NEED TO KNOW
- A woman likes to sleep in a cool room, while her husband prefers to sleep in a warmer room
- In the middle of the night, he always changes the thermostat despite their “compromise”
- “It sounds so petty, but it’s become this weird power struggle,” the woman shared on Reddit
Thermostats can make or break a relationship.
A 31-year-old woman shared on Reddit that her 33-year-old husband constantly messing with the thermostat “feels small, but it’s become a symbol of something bigger. “
She explained that she likes sleeping in a cold room, around 68 degrees Fahrenheit, while her husband prefers sleeping in a warm room, so they’ve compromised by typically setting the thermostat at 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, he increases the temperature once she falls asleep “every single night.”
Stock image of a person changing the thermostat.
Getty
“Every night, without fail, I wake up sweating and the thermostat says 74°F. At first, I thought maybe the system was glitching. Then I caught him one night at 1 a.m., sneaking to the hallway,” she shared. “When I asked why, he said, ‘You always fall asleep first, so it’s fair if I get my turn.’ ”
The woman told her husband that wasn’t a compromise, it was deception, to which he replied, “You wouldn’t have to wake up if you just slept deeper.”
“It sounds so petty, but it’s become this weird power struggle,” she wrote. “He jokes about being the ‘temperature boss.’ I feel like it’s not even about warmth anymore, it’s about who gets the last word before bed.”
People on Reddit were sympathetic to the woman, coming up with different ways the couple could compromise, such as having separate blankets and lighter sheets.
“Is it so difficult to get him a thicker duvet so he’s not cold? Time to get yourself separate cover sets,” one person wrote. “You get a thinner cover and him a thicker one, so everyone can be comfortable. If he’s waking up cold and you wake up sweating a different solution needs to be found. Thermostat wars aren’t it, speaking as someone in a relationship with a human radiator.”
Another person echoed this sentiment, writing, “My husband and I have different duvets. We sleep on a king, but buy two twin duvets. You can also do queen, if you prefer a larger blanket. This is because he’s a lot warmer than I am. He prefers the thermostat cool, so I have a heavier duvet than he does. It works out great and we’re both comfortable.”
