AngieW in Texas Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I need to lower our electricity bill, but I need to be cool in order to sleep. Any ideas? I already have the ceiling fan going, but that doesn't do much. My dh is always freezing and sleeps with 3 blankets. I sleep only with a sheet and generally kick that off several times during the night. Our room is always 5-8 degrees warmer than the rest of the downstairs, so I have to turn the A/C for downstairs to 63 in order to get it to 68-71 in our room and sometimes I have to turn the temperature down from there because it's just too hot. I wake up drenched with sweat. Something that I could do to my side of the bed and not his would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Do you have to sleep in your bedroom? We sleep on the floor in the coolest room in the house during the summer. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Could you put a portable a/c unit or a window unit in your bedroom? My Dd is always hot and sleeps with a fan blowing directly on her. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Cool showers particularly making armpits and groin as cool as possible. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 You have your windows covered to not allow any afternoon sunshine in, yes? What about an oscillating fan blowing just on your side of the bed? ETA: Last year, when the kitchen flooded and we had to have the doors open in places, I noticed that running the dehumidifier seemed to keep the house cooler. The southern heat and humidity just stinks! I was hauling buckets of water out of the house, but it did seem to make things a lot better. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I would sleep downstairs if at all possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Close the rest of the vents in the downstairs or sleep in the coolest room during the summer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Sleep in the coolest room/place, not in the bedroom. Consider getting a refreezable icepack or putting dry towels/sheets in the freezer for the sleeping place. Take a cold shower/rinse before going to bed. Cover windows to keep out heat. Put fans in the window that pull air both in and out, before going to bed put the fans on exhaust. Once your going to bed, put the fans on intake. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Sleep in the coolest room. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehon Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Old pre-A/C (and when a hurricane knocks out your power) trick: 1. Get a portable fan or box fan or something and place it blowing directly on you (i.e., on your side of the bed). Oscillating completely optional. 2. Spritz your sheets w/cold water before going to bed. 3. Take a cool/cold shower prior to getting into bed. 4. Make sure your pj's or whatever you sleep in is a breathable fabric. I absolutely die if I sleep in anything other than light cotton t-shirt or pj's (shorts & tank top). 5. Sleep in a cooler part of the house. Probably not very popular with your dh, but sometimes you just gotta do whatever it takes. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Ds's room is the warmest in the house and he sleeps with a fan blowing right on him in addition to his ceiling fan. He says it helps a little, but he'd prefer it to be AC air. I wish there was something more I could do for him. He would refuse to sleep anywhere but his room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Have you had your night sweats evaluated by your doctor? Perhaps you could find some way to alleviate or at least moderate the problem. In addition to the above suggestions, are you using all cotton sheets or microfiber? I find the microfiber ones incredibly hot. If your room is on a southern exposure, consider planting trees or hedges to shade it (though that won't help so much right now). I am really dreading our electric bill next month as we are in the middle of 99-100+ temps this week and at least all next week. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripley Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I spent one miserable summer sleeping on the screened patio of a friend's family's home in the groin of America (Alabama). What helped me was to sleep with a (floor) fan directly on me. What helped even more was to put a damp handkerchief in front of that fan so that it blew cooler air. I kept a bucket of ice next to my bed with four hankies in it. The ice melted at night, keeping the hankies damp and cool. If I woke up in the night, I just had to squeeze out a fresh hanky and clip it onto the fan. It was not ideal :lol: but it did the trick. And I've never gone anywhere with that friend ever again. Or to Alabama in summer, for that matter! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I would sleep downstairs until the heat breaks. I can't imagine how high my electric bill would be if I turned my AC that low. (Could you be hormonal; just wondering because when I'm having hot flashes due to pms, I feel crazy hot when no one else is.) I need to lower our electricity bill, but I need to be cool in order to sleep. Any ideas? I already have the ceiling fan going, but that doesn't do much. My dh is always freezing and sleeps with 3 blankets. I sleep only with a sheet and generally kick that off several times during the night. Our room is always 5-8 degrees warmer than the rest of the downstairs, so I have to turn the A/C for downstairs to 63 in order to get it to 68-71 in our room and sometimes I have to turn the temperature down from there because it's just too hot. I wake up drenched with sweat. Something that I could do to my side of the bed and not his would be great. :grouphug: I can't sleep when it's too hot. I get a small fan on my side of the bed for a little relief. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Our AC was out a good part of last summer. I would drink ice water, take a cool shower right before bed, and put an ice pack on my side of the bed to cool off the sheets before I went to bed. I also had a fan blowing on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 A small oscillating fan aimed at you, combined with a damp rag beside your bed might help. The oscillating fan makes the breeze feel like it's coming and going- it feels better than a constant fan blowing on you. And if you have a damp washcloth within reach, you can wipe your arms and legs down and the breeze from the fan will cool you off. We use this in our 135 year old house that doesn't have central air. We sleep really well with this method. Once I get to sleep I'm usually fine. But if I wake up hot, I use the washcloth and it cools me off enough to put me right back to sleep. Love the idea of an icepack down by my feet-- I've never tried that. But it might help. If my feet are hot, my whole body feels hot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Sleep on the lowest floor in the coolest room in summer. My kids' bedrooms are upstairs; in order to make it possible for them to sleep there we'd have to turn the temp ridiculously low on the main level. Over the summer, they move into the basement. Problem solved. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/3/cooling-pad 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Our second house had a stupid a/c setup, all on one unit. We switched to upstairs/downstairs units and it made everything so much more efficient. Until we did, we used a window unit in our bedroom. It worked brilliantly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samm Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 You could go swimming at night before you go to bed. That always drops my core body temp and it takes a while to warm back up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 put an inexpensive ac in your bedroom window and just cool your room rather than the whole house. Costco usually carries good ones every year. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 We have window units because our old house has no central air, but I kinda don't mind it because we aren't cooling the downstairs in order to have the bedrooms cool. Our last house was a split level, so we were making the downstairs family room frigid in order for the bedrooms upstairs to be even tolerably cool. Much better this way. The AC unit in the schoolroom on the first floor does a pretty decent job of cooling the whole downstairs, and it goes off at night, whereas I turn the temperature on our bedroom unit down low at night, but higher in the day. My parents have a modern house but found that central air was not cost effective, so they went with window units in the upstairs bedrooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 You might also consider a programmable thermostat is you don't already have one. I set ours to cool only part of the night. It helps but not as much as an a/c unit in the bedroom. Where we live now, window units aren't allowed, but in our last rental having a bedroom window unit was wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 nm 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 A cold shower right before bed sure makes a difference for me! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Insulated drapes make a HUGE difference for us. Cavelike, yes, but much cooler. Fans. Cotton sheets/pajamas, no polyester or microfiber. Close off the vents in bedrooms during the day. Close off vents in the rest of the house at night. Do you have the $$$ for an attic fan? I really want one. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I keep a spray bottle on my nightstand. If I get too warm, I spritz myself from head to toe and allow the ceiling fan to work its magic. This trick has never failed me yet. I hope you find relief very soon! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Our bedroom is downstairs and is the only bedroom downstairs. Our house just has lousy ventilation. Our bedroom is always 5-8 degrees warmer than the rest of the downstairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 put your PJs in the freezer for 20 minutes before going to bed. sleep somewhere cooler even if it is the loungroom floor . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbobeara Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 You don't have a foam mattress (like TemperPedic) do you? For me, it *could* be hormones but since I'm not yet 40, I'm blaming our foam mattress. We have a no-frills model with a no-frills mattress pad and I wake up frequently because I'm so dang hot. Before the hot temps started, I slept just fine! Anyway, I'm considering a window unit for the master bedroom with lots of fans to push it around the upper level. I don't know if they're allowed in our rental though. It would probably use less electricity, we have 3 fans going in our bedroom, then one for each of the 3 kids. (No ceiling fans because there's no ceiling light--it's all wall switch with lamps.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikslo Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Have you checked to see if your vents to your bedroom need to be cleaned out/are blocked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Do not know if this would work..http://www.brookstone.com/bed-fan-with-wireless-remote but it seems like a good idea. I would start off just going up to 1 degree than another until it is better. Cold showers and ice water always help me when visiting my in-laws who keep their AC at 84, and I think our room is about 90 in the summer. They live in the low country of SC beautiful country....in the fall, winter, and early spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Old pre-A/C (and when a hurricane knocks out your power) trick: 1. Get a portable fan or box fan or something and place it blowing directly on you (i.e., on your side of the bed). Oscillating completely optional. 2. Spritz your sheets w/cold water before going to bed. 3. Take a cool/cold shower prior to getting into bed. 4. Make sure your pj's or whatever you sleep in is a breathable fabric. I absolutely die if I sleep in anything other than light cotton t-shirt or pj's (shorts & tank top). 5. Sleep in a cooler part of the house. Probably not very popular with your dh, but sometimes you just gotta do whatever it takes. This. But also- put a lock on the door and sleep naked or with just a sheet <OR> sleep in the cooler part of the house. Cold showers before bed are awesome. I mean suck the breath out of you cold. There are supplements that lower estrogen & decrease hot flashes. I think DIM is the name of one of them. I'm not sure about others. You can also try eating just chicken/fish/eggwhites and low carb veggies for a few weeks to peel off some fat and lower your metabolism a bit. I've found that if I suddenly lose 4 pounds I'm cold almost all of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 63!! That low of a temp will kill your AC if you live someplace hot. Air conditioners are generally designed to cool 20-25 degrees below the outside temperature. A setting of 78 degrees will provide the max savings in electricity. For two story homes, you typically have an AC unit for downstairs and a separate one for upstairs. It appears you only have one AC, I would get estimates on getting another put in or consider a small AC unit in your bedroom for night. Also, I'd see a doctor about how cool you are needing it and have your thyroid checked. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 O.M.G. I'd be buried under two down comforters, LOL! I need to lower our electricity bill, but I need to be cool in order to sleep. Any ideas? I already have the ceiling fan going, but that doesn't do much. My dh is always freezing and sleeps with 3 blankets. I sleep only with a sheet and generally kick that off several times during the night. Our room is always 5-8 degrees warmer than the rest of the downstairs, so I have to turn the A/C for downstairs to 63 in order to get it to 68-71 in our room and sometimes I have to turn the temperature down from there because it's just too hot. I wake up drenched with sweat. Something that I could do to my side of the bed and not his would be great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 We have an upstairs unit and a downstairs unit. The downstairs unit has to be set at least 5 degrees lower than the upstairs unit or they get out of balance. I have had my thyroid checked multiple times. I'm always hot, but it gets much worst as soon as I lie down because then I can feel my body heat being reflected back at me by the bed. I'm constantly shifting around to find a spot that hasn't already been warmed up by my body heat. I do not have a memory foam bed. Temperature-wise, my bed doesn't feel any warmer to me than any other bed I've slept in while traveling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehon Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Is your bed near a window? I mean, is your side of the bed parallel with a window such that you could install a window unit A/C? If so, in addition to what I wrote above, I'd go to Home Depot, Lowe's, Costco, etc and purchase a window unit. They're not that expensive and don't eat that much energy. We did that for our bedroom and it helps tremendously. It really sounds like something is off kilter with your hormones or something. Has this always been an issue or has it recently become (more of) one? When was the last time you had your duct work cleaned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 We run the furnace/AC fan all the time because it helps narrow the temperature range between upstairs and downstairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aelwydd Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Gel. Mattress. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 We have an upstairs unit and a downstairs unit. The downstairs unit has to be set at least 5 degrees lower than the upstairs unit or they get out of balance. I have had my thyroid checked multiple times. I'm always hot, but it gets much worst as soon as I lie down because then I can feel my body heat being reflected back at me by the bed. I'm constantly shifting around to find a spot that hasn't already been warmed up by my body heat. I do not have a memory foam bed. Temperature-wise, my bed doesn't feel any warmer to me than any other bed I've slept in while traveling. What do you mean by "they get out of balance"? Have you had your units serviced recently, including having the thermostats calibrated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 This goes against everything the so-called energy professionals ever say, but the cheapest electric bills I have ever had were when I turned the a/c off when the house was empty. Yes, it would be an inferno for a few minutes when I got home, but it cooled quickly and was worth the quite substantial savings I experienced. This was in Alabama, so it was real heat. If your house or one half of your house is empty for a few hours at a time, maybe this would save enough to justify lowering the temps at night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 What about a cooling pad for under your body? http://www.amazon.com/Cooling-Gel-Pad-Size-35-5/dp/B007PDJMTU/ref=pd_sim_201_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=14Z6DNB1EACWNNEB5DPC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Have you checked to be sure all the adjustable things in the A/C system are as open as they can be? I remember there being something on a ventilation pipe in the basement that dh turned to let air flow through to one of the rooms. I never would have noticed it or thought it mattered, but it made a big difference. Since the problem is that A/C doesn't get to your room as effectively, could you open your bedroom door and put a box fan in your window to blow OUT for a while before bed? That would pull the cooler air from the rest of the house into your room so it would be easier for you to fall asleep, and then maybe you wouldn't have to set the A/C so low to get it comfortable in there. Then, use a very small fan to blow on you during the night, but not on your dh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleEJ Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I don't know if this is way out of your price range. I have been eyeing one for a long time. I also don't know how much electricity is uses, but I would think less than an a/c unit. It might allow you to turn your a/c way down and it is adjustable for each side of the bed. http://www.sleepnumber.com/sn/en/Bedding/Mattress-PadsComfort-Layers/p/dualTemp?cm_re=Homepage-_-Sub1-_-060115-DualTemp ETA It is not a whole new mattress, just a topper that heats or cools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarlaB Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I can relate! Our bedroom is on the 2nd floor and significantly warmer than downstairs where the thermostat is... Most summer days with the CO sun beating down on our roof the temp in our bedroom consistently reaches 77-80 degrees.That is with using $$ solar blinds AND heavy light blocking curtains (always closed). So last year we got a powerful window AC unit for our room and now I can sleep again (still having ceiling fan AND portable fan on as well, mind you). It took 2 miserable summers of insomnia to figure all of this out...I can't say that our bills are lower because we never cranked up the house AC in the first place- our house is too large and logically it would never work anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I have a fan at bed level that blows directly on my head. It doesn't reach the other side of the bed because I'm blocking it. It seems cooling off my head has a big benefit. If it's cooler at night, I also have a window fan bringing in outside air. Close off the AC vents downstairs. Hopefully, the cold upstairs would wander downstairs eventually. Put more insulation in the attic and have heavy blinds on the windows when the sun is shining in. Plant a tree outside the window. (We just lost ours to disease and I'm already noticing a big difference) If you were a cat, you'd just find the place that suited your temperature needs and sleep there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SproutMamaK Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Our bedroom is downstairs and is the only bedroom downstairs. Our house just has lousy ventilation. Our bedroom is always 5-8 degrees warmer than the rest of the downstairs. Have you tried duct booster fans? They really helped air circulation to the parts of our house that normally didn't get proper ventilation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Kiss your dh goodnight and go sleep downstairs. It doesn't sound like there could be much cuddling going on anyway, what with him under 3 blankets and you on the other side sweating, lol! We have an upstairs unit and a downstairs unit. The downstairs unit has to be set at least 5 degrees lower than the upstairs unit or they get out of balance. I'm not sure I get what you mean by this - I thought the point of separate units was so you could control them separately, no? Why do the temperatures need to be a close match? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Can you crank the temp higher during the day and turn it down at night? I can handle being slightly warm if I can sleep comfortably. Also, I meant insulated curtains on ALL the windows because any warmth in the house will end up upstairs. Another idea....stop using the stove and oven to cook. Use the grill, crock pot, and toaster oven instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 If I don't have the downstairs temperature set at least 5 degrees cooler than the upstairs: Then in summer, the upstairs unit will be the only one that turns on and it will dump cool air into the central portion of downstairs (very open floor plan). The upstairs bedrooms will be very cold, the central area upstairs will be hot, the central area downstairs will be cool, and our bedroom downstairs will have no A/C at all. Then in winter, the downstairs unit will be the only one that turns on and all the hot air will rise to the central portion of the upstairs. The upstairs bedrooms will be freezing. Our bedroom downstairs will be a blazing furnace. We figured out the 5 degree temperature difference pretty quickly after moving in to the house. We've even replaced both the upstairs and downstairs units in the 12 years we have been here and the 5 degree difference was still needed. I bought a small fan to put right next to my side of the bed and I'll see if that will work to keep me cool enough that I don't need to set the thermostat so low. My problem with being hot all the time started when I was pregnant with my last child seventeen years ago. The problem with getting super hot when sleeping has been getting worst over the past five years. I kept hoping that it might be premenopause, but it doesn't look it so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.