Tog is one of those words that you don’t quite understand despite it being found on every duvet label. It’s a standardised measurement used across the UK and much of Europe for thermal insulation. It’s supposed to give you an idea of how well a duvet keeps heat in. But you must understand that tog doesn’t measure how warm a duvet is in terms of generating heat. It measures the duvet’s resistance to heat escaping.
Your body provides the heat, the duvet decides how much of it stays around you. That distinction changes how you should think about the question of what tog rating you need because the right tog is not a fixed property of the duvet. Ratings range from 1 tog at the lightest to 15 tog at the heaviest. The right rating for you depends a lot on the conditions of the room you are sleeping in.
The number most tog charts leave out
Almost every duvet guide will give you a table of tog ratings by season. But what these guides fail to mention is how the temperature of your bedroom at night affects tog ratings. The perfect temperature for sleeping is 16 to 18 degrees Celsius. The duvet’s job is to fill the gap between the temperature of the room and your skin.
A lot of British families turn the heat off at night. The problem is with these older and poorly insulated homes is just how cold these bedrooms can get in those early morning hours. They get a lot colder than in places where central heating runs all night. These extremely cold temperatures are reason why the UK recommends warmer winter duvets than you might see elsewhere. If your bedroom stays warm overnight, you can pick a duvet with a tog rating one level below the standard recommendation.
What tog rating for a winter duvet
A 12 to 13.5 tog duvet is the current recommendation for most UK bedrooms in the winter. Most people find these duvets provide just enough insulation to keep your body warm in an unheated or barely heated room during the coldest months.
If you easily get cold or live somewhere with harsh winters such as parts of Scotland or an exposed northern property, you can go up to a 15 tog rating for your winter duvet. If you keep the heat on at night or live in a well-insulated flat, you might find that a duvet with a 10.5 tog rating is warm enough and anything heavier makes you too hot. Using a duvet with a higher tog rating than what your room needs doesn’t improve your sleep, it disrupts it. Being too hot wakes you up just as much as being too cold does.
What tog rating is recommended for summer
For summer you want something light, so think the lower end of the rating scale. A duvet with a 1 to 3 tog rating is best suited for the heat or for people who just sleep hot. A 4.5 tog is great for milder nights or for those people who can’t sleep without a little bit of cover.
As British summers are mild and unpredictable rather than always hot most people find a 4.5 tog duvet works fine all summer long. In fact, it only feels too warm during an actual heatwave, at which point something lighter, or a plain cover with no filling, is needed. Using a summer duvet even when nights are warm is recommended because temperatures dip down towards dawn and a light layer stops you waking chilled at five in the morning.
What kind of tog rating do you need for the remaining two seasons?
For spring and autumn a duvet with a 7 to 10.5 tog rating is a good choice. Duvets with these tog ratings handle the changing weather conditions without committing you to full winter warmth.
An all seasons duvet is the best choice for people who live in areas with fluctuating temperatures. An all season one is sold as two duvets, a lighter one of 4.5 tog and a mid weight one of 9 tog. The two duvets are fitted with poppers or ties so they can be joined together. All season duvets are the best choice for people who don’t want to store and swap duvets as the seasons change.
When all season duvet is used separately the lighter one is perfect for summer, while the mid weight one works well during spring and autumn. When clipped together the duvet has a 13.5 tog rating which is perfect for cold winters.
Whether you need a duvet for your own bed or you’re ordering stock, bedding wholesalers keep the full range of tog ratings, from the lightest summer options through to the heavier winter fills.
Why the tog rating is not the whole story
Two duvets can have the same tog rating but feel quite different because of the filling. Natural fills like down and feather feel lighter but provide plenty of warmth without being too hot as they wick moisture away from you as you sleep. Even with the same tog rating, a synthetic fill like hollowfibre feels heavier and holds onto moisture rather than wick it away. Although, these duvets are easier to wash and usually a better option for people with allergies. Even if they have the same tog rating duvets can weigh different amounts. If you are concerned with how heavy or light a duvet feels, you want to check that out first.
Remember too that tog ratings apply only to the duvet. The mattress, the topper, the sheets, the clothes you wear, whether you share your bed, all add to how warm the bed actual is. Two people generate a lot more heat than one and some mattress and topper materials trap the heat rather than let it escape. The right tog rating is a personal choice, not a universal one.
How to know if you’ve got the wrong duvet
The easiest way to tell if you have the wrong duvet is to pay attention to how you feel when you wake up. If you wake up too hot, throw the duvet off during the night, or find yourself sleeping with one leg hanging out, your duvet is too warm for your room. You should try a duvet with a slightly lower tog. If you wake up because you are cold, curl up tightly to try and get warm, or pull the duvet close around you, it is not warm enough and you need to go up a tog. Both your body temperature and the room temperature drop around three to five in the morning, so a duvet that felt fine at bedtime might not feel right when you wake up.
Anyone who sleeps hot, or who is dealing with menopause or night sweats, is usually better off with a lower tog rating and a breathable natural fill. This often means choosing a lighter duvet in winter than what the charts suggest. When it comes to babies sleep safety guidelines are very clear no duvet at all under twelve months because of the risk of overheating. Lower tog duvets can be introduced once your baby is a toddler and even in the winter children should use duvets with lower tog ratings.
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