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18C is more like the maximum OK temperature. But then I also gotta sleep without PJs when its that hot. Still a blanket for comfort. Best sleep from my experie

18C is more like the maximum OK temperature. But then I also gotta sleep without PJs when its that hot. Still a blanket for comfort. Best sleep from my experience? It's usually about 5C at the thermostat, which is farthest from the window, by the time I wake up. And that's likely because it's in the basement, which is a typical NA basement, so you have the uninsulated and below the frost line basement wall there. The cold air coming in will be 0C and colder and I sleep next to the window. Winter is my happy sleep time.

devilbunny 28d ago
If you are wearing clothing or any covering, clearly it isn’t your optimal temperature. I’m not trying to be glib here; I understand the appeal of being warm in a cool or even chilly room with air that keeps you from overheating. But that’s not sleeping at the optimal temperature; it’s choosing the sleeping setting you like. And there are huge swaths of the world where the temperature basically never gets that low (18 C is the lowest temperature ever recorded in Kingston, Jamaica; 16 along the coast of west Africa, 18.9 in Jakarta). Even here in the southeastern US it is normal for temperatures to stay above 20 C at all times for three full months of the year (late June through early September). Nothing wrong with liking to sleep in cold air, but it’s a preference.
- tharkun__ 28d ago
  Your feeling might be different. But for me, body temperature and feeling is way different from the air I'm breathing. I can be, actually want to be toasty warm under the blanket. But I want the air I am breathing to be fresh and cold. That is when I feel comfortable and "at peace". I will often stick out my feet from under the blanket because it's way too toasty but the rest of my body needs to be warm. Sure, when it's 25C I'll essentially just lay there without anything but a sheet across the chest to "feel safe" but anything else will just make me way too warm and the air I'm breathing will feel restricting. What is really great in 25C+ temps is to be outside in a hammock without an underquilt, which cools things down considerably. But I've also slept comfortably at 0F (-18C) in a hammock. With two underquilts and a 0F sleeping bag as well as a winter tarp with doors and snow cover all around, weighing down the tarp sides (wind does suck at that temp ;)).
  - devilbunny 27d ago
    I was really responding to the article’s odd claim of 18 C being the perfect sleeping temp, and your comment was so extreme in the make-it-cold direction that it seemed to be a good spot to reply. If we’re talking about “optimum” sleep temp as though such a thing has meaning beyond personal preference, then clearly it must not be cluttered with cultural detritus like depth of blankets, etc. My wife wants it to be 20 C or lower and sleep under two blankets. I pointed out that 23 with a fan and a sheet is less energy-intensive and gives equivalent results, and she said stuff it. Not a battle worth fighting at home, but on the internet… (Of note, the one of our dogs that loves me but worships her still sleeps next me every night, under covers, because she’s a Chihuahua and gets cold easily, and unlike my wife I sleep like a dead log.)
duskdozer 28d ago
>18C is more like the maximum OK temperature. For you, and that's kind of my point. For me, my preferred temperature would be about 28C with no blanket or a light sheet. Something like 18C can be tolerable with blankets for me, but it's certainly not "maximum comfort", even with blankets. There is too much variation and too many things that wouldn't be controlled for, like number/thickness of coverings, and other such things. Having some "best" universal temperature is just not something generalizable like this.

devilbunny 28d ago

If you are wearing clothing or any covering, clearly it isn’t your optimal temperature. I’m not trying to be glib here; I understand the appeal of being warm in a cool or even chilly room with air that keeps you from overheating. But that’s not sleeping at the optimal temperature; it’s choosing the sleeping setting you like. And there are huge swaths of the world where the temperature basically never gets that low (18 C is the lowest temperature ever recorded in Kingston, Jamaica; 16 along the coast of west Africa, 18.9 in Jakarta). Even here in the southeastern US it is normal for temperatures to stay above 20 C at all times for three full months of the year (late June through early September). Nothing wrong with liking to sleep in cold air, but it’s a preference.

tharkun__ 28d ago
Your feeling might be different. But for me, body temperature and feeling is way different from the air I'm breathing. I can be, actually want to be toasty warm under the blanket. But I want the air I am breathing to be fresh and cold. That is when I feel comfortable and "at peace". I will often stick out my feet from under the blanket because it's way too toasty but the rest of my body needs to be warm. Sure, when it's 25C I'll essentially just lay there without anything but a sheet across the chest to "feel safe" but anything else will just make me way too warm and the air I'm breathing will feel restricting. What is really great in 25C+ temps is to be outside in a hammock without an underquilt, which cools things down considerably. But I've also slept comfortably at 0F (-18C) in a hammock. With two underquilts and a 0F sleeping bag as well as a winter tarp with doors and snow cover all around, weighing down the tarp sides (wind does suck at that temp ;)).
- devilbunny 27d ago
  I was really responding to the article’s odd claim of 18 C being the perfect sleeping temp, and your comment was so extreme in the make-it-cold direction that it seemed to be a good spot to reply. If we’re talking about “optimum” sleep temp as though such a thing has meaning beyond personal preference, then clearly it must not be cluttered with cultural detritus like depth of blankets, etc. My wife wants it to be 20 C or lower and sleep under two blankets. I pointed out that 23 with a fan and a sheet is less energy-intensive and gives equivalent results, and she said stuff it. Not a battle worth fighting at home, but on the internet… (Of note, the one of our dogs that loves me but worships her still sleeps next me every night, under covers, because she’s a Chihuahua and gets cold easily, and unlike my wife I sleep like a dead log.)

duskdozer 28d ago

>18C is more like the maximum OK temperature. For you, and that's kind of my point. For me, my preferred temperature would be about 28C with no blanket or a light sheet. Something like 18C can be tolerable with blankets for me, but it's certainly not "maximum comfort", even with blankets. There is too much variation and too many things that wouldn't be controlled for, like number/thickness of coverings, and other such things. Having some "best" universal temperature is just not something generalizable like this.