If you share a bed with someone, there’s a decent chance they’ve done something behind your back while you were asleep.
Nothing scandalous. Probably. But nearly half of partnered sleepers admit they’ve waited until the other person was out, made one small change to the bedroom, and gone right back to sleep.
The culprit is the thermostat. A new Amerisleep survey of 1,011 U.S. adults found that 44% of partnered sleepers have secretly changed the temperature after their partner fell asleep. Nearly two-thirds of couples disagree about bedroom temperature at least sometimes, while 6% argue about it every night. Which makes sense if you’ve ever slept next to someone who thinks 72 degrees is “freezing.”
The Bedroom Habit That Has Couples Sneaking Around After Dark
Temperature has a real effect on sleep. Your core body temperature naturally drops in the evening, and research found that people are most likely to fall asleep while that drop is happening quickly.
A warmer bedroom can interfere with that process. A systematic review of 11 studies found that every 1°C increase in overnight temperature was associated with about five to 10 fewer minutes of sleep. Survey respondents said their bedroom became too warm for comfortable sleep at about 75°F. Research generally puts the sweet spot closer to 66°F to 70°F.
And apparently, couples will try just about anything before agreeing on one number.
Sixty-eight percent of partnered sleepers said they’ve used separate blankets. A quarter have bailed to another bed for the night. Another 11% have stopped sharing a bed altogether, the same percentage who said they’ve replaced a mattress because it slept too hot. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has also found that more than a third of adults have slept apart from a partner because they couldn’t get a decent night’s sleep.
Then there’s the electric bill. Forty-two percent of respondents said the cost of cooling their home keeps them from making the bedroom as cold as they’d like. Among people who wake up overheated at least once a week, that jumped to 53%.
People were also willing to spend more on the bed itself. The average respondent said they’d pay an extra $164 for a mattress guaranteed to keep them from waking up hot. Partnered sleepers said $181.
So yes, somewhere tonight, somebody is waiting for their partner to fall asleep before creeping over to the thermostat and knocking it down three degrees.
Honestly, there are worse things to discover your partner has been doing after dark.
The post Nearly Half of Couples Secretly Do This After Their Partner Falls Asleep appeared first on VICE.
