As the nights draw in and the temperatures drop, most of us can barely remember getting too hot in the night and needing to sleep under just a sheet or with a fan on.
In the UK, we usually have more cold nights than warm ones, but in winter our homes can get especially cold. One of the best ways to combat this is to invest in a winter duvet, but with various tog ratings and weights available, it can be difficult to choose.
So, if you are struggling to stay warm overnight, and are looking for a new duvet to keep you cosy over the winter months, this guide will help to find the right one.
What is a tog rating?
You will have likely seen a tog rating on duvet packaging before, but what exacting is a tog rating? Well, the Tog scale is a way of measuring the thermal insulation properties of a material, such as a duvet - essentially how well the duvet can retain heat. The higher the tog rating of a duvet, the warmer it will be.
Sometimes tog is mistakenly thought of as thickness, but this isn’t always the case, as a range of factors contribute to a duvet’s thermal insulation. For example, synthetic materials are usually less thermally efficient than natural materials, meaning you would need to use more synthetic materials (resulting in a thicker duvet) to achieve the same tog rating as a natural fibre duvet with a thinner profile. While we think of wrapping up in something big and fluffy as the obvious way to get warm, thicker doesn’t always mean warmer!
Natural fibre duvets can feel lighter than synthetic duvets, but these materials trap air better than their synthetic counterparts, which provides more warmth and breathability (an important factor even in winter). This is why it’s a good idea to trust the tog rating of a potential winter duvet, rather than how warm it looks or feels.
How is thermal efficiency measured in duvets?
The tog scale ranges from 1 to 15, with 1 being the least insulative, and 15 the most insulative. But that doesn’t mean choosing the best duvet for winter is as simple as finding the one with the highest tog rating - but we’ll come back to that later.
As well as the tog scale, some natural fibre duvets are measured by weight. For example, our organic wool duvets use a measurement of gsm (grams per square metre). This can be a better way of measuring natural fibre duvets, but the same principle applies as the tog scale, with a higher weight being more thermally efficient than a lower weight.
What tog duvet is best for winter?
For the UK climate, a general guideline would be that a natural duvet with a tog rating between 9 and 15 togs would be a good choice for winter, but this is quite a broad range, and there are more factors to consider than just the tog rating.
You may find that a duvet that falls into this tog range is perfect for you, but if you are a very hot sleeper, you may find that more of an autumnal duvet (around 7.5 tog) is more suitable.
It is also possible to tie multiple duvets together, meaning that you can adjust the tog rating as and when you need to - for example, combining two lighter weight summer duvets into a cosy winter duvet, which also saves on storage space throughout the summer.
What materials are best for a winter duvet?
As we touched on earlier, the type of material is very important when it comes to your duvet’s thermal efficiency. We believe that natural fibres are always better, both for the planet and for providing a great night’s sleep.
When it comes to a winter duvet, there are a few great options:
Duck feather
Duck feather duvets are a great choice for winter, especially in a higher tog rating. For example, our 9 tog duck feather duvets are filled with fluffy duck feathers and down for luxurious comfort and plenty of warmth. The natural feather and down filling is incredibly breathable, allowing air circulation and trapping heat when you need it and releasing it when you don’t.
Goose down
Goose down duvets are some of the most luxurious and lofty duvets available, perfect for those cold winter nights. Feathers give the duvet loft and structure, whilst the down adds plump cosiness. The breathable down and feather filling ensures you stay at just the right temperature all night long, trapping heat when you need it and releasing it when you don’t.
Organic wool
Organic wool duvets have a slimmer profile than feather and down duvets, but provide remarkable year round temperature control. These duvets have a wonderful weight to them which helps to create that cosy feel during winter, and they are simply amazing at regulating your temperature, trapping heat when you need it and dispersing it when you don’t, to ensure you stay at a comfortable temperature all night long. What’s more, our organic wool duvets can be tied together for an extra cosy cover on those really chilly nights.
Other considerations for choosing the right winter duvet
The tog rating of a duvet is a good place to start, but as mentioned earlier, it is not the only factor. It can be tempting when it’s very cold to go straight for a 15 tog duvet, but you may quickly find yourself uncomfortable and overheating in the night, unless your house is very cold or you are a very cool sleeper.
You should consider a range of factors to find the right winter duvet, such as:
How warm your bedroom usually gets overnight.
Experts recommend that the temperature in your bedroom stays at around 16 - 18 ºC, but if your home is usually hotter than that, you may want to opt for a duvet in the middle range of the tog scale. Conversely, if your bedroom is usually below this range, you may want to choose a duvet nearer the top end of the tog scale.
How well your body regulates heat.
Are you a hot sleeper or a cool sleeper? For example, do you often find yourself overheated or sweating during the night, or do you find you can never quite get cool enough? This factor can be as important as the tog rating, as if you overheat during the night and find yourself fidgeting, your temperature will only get higher.
Whether you sleep alone or share your bed.
Body heat makes a significant difference, and if your partner is a hot sleeper, you might not need as warm a duvet as you think.
The climate you live in.
A climate is about more than just temperature, factors such as humidity play a big role in how warm or cool our homes are and how comfortably we can sleep at night. If you have recently moved somewhere with a different climate, whatever tog rating you were using before might not cut it, and you may need to adjust accordingly.
It’s not all about the duvet
While the duvet plays a huge part in your nighttime comfort over winter, your entire bed set up plays a role in keeping the temperature right. As well as your duvet, consider your pillows, your bed linen, and even your mattress.
While pillows don’t usually come in variable togs, the material they are made out of will determine your comfort and temperature, and the same goes for your bed linen. Choose natural fibres that provide warmth as well as breathability - something often lacking in synthetic alternatives - as this will prevent you from overheating.
The materials your mattress is made of is incredibly important too. While mattresses are made for year-round use, comfort and breathability are key to ensuring a peaceful night’s sleep, whatever the temperature, so investing in a natural fibre mattress is well worth it.
Choosing the best duvet for winter will require you to look beyond the tog rating alone, but this is a great place to start. If you are looking to find the right duvet for another time of year, or you want to learn more about tog ratings, you can find our duvet tog guide here. Or, if you want some top tips on how to stay warm in bed over winter, we’ve got you covered.
