You may be one of those many adults who can't sleep if they don't have a blanket with them, or who stay chilly, even in the late hours of summer nights, when temperatures start to drop. If you find that a simple sheet is too light for you, even in summer, then you need a duvet for the summer. Beware, however, of overheating and excess perspiration if your duvet is too heavy or too hot. Choose it for the summer to enjoy the best sleep. Here are our tips to help you avoid making a mistake.
Duvet for summer: the heat index is your friend
To choose your light duvet for the summer, you have the opportunity to check the characteristics of the models offered in shops and specialized sites. Among these characteristics, one should attract your attention more than the others, the heat index. This one is graduated from 1 to 4 and the higher it is, the warmer the duvet will keep you.
As you can see, there is no question of choosing a duvet with a heat index of 4 or 3 if you want to cover yourself with it in summer. Instead, choose duvets with lower heat indices, ideally 1, because the other indices are reserved for colder seasons.
Note that there is another heat index, it is Anglo-Saxon and is affixed to duvets sold in North America and the United Kingdom in particular. This is the Tog, a reference that makes it possible to evaluate the thermal insulation offered by the duvet. This index ranges from 1 to 15 and the higher it is, the warmer the duvet.
For your summer duvet, an index of 1, up to 4.5 is ideal, because you will have limited insulation that will allow you to have bearable temperatures, but not too cold. If you suffer somewhat from cool summer nights, you can choose a Tog index of 10, which corresponds to a temperate duvet. You opt for a duvet that corresponds to a good compromise and is closer to the spring and autumn duvet than the winter one.
The breathable envelope: an imperative for summer
Even if you like to be covered during your summer nights, you probably don't like waking up covered in sweats or having a restless sleep because of a sweaty and unbreathable duvet. To avoid these inconveniences and so that your nights are peaceful and your sleep deep, prefer duvets with breathable envelopes.
Natural fibers, especially if they are vegetable, are therefore preferred, because they are naturally breathable and will not bother you even if you sweat a lot while sleeping. In addition, it is advisable to choose organic and untreated fibers to prevent your skin from contact with chemicals that could be harmful to it.
To help you choose healthy duvets, you can rely on Oeko Tex certification, an environmental label that guarantees that your duvet does not contain substances that are harmful to the environment or your body. This label also guarantees an eco-responsible and ethical production process that does not represent any danger to human health.
And the filling then?
Your summer duvet must have a filling and it can be made of various materials. Natural Down is by far the one to be preferred, except in case of allergy to Down or asthma aggravated by the use of such materials. The down makes it possible to fill the duvet while giving it lightness and softness, which is ideal for summer nights.
The natural down also makes it possible to have the swelling effect of duvets that sleepers appreciate so much. Another advantage you have by favoring a duvet filled with natural down, is its lifespan. This is two to three times higher than that of a synthetic duvet trim.
To garnish duvets, the most used natural down are of two types, duck down and goose down. Both have about the same characteristics and benefits, but goose down, having larger feathers, allows for an effective filling with fewer grams per square meter. As a result, goose-down duvets are lighter and more breathable than duck-down duvets.
Lightness of the duvet: it all depends on the weight
The lightness of your duvet depends largely on the weight of its down. The higher it is, the heavier the duvet. Thus, for the summer, a duvet with a weight ranging from 130 to 180 grams per square meter is ideal. But you can go slightly higher if you are really chilly and looking for a somewhat warm duvet, even for the summer. You will then have an intermediate-weight duvet that can also be used in spring and autumn but may be too hot on some summer nights when temperature peaks are observed.