankets in bed with a slight chill in the air. Anything above 64° at night is unbearable in the winter. Anything more than 74° at night during the summer is just as bad.

Need to sleep in a very cool climate controlled room. My body heats up so much when I’m under the covers my stomach gets practically on fire.

Oh, yes, OP. Your preference should certainly define normal.

Well night is colder and day is hotter so I think I'm just accustomed to living on the earth, R7.

I'm absolutely with the folks who prefer a cooler night. I crack the window (even when it's snowing), throw an extra blanket onto the bed (typically a quilt), and snuggle down. If I have a gentleman caller, even better. I snuggle up to him.

[quote] Well night is colder and day is hotter so I think I'm just accustomed to living on the earth

I live in my climate-controlled home, so I’m not subject to taking whatever the earth is serving at any given moment.

I'm with you, OP. I actually have this problem 24/7 - at work, at home.

I live in an apartment building where I have no control over the temperature. My superintendents are pretty good at not letting the heat get too hot but then you have other tenants whining it's too cold so they have to find a happy balance, which is not always achievable. I prefer having it cool at night and if I am too cold, I can add more blankets and a personal heater.

At work, I had a co-worker who would turn the heat up to almost 30 degrees - in the summer. It was ridiculous. Wear a fucking sweater if you're cold.

Mini-split heat pumps are great for allowing you to only heat those areas where you need heat at night.

I can't sleep with the heat on, no matter how cold it is outside. I have to breathe cool (or cold) air to be comfortable. I turn the heat off before I go to bed and turn on the electric mattress pad. I don't like electric blankets. The heat coming from underneath is more comfortable to me. I'm perfectly warm and cozy all night long. The heat comes on automatically in the morning. I keep it set to 68 which is perfectly comfortable to me. If I get a little cool I put on a sweater.

I think the old cliche that old people like heat has some truth to it.

Before he died and when I'd visit my father in the winter, the heat would about knock me down when I entered the front door of his assisted living facility. Stifling!

We keep the furnace at 65F and turn it down to 64F at night, though I've been thinking of upping it a degree instead of wearing so many layers I can't bend my arms. We're also pushing 50 now so maybe we're just getting old.

Mild temperatures 24/7.

[quote]We keep the furnace at 65F and turn it down to 64F at night

Curious as to why you would bother for one degree Fahrenheit.

[quote] I could never get it.

I’ll give it to you.

Call me.

[quote] I think the old cliche that old people like heat has some truth to it.

Older people are always cold. That’s why the Golden Girls always wore bulky sweaters in Miami.

My grandparents had oil baseboard heat, which they'd turn way back at bedtime, I loved huddling under multiple blankets at night, and hearing the electric crackle of the cold pipes filling with oil in the morning .

My two exes were both human furnaces, and, over time, I hated being in the same bed with them.

It's a scientific fact that people generally sleep better in a cooler room. But the quality of your pajamas and coverings and your need to get up during the night add to the equation.

[quote] gentleman caller

R9 is Nellie Oleson.

^^Are you new?

R9, try silk ones. They’re actually quite warm when under the covers, but perfectly so.

I was surprised. I expected to freeze with them on during winter months, however, the opposite was true. As soon as I got under the sheets and comforter and faux-fur blanket, I was perfectly warm, get comfortable enough to not become overheated or too cold.

Will never use any other type of fabric again for jammies.

The coldest it has ever gotten in my house overnight with heat off is 57˚. This is when the outside temp has dropped into the teens.

My bed is warm and toasty though. I sleep great in winter.

My furnace quickly warms the house to 68˚ when I wake and start my day. My heating bills are comfortable too.

[quote] As soon as I got under the sheets and comforter and faux-fur blanket, I was perfectly warm,

Jesus! With all that crap I should hope so.

[quote]Jesus! With all that crap I should hope so.

Be kind, anyone who has a faux-fur blanket lives in a trailer.

I'm someone who needs a room cold at night. My partner likes it boiling hot.

I get really excited when one of us has to travel alone - me especially. I love having a hotel king sized bed to myself and jamming the heat/ac down to 66!

I’ve stayed at the homes of people who lower the temperature to 65 F at night in the dead of winter and for me it didn’t make for comfortable sleeping.

[quote] But the quality of your pajamas and coverings and your need to get up during the night add to the equation.

The quality of my what, now?

R26 and R27: you guys made me laugh my ass off!

Thanks!

Why would someone want it to be hot during the day or the night? Just keep it the same temperature indoor all day.

Thanks, r31. I try. There’s nothing in life I like more than making people laugh.

Are you saying keep your indoor temperature the same day and night, r32?

r34, yes, I try to keep it 73 degrees all the time. (I say try because my smart thermostat sometimes thinks it knows better than me what I want.) Why would someone’s temperature preference change just because the sun has set? What would be uncomfortable during the day isn’t suddenly going to become comfortable at night.

But it’s a waste of energy to have the heat consistently going on to 73 on cold nights when you’re sleeping and wouldn’t even know it’s 5 degrees cooler.

I would know. I’m very sensitive to temperature.

It took me, well both of us, a while to get used to sharing a bed. We've turned the heat way down.

R37 you sound insufferable.

72 degrees, day and night. I can't stand being in bed with a cold nose and ears. What a miserable way to live.

I'd divorce you, r40.

"Irreconcilable differences."

i like to keep it cool at night, around 67 degrees. Growing up, my dad was such a tightwad, my sister and i would wake up freezing, and we hated having to get up to go to school. I guess my grandmother was a cheapskate too because my dad said it was kept so cold in the house at night, one time he woke up in the morning and the water in his fish tank had frozen.

At night in the winter I keep my house at 63° but only when I’m off the next day. If I have to work, I set it for 65, just for the reason R42 just mentioned re: school.

There’s nothing like curling up under a sheet and blanket when you don’t have to wake up at a certain time.

[quote]I’ve stayed at the homes of people who lower the temperature to 65 F at night in the dead of winter and for me it didn’t make for comfortable sleeping.

Too cold? Really?

We've had these kinds of threads constantly on DL and this is the first time I've ever been the only one who keeps the house at 65F while everyone else has their thermostat set much, much higher.

I'm with R9. I also like using a cotton blanket under my comforter so I can kick the comforter off and just sleep under the blanket if it gets too warm. I also have this big polar fleece/sherpa blanket that I'll sleep under with an extra cool room. My partner works shift work, so he's only home to sleep half the month. He kind of complicates things because he turns into a furnace when he sleeps - I've never been with someone whose body radiates that much heat at night. When he's home, I mostly just have to sleep under the top sheet.

R44: In winter I keep the temperature 18-19C or 64-66F at night in the bedroom. In the long summer months it's 23-24C or 73-75F but that is very cool compared to the outside temperature.; cooler than that it's too startling a difference coming in and going out.

In the winter I put the thermostat down to 59. I love it cold.

I must be a lizard person.

I like to be warm and toasty. Drafts keep me up all night and I don’t like wearing heavy knits.

Stifling is not good, but definitely don’t like the cool air on my face and feet. I wake up with a cold and it’s very hard to get out of bed for work. Hard to face getting wet in the shower knowing when you get out it will feel even colder.

So, lowering heat? No. Just no.

I love you, R48.

[quote]It's a scientific fact that people generally sleep better in a cooler room.

Except when it's not a fact for everybody. Like R40 and R48, I can't sleep when I'm cold, and I get cold as soon as temps drop below 68 degrees.

You sleep better with no heat and just bundled up.

I also have a fan all year.

At least some windows open 24/7 and I never close them or put the heat on unless it's really cold. That happens for a week or two in January. Even then, I don't sleep with the heat on - that's just disgusting.

For me it's mostly about using a blanket. Too hot means I will sweat through the sheets. Way too hot means I will just toss and turn and spend most of my night looking for the "cold spot".

[quote]You sleep better with no heat and just bundled up.

Maybe YOU do.

I slept in a room that was overheated (extremely dry heat). I woke up sick with pharyngitis. Could hardly talk. Watch out for the dry heat.

I suffer from chronic iron deficiency anemia and require IV iron infusions several times a year. My body cannot take cold.

I suppose the answers to this question are mostly based on geography. Furnace is off in the summer, but when the temperatures dip below zero you better believe I keep the inside temp of the house at 68 maybe 69 if it gets a bit cooler.

My parents always liked to keep a relatively warm house in the winter, so that's a habit I've developed. I remember my father being disgusted by my aunt and uncle who always kept their temperature a little cooler. He *detested* visiting their house for any family occasion and once ranted and raved that there are "OTHER WAYS TO SAVE MONEY!!", instead of keeping your house barely above freezing. It stuck with me, what can I say?

R2 ugh I don’t miss this.

We live in Florida and leave the A/C off during the day. At night the A/C is set at 77.

When we lived on the California coast, we left the A/C off and heater at 67.

You guys are a bunch of whimps.

[quote] At night the A/C is set at 77.

I would be in a pool of sweat at 77 degrees. I would perspire at 74 too, but not as much. The temperature has to be no more than 73 for me not to perspire while sleeping.

Love you back r40!

I’m rail thin and live in the northeast, so that’s another explanation for not tolerating a cold house. Especially a drafty old house.

I try to follow Jimmy Carter's advice back in the 70s - set thermostat to 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter (both day and night)

I follow his advice as well, r64, more or less.

SUMMER -- 76˚ during the day; AC off completely if I leave the house for half a day or more. It cools down quickly when I return.

WINTER -- 68˚ while I am awake; heat off completely when asleep. The gas furnace warms the house back up to 68˚ quickly when I arise.

My home is heated with radiant heat. There's none of this insane nonsense of turning the heat on and off with radiant heat. It gently warms the structure of the house which then holds the heat. Set it and leave it alone.

[quote] My winter nights are spent throwing off the covers because it's too hot and then pulling them back on because it's too cold when the heat clicks off. I've tried opening the window and having a good quality comforter on my bed, but I always wake up in the morning congested from the cold air.

Have you tried a fan pointed at your bed? My husband sleeps in the big bedroom & it has high ceilings & is a lot cooler than my room, so he turns the heat up while I’m asleep. I keep the fan pointed at me. When I vacuum in my room I unplug the fan to use the outlet. When I forget to plug the fan back in & fall asleep with the fan off, I always wake up sweltering.

As a Canadian, can someone explain to me why you would SET your thermostat at 78F (or 26C) in the summer? That seems... warm? What am I missing? Usually in the summers we just completely shut the furnace off (in the houses I've lived in, at least). I've never heard of turning the heat on so high in the summer.

As a Brit I'm struggling to evaluate this? Don't you have individual heat controls for each room?

I heat the main parts of the house to 23c (75f, I think) but can leave the bedroom heating off, really easily. It's an app on my phone.

Do you all live in some kind of pre-tech World?

^ No, I assume most Americans replying use air heating (furnace, air ducts, etc.), as opposed to... radiator heating? Which I assume you're using, R69.

[quote] Don't you have individual heat controls for each room?

Nope.

In my NYC apartments I did, but not in my house. It’s a oil burning furnace in the basement with vents in each room. I can close the vents a little bit but not completely. It’s hot water heat.

[quote] As a Canadian, can someone explain to me why you would SET your thermostat at 78F (or 26C) in the summer? That seems... warm? What am I missing? Usually in the summers we just completely shut the furnace off (in the houses I've lived in, at least). I've never heard of turning the heat on so high in the summer.

Canada is pretty far north compared to the US. There are places in the US where summers are 90 F-plus. Yes, 78 still sounds warm to me, but compared to 95 F, sounds good. I.e., you're not "turning on the heat" in summer, you're actually cooling your living space.

When it's 100+ in the summer 78 is heavenly though I prefer 72.

I like it cold day and night. You can always snuggle up with a guy or just a cozy blanket.

I keep my living room and kitchen at 60° year-round day and night.

In the summertime I keep my bedroom at 60° and then winter I keep the bedroom at 48°

[quote]As a Brit I'm struggling to evaluate this? Don't you have individual heat controls for each room?

No. That's very "fancy European stuff" or just "fancy expensive." It's only been from the 1980s and 1990s that zoned systems came into popularity for multi-story and larger or more complex houses so that a house would have a different system and controls for the sleeping areas apart from the rest of the house, or one for each floor of the house, or a separate zone for a large double-height room with a giant expanse of windows.

To regulate the temperature of each room individually, and close the doors of rooms not in use is much more a European than an American habit.

Another fan user....I have TWO in summer and one the rest of the year. The only times it gets turned off is if it's really cold....like under 25 or so which means almost never since I live in Seattle.

I HATE hot sleeping rooms. Always have.

Other quirks: Bedding MUST be white/off white and COTTON, though I do now have this crazy thrown thing from IKEA that I love that is not all cotton but is super cozy.

I love to sleep with a fan blowing on me in the summer (live in semi-tropics US) - but, I wake up with a stopped up nose every time. Thought it was just something weird about me, but a neighbor told me the same was true for her. So central air it is - but I try to keep it at 80 degrees, often relenting and moving it down to 78. (daytime temps here are often above 100 - 37 celsius - and cooling off to maybe the high 80s at night)

I could do without any heat in the winter but I'm spoiled and like to keep the house a cozy 68

For the longest time I suffered from migraines during the autumn and winter seasons until a doctor asked me about my sleeping conditions. When I told him that I sleep with the window cracked open and the heat being down he suggested closing the cracked window and keeping the heat up to a normal level and, after a while the migraines stopped. The combination of the draft and temperature difference between my body under the covers and my exposed head caused these migraines.

R70 I have a mixture of underfloor heating, ordinary radiators and hydronic fan radiators.

They do all run from one boiler (furnace) but each area of the house is set individually from the app or main touchscreen.

I meant to add that for the warmer months I have an Airsourse (air to air) heat pump that runs 7 wall mounted units. I mainly use that as an air-con to cool the place down though. Our brick houses are like over insulated storage heaters, as soon as it gets above 23c it begins to get uncomfortable.

I use a programmable thermostat to automatically adjust the temperature throughout the day. I set it to be warm first thing in the morning (6:00AM-9:00AM), then it drops a bit for most of the day (when I'm more active or out of the house), then it comes back up at 4:00PM for the rest of the evening until 10:00PM, when it drops quite a bit for a cool overnight temperature. I don't have to be manually changing it throughout the day.

If I sleep in a hot stuffy heated room I wake up unable to breathe and completely blocked up. It really stops me up. As I said above, I have to have a fan on me to sleep at night but I do sneeze in the morning after the fan. Maybe from dust.

[quote]Canada is pretty far north compared to the US. There are places in the US where summers are 90 F-plus. Yes, 78 still sounds warm to me, but compared to 95 F, sounds good. I.e., you're not "turning on the heat" in summer, you're actually cooling your living space.

R72 Okay, yes... I forgot that the US can get really warm in certain places. Not everywhere on earth is a barren tundra. I just can't wrap my head around 78F being cool!!!!

[quote] I also have a fan all year.

You sure do! And I’m your biggest!

[quote] I try to follow Jimmy Carter's advice back in the 70s - set thermostat to 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter (both day and night)

Carter wanted thermostats set to 55° at night in winter. That’s a little too cold.

One of the most cozy nights I remember was when it once got unseasonably cold for the winters here and it was a rare in the 20's night and my heater was broken. I piled up blankets, and at that time I had three cats. We all bedded down in those blankets and those cats were toasty warm.

R86 In the winter!? 55F?! Again, as a Canadian... I can't imagine that. I was too lazy to turn my furnace on during the first few colder days we had in September and the house went down that low in the morning and it was awful. I do suppose the recommendation was from someone who never spent a winter in a place where it is pretty much below zero all winter!!

Mr and Mrs Seinfeld, when it gets below 6O in Del Boca Vista.

[quote]Canada is pretty far north compared to the US.

The things you learn on DL

[quote] In the winter!? 55F?! Again, as a Canadian... I can't imagine that.

Trust me, Canuck, Americans couldn’t imagine it either.

R91 Good!!!! No wonder Carter was a one-term president. 26C during the day and 13C in the evenings. The fuck?!

Jimmy Carter is a terrific ex-president; not so good at actually BEING the president.