Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/blankets-summer-hot

by downbad_ • 2 months ago

67 74 2 months ago

empee• 2 months ago

Clearly for better protection against monsters

anonzzzies• 2 months ago

It is the only reason. I asked my wife one time why she sleeps under blankets when it's boiling hot (I do not); she said because there might be 'things in the night' so I asked if she thought these sheets will protect her; nope, but otherwise she doesn't sleep.

tristramb• 2 months ago

Its so the monsters can't see you.

expedition32• 2 months ago

I did not realize that things like sheets, blankets and pillows used to cost serious money.

boelboel2• 2 months ago

Not just bedding but clothing was costly. High quality bedding (as well as clothing) still costs quite a bit of money especially once you take into account you need 2 sets for rotation. A proper quality set will run you $1000-2500 and there's luxury brands which will cost much more.

eesmith• 2 months ago

From the 1960 children's novel 'Mike's Mystery' from the Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner, at https://archive.org/details/mikesmystery00warn/page/28/mode/...

"Nothing was saved except clothing and bedding. When Mrs. Wood saw that the house could not be saved, she put some sheets on the floor, threw all the clothes from bureau drawers and closets on the sheets, tied them up, and threw the out the window."
"Well, wasn't that smart?" said Jessie. "That costs the most of anything, doesn't it, Aunt Jane? The family clothes and bedding?"

rsynnott• 2 months ago

… Wait, what? In what sense are my ikea sheets improper?

futune• 2 months ago

This is a fascinating topic which was covered in-depth here: https://acoup.blog/2021/03/05/collections-clothing-how-did-t...

If I remember correctly, it claim is that about 50% of all labour over the course of history has gone into making textiles. More than food!

steanne• 2 months ago

also consider the labor involved in upkeep. this is one of the rationales for nightwear: it's much easier to wash a change of nightclothes every so often than large sheets and blankets.

voidUpdate2• 2 months ago

"I barely know what a BTU is"

Neither does anyone else, its one of those archaic units that changes slightly based on who is using it and hangs on in oil and gas industries, and also air conditioners and heaters.

It was defined as the amount of energy to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere of pressure, but that amount of energy depends on the starting temperature of the water, and different things use different starting points, so it ranges from about 1054 to 1059 joules

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_thermal_unit

bonsai_spool3• 2 months ago

Why would the amount of energy required to increase the temperature of a defined mass of water depend on the temperature? This goes against the idea of specific heat

(editing to add - I didn't realize that water's specific heat has a temperature dependence and changes around 5% over reasonable indoor temperatures

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-heat-capacity-wa... )

actionfromafar• 2 months ago

Phase change?

kgwgk3• 2 months ago

No, it doesn't go against the idea of specific heat. You may be thinking of ideal gases and even then specific heat may or may not be constant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_gas

defrost• 2 months ago

Traditionally it's not a "mass" of water, it's a pound (unqualified) of water.

There's an issue right there and one that cracks the door open to "how is pound of water created".

Leading into (depending on path to above) the issue of density of water, while famously and often described as incompressible, water reaches max density at 4 C, 3.99 degrees (Kelvin or Celsius) above water's triple point.

PowerElectronix• 2 months ago

Specific heat usually varies with the temperature itself.

willis936• 2 months ago

They're not saying the rate varies but the starting point. Going from 30C to 100C takes less energy than going from 20C to 100C even if specific heat remains physical. Both might get labeled a BTU.

simonebrunozzi• 2 months ago

See water's triple point.

out_of_protocol• 2 months ago

I blessed to live in a country that uses kilowatts. That works wonderfully (and advertised as such) for AC units

Ekaros• 2 months ago

Kilowatts as in power consumption or as in refrigeration or heating power? AC is somewhat not straightforward.

quickthrowman2• 2 months ago

One ton (HVAC unit) is 3.5kW of heat moved for each 1kW of input power under relatively ideal conditions, assuming a max COP of 4. The unit chosen to represent the amount of heat that can be transferred is irrelevant, you get the same information.

jiggawatts• 2 months ago

They didn't include a common reason for wanting at least a thin blanket on hot summer nights: it keeps the mosquitoes away!

ahmedfromtunis• 2 months ago

Is this a common thing? Sleeping without any sort of cover during the hot summer months (notably July and August) is the norm here (North Africa) and never heard of anyone who does it (AC or not).

Is this an American thing? Do people in warmer regions of the country (Texas, Florida, ...) also feel the same?

SupLockDef• 2 months ago

No, I often sleep on top of my bed during the hot summer days. I also don't put myself under the blankets when I take a nap.

I don't know what TFA is talking about.

wodenokoto2• 2 months ago

Yes, it is totally a thing. We don't have a lot of hot nights in Denmark but when we do, we still sleep under a duvet, or maybe half under one and it is just as awful as it sounds.

roenxi• 2 months ago

Are you sure? That seems like the sort of thing people might just not do. It can't take that many brain cells for an uncomfortably warm person to work out that more blankets make you more hotter -> less blankets makes you less hotter.

The article seems to provide very limited evidence that people sleep under blankets on hot nights and it sounds like a silly thing to do in the abstract. A lot of people would just remove the blanket when they get hot.

jeremyscanvic• 2 months ago

In France some people do and some people don't but it's definitely a thing

roxolotl• 2 months ago

As someone who lives in the Northeast US but travels to Florida somewhat regularly it amazes me how low people keep the AC. It’s common for people and places, or at least those I visit, to keep the AC lower than I keep my heat in the winter(18c). So sometimes I’m so cold I have to ask for additional blankets or bring a jacket to a place like a movie theater.

threwrfaway• 2 months ago

Folks in the South don't consciously realize it, but they're setting the AC low to keep it running for its dehumidification.

These are the same folks who sweaters is its 80F outside. They can handle heat.

If ACs had the ability to run as dehumidifiers in convinced the temp would rise

OptionOfT• 2 months ago

I live in Phoenix. In summer AC is set to 84F, and in winter we heat to 78F.

Humidity does a lot.

As I've posted before:

115C with 10% humidity (71.66F wet bulb) here is hot, but as long as you have water, you're better off here than in Florida with 85F at 90% humidity (87.46F wet bulb).

embedding-shape• 2 months ago

I'm born and raised in Sweden, now live in Spain, cannot fall asleep unless I have something covering me, but I can also not fall asleep while sweating... So in the hottest months (July and August), I tend to just use a bed sheet as the cover, does the trick.

elorant• 2 months ago

It is a thing and not only in U.S. I live in Greece and my girlfriend can’t sleep if she’s not covered by something even if it’s in the middle of August and it’s scorching Earth outside. She says she feels vulnerable without a cover. I on the other hand can’t sleep with a cover during summer.

kranner• 2 months ago

Here in India, when I was growing up it was normal to sleep without a cover in the summer (no ACs back then, only ceiling fans and perhaps an evaporation cooler in more luxurious circumstances). I remember when a friend and his cousin from Thailand was visiting and the power had just gone out. The temperature was in the early 40s (Celsius) but the Thai cousin who wanted to take a nap insisted on a thin cotton sheet as a cover. My friend and I were confused and kept telling him it's not a good idea but he couldn't fall asleep without it.

zeta0134• 2 months ago

Speaking personally, I have the "must be covered" gene along with the "overheats easily at night" gene, so it's been a bit of a struggle hitting a balance. Right now a thin breathable quilt is the way to go, even in deep winter. Hard to explain really, but I feel anxious (and cold!) if my body is exposed, even if it's actually pretty hot in the room.

The best mitigation for this conflict seems to be those knitted blankets with the enormous holes. Terrible heat retention, and they're pretty heavy. That got the job done during a Texas summer on more than one occasion.

quickthrowman2• 2 months ago

It’s always 20C/68F in my apartment during the summer so I sleep with blankets. I keep it that cold to control humidity.

port112• 2 months ago

I must have my legs covered regardless of temperature, and will easily sleep naked but with legs covered. My partner must cover their shoulders at all costs, thus opting to sleep without covers except for a blanket over the upper torso.

There’s some videos out there of people in warm climates sleeping with no cover.

Humans are funky.

risingsubmarine• 2 months ago

'Go Wild' (John Ratey, Richard Manning) theorizes that the modern concept of bedrooms in which we segregate ourselves to sleep is a mismatch with our evolutionary established state. We would naturally lie in very close proximity of tribe and family for heat, contact and security. Sleeping and resting on one another out in the open. Perhaps pillows and blankets (esp weighted) serve as a proxy for this, not just temperature?

etrautmann2• 2 months ago

That would result in insanity for me. Is there any argument other than it seems like cave people must have?

vanderZwan2• 2 months ago

Well, this is probably a thing where humans are very diverse in their subjective experience.

I'd say this is definitely a noticeable thing with small children at family gatherings, birthday parties and the like. But I grew up in a household where both of my parents came from families where big family gatherings with even extended family was common, and I know not everyone has that kind of experience, so who knows how much of that is nature or nurture as well.

In my case however this has persisted well into adulthood: despite being a chronic insomniac who has a really hard time falling a sleep normally, at these types of social gatherings I often have to fight off falling asleep precisely because I feel comfortable and safe among friends and/or family (I wonder if that is in any way related to my ADHD).

smackeyacky• 2 months ago

Safety. If something creeps up hopefully one of you is partly awake to raise the alarm. I sometimes think cats are still like this, they seem to sleep very soundly around people but only snooze and are easily startled when isolated.

Nzen• 2 months ago

If I am to believe the creator of the _History in Taberna_ youtube channel, communal beds were a medieval to early modern practice in inns [0].

[0] https://youtu.be/5IPQIl-FiCY?si=drUMJuR5tLLppWqD&t=738 relevant section is 13:00 - 14:00 of a 30 minute video about various inn / tavern aspects.

dzhiurgis2• 2 months ago

Not just you. Most are insane already. Temperature, noise, light, other partner, pillows, ventilation, caffeine, wind down (including me as I write this comment) - majority of people mismanage this so badly. We spend 1/3rd of our time on it, it's probably top 5 of most important things in our life, yet we butcher it so badly.

amelius• 2 months ago

Recently discovered that "weighted blankets" are a thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighted_blanket

voidUpdate2• 2 months ago

Weighted blankets are lovely if you have a neurodivergence that likes being enclosed (like me). But they are even more unbearable in hot weather

isoprophlex• 2 months ago

I consider the weighted blanket to be a very dangerous invention. Dangerous to my planning, that is. If I try take a quick 20 minute nap under it, I always sleep for 2 hours minimum. It's like an off switch for my brain.

Extremely comfy.

lippihom• 2 months ago

I love weighted blankets but have to be careful that they're not "too" heavy. I used to have sleep paralysis relatively often as a kid and a too heavy weighted blanket often re-triggers this, which is obviously terrifying.

julian_sark• 2 months ago

I took mine extra heavy, I love it.

If not for comforting my neuro divergeny, I also love it for staying put and not dropping off of the side, or foot, of the bed and falling on the floor.

Only caveat is getting it into the sheet covers. That is hard work lol, quite the workout. Considering skipping that part and just putting it on top of a light bedsheet.

I add a warm, thick blanket on top of the weighted one if needed, e.g. in winter.

It's important to stack it that way. Putting the weighted one on top keeps everything put, but the compression on the warm blanket negates the temperature isolation and it gets cold quick.

eth0up• 2 months ago

1. Being properly tucked-in, as a vestige of comfort from the crib, where babs are often protected with at least some form of cloth.

2. You are from florida, where there's an entire species of insect for every sqr centimeter of the body, and enough mosquitos after 19:00 to write each of them through displacement.

3. Ideal sleeping temerature is probably so close to 'perfect' that as body temp drops through sleep, it crosses the thin threshold of comfortable to slightly cold.

Since we've abandoned the penny, I hope that rounds up to a nickel of thought.

Markoff• 2 months ago

I like Balkanese approached I noticed in Croatia and Bulgaria, instead of duvets or blankets they just use (in summer) thin empty duvet case judging my multiple Airbnb experience.

helzinia• 2 months ago

there has also been a decent amount of research about the calming effect of weighted blankets, which can weigh up to 30 pounds. Studies indicate that they can curb anxiety and even be used in the treatment of autism.

What odd phrasing, "the treatment of autism". Wouldn't it suffice to say a lot of autistic people find them comforting? This may just be my bugbear, but I notice a lot of these depersonalising statements in anthropology, psychology, etc when an author wants to hold up some supporting example about a group of people they are not experts on.

eudamoniac• 2 months ago

Autism is a disorder with symptoms that can be treated. If you find that concept depersonalizing, I'm sorry about that, but it isn't.

xboxnolifes• 2 months ago

Sure, but it's like writing "Weighted blankets can be used as a treatment for tiredness". It's reads awkwardly.

port112• 2 months ago

Hmm, if we conceive of some states as ideal for humans, then states which aren’t ideal are those we might want to treat.

We don’t have to cure them, nor be cruel in our handling of people. But we also don’t have to pretend that autism is the most ideal state to thrive in human society. Language needs to define terms, and at some measure of sensitivity they are going to sound insensitive.

Again, we don’t have to be cruel. But we can help, or treat, or alleviate, or accommodate for the symptoms of autism. You pick the word that’s less depersonalising, keeping in mind that any word here is arbitrary.

Autism isn’t a brilliant condition and we can all hope to make the lives of others better. If that means using softer language, I’m all for it; yet, some language has to be used. And, perhaps, if we could treat autism itself, we might want to give people that option.

pojzon• 2 months ago

Because monsters under the bed.. duh.

At least thats what I tell my kids.

eatrocs_allday• 2 months ago

bugs

Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

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