I've been making this fan mistake for years – here's how to avoid it

The UK is being hit by a scorching heatwave this week. Personally, I love the heat but when I’m indoors, I often find myself standing in front of my best fan to get some cooling relief.

Where most people, including myself, find it hardest to deal with the heat is at bedtime. Sleeping in the heat is quite uncomfortable, sweaty and sticky, and it can have an effect on your sleep quality and quantity. To avoid disrupting my sleep due to the heat, I’ve been sleeping with my fan on – and it’s the worst mistake I could have made.

I’m definitely someone who likes to sleep burrowed under a duvet, whether it’s hot or not. But my neck and shoulders tend to stick out from underneath the blanket, and these body parts have been aching throughout the night and in the morning when I wake up after having the fan on.

While it’s actually recommended to sleep in a cold room, having cold air whipping around your body while you sleep isn’t as beneficial as you think. Of course, it definitely keeps you cool during the night, but the concentrated cold air can cause muscle cramp and stiffness.

Despite my fan being at a healthy distance from my bed and on an oscillating motion, the cold air has definitely affected my neck and shoulders, leaving them feeling achy and stiff when I wake up.

To solve this issue, I’ve started placing my fan away from my bed rather than pointing directly at it. This means my fan is still cooling me and my bedroom down, but I’m not getting that full icy chill pointed directly at me, which has definitely made a difference to my sore muscles.

To help you avoid this fan mistake, I’ve also found three ways to cool your bedroom without using a fan.

How to keep your bedroom cool without using a fan

1. Cool your bed with water bottles

A quick and cost-effective way to cool your bedroom down is by placing cold water-filled bottles in your bed. This is a quick trick to lower the temperature of your bed, and you can do this using a hot water bottle or by filling up your regular water bottle. Having a cold water bottle in the sheets for a few minutes before you hop in will cool down your bed and your body temperature, which gives you some cooling relief and can help you fall asleep faster.

Personally, I’d remove the bottle before going to sleep because I hate being cold, but some people have been known to sleep cradling a cold bottle during intense heatwaves – no judgement, here.

2. Hang a wet sheet in front of your open window

Instead of using a fan, leave your bedroom window open and hang a lightly dampened sheet in front of it. While this might sound ridiculous, the breeze from outside blows through the cold sheet and cools down your room while giving a light airflow that’s less likely to cause stiff and sore muscles. It can also catch and prevent bugs or pollen getting inside which can worsen your allergies.

3. Choose lighter bedding and clothes

During the summer, you should switch to a lower tog duvet and lighter bedding. Keeping bedding and clothes as light as possible when you sleep will leave you feeling much more comfortable, and you’re less likely to sweat profusely from the heat. See the best cooling fabrics to wear in a heatwave for more.

For more details, see a full list of reasons why you shouldn’t (and should) sleep with a fan on at night.