This simple change to your bedtime routine could help you sleep through tonight’s heatwave – and keep your room cooler

With 30-degree heat making it much harder to get a restful slumber, we're all keen to do everything we can to make sleeping as comfortable as possible. Be that keeping the best cooling fans on at all times, trying viral hacks to cool our bedrooms, sleeping without the covers, and keeping our blinds or curtains closed during the most intense heat of the day.

But there are a few ways in which we may be unknowingly increasing the heat in our bedrooms during this heatwave too – and one of them involves the screens and digital devices that can often dominate our sacred sleeping space.

We've spoken to experts to understand how our phones, laptops, tablets and TVs could be making sleeping in this heat much, much worse – and perhaps not in the way you think...

Most of us understand that the blue light emitted from laptops, mobile phones, or tablets can seriously disrupt sleep by disrupting our natural circadian rhythm, making it much more difficult to settle down for the night.

But what we weren’t so aware of is how much they actually contribute to an increase in the temperature of our bedroom, in addition to the blazing heat coming directly from outside.

Nancy Emery, Toasty.co.uk's home expert, explains, "our digital devices, and 'vampire devices', such as televisions left on standby, plugged-in chargers, and gaming consoles, constantly draw electricity, and emit a steady stream of background heat into your home."

This means that if you have appliances on and charging in your bedroom, you may be inadvertently increasing the temperature of your sleep space, negating your efforts for trying to cool the room down.

Sleep expert at Hillarys, Tom Coleman, explains that the heat increase, while not enormous, can be notable, especially in smaller spaces.

“While a single phone charger or smartphone won't dramatically raise the temperature of a room on its own, multiple devices running overnight can contribute to an already warm sleeping environment,” he says. “Laptops, gaming devices, tablets, TVs and charging stations all produce heat as they operate or charge, and that excess warmth can build up, particularly in smaller bedrooms with limited ventilation.”

And the impact on our sleep can be noticeable too. Tom says, "From a sleep perspective, even a small increase in bedroom temperature can make it harder to drift off and stay asleep. Our bodies naturally cool down in the evening as part of the sleep process, so when the bedroom is too warm, that cooling mechanism becomes less effective. The result can be more difficulty falling asleep, increased night waking and poorer overall sleep quality."

But don’t worry, addressing this unsuspecting source of heat is incredibly easy. It just needs a little bit of consideration. “Unplugging these appliances at the wall eliminates this hidden heat source, helping your space stay cool while helping keep energy waste to a minimum,” Nancy says.

And of course, one failsafe is keeping your devices and their chargers out of your bedroom entirely at nighttime – if you can, charge them from another room far away from your bedroom.

One further thing to bear in mind is where these devices are placed when they are on, too. Nancy explains that your devices should be placed well away from tight corners, walls and ceilings, to ensure that any residual heat emitted from them during use can escape as best as possible.

While doing away with your devices alone won’t entirely solve your heatwave-induced insomnia, "ultimately, every source of heat matters during a heatwave," Tom reminds us. "Minimising unnecessary heat in the bedroom can make a noticeable difference when you're trying to get a comfortable night's sleep, combined with other cooling strategies such as blocking out daytime sunlight, improving airflow and using lightweight bedding."