The Ultimate Tog Rating Guide For Duvets

When it comes to the small things in life, there are few moments better than waking up on a breezy summer or snowy winter weekend, rolling over, and sinking into your mattress to spend a few more minutes snuggled up in a cosy duvets.

It’s a wonderful feeling, but have you ever stopped to think about what determines how warm or breathable your duvet is, and how you can find bedding of a similar quality when you eventually need to switch it out?

Well, if you’ve ever had to do any bedding shopping in the past, you’ve no doubt heard the term tog rating for duvets being thrown about - much like you've probably had to learn what a thread count is - though you might not be entirely sure what tog rating means or its importance.

If this sounds familiar, don’t worry! We’ve pulled together everything you need to know about duvet tog ratings into our tog rating guide, including an explanation of what tog ratings are, and what to consider when looking at tog ratings for duvets in the future.

What is a tog rating?

In simple terms, duvet tog ratings refer to how well insulated a particular duvet is – or in other words, how good a duvet is at keeping you warm and retaining heat over the course of the night.

Naturally, this means all duvet tog ratings sit on a sliding scale based around their insulative properties, with a higher tog indicating a duvet as being much better at keeping the heat in than one with a lower tog rating.

However, it’s important to note that not all duvets are created equally, and a thicker material does not necessarily mean that it has a higher tog rating. This is because synthetic materials tend to be less insulative than natural materials, hence why thicker synthetics could have a lower duvet tog rating than those made of natural materials.

How does the tog rating for duvets work?

In terms of duvet tog rating specifics, every single duvet you can buy in the UK will be rated somewhere on the tog scale. This scale goes from the lightest and most breathable duvets (tog 1), all the way up to the thickest and warmest (tog 15), though most UK duvets will sit between a tog of 4.5 and 13.5.

So, if you want a duvet more suited to the summer months or a warmer bedroom, then a lower-rated tog is going to be much more suitable than a higher tog, which tends to be tailored towards use over winter.

What to consider when looking at duvet tog ratings?

When it comes to choosing the right duvet and the right tog for your needs, there are three key factors you’ll want to bear in mind – how warm is your bedroom in summer compared to winter, the type of mattress you use, and whether or not you’re a warm or cold sleeper.

We’ve delved into the first two of these factors in greater detail below, though we encourage you to take into account how warm you get when sleeping as you consider these areas:

Seasonality

Touching on seasonality first, the temperature of your bedroom is naturally going to fluctuate over the course of the year, meaning you may need a thicker tog duvet in winter compared to summer. However, if you’re a hot sleeper looking for cooling bedding, then you may still need a lighter tog even when the cold hits in December.

For summer duvets, most sleep experts recommend finding a duvet with a tog rating between 4.5 and 7.5 for maximum breathability. Whereas for winter, a tog of 11 to 13.5 will be ideal.

On the other hand, if you find the temperature in your house does not change too much over the course of the year and you only want to invest in a single duvet, then a 10.5 tog is the perfect middle ground for your needs.

Your mattress

Although it may seem unrelated, what sort of mattress you sleep on can play a far bigger role in the degree of tog you should opt for than you might think. This is because certain mattresses retain heat better than others.

For example, many memory foam mattresses have a habit of holding heat in far more than traditional mattress types, while pocket-sprung models and natural mattresses tend to be a little more flexible in their breathability.Therefore, if you are sleeping on a memory foam mattress, then you may want to pick a slightly lighter tog than you otherwise would for a pocket-sprung mattress in order to stay cool while in bed.

What to consider when looking at duvet tog rating for children?

Last, but not least, if you’re looking to buy a new duvet for your child’s bed, then it’s very important to take the tog system into account to ensure they’re not too warm and get a good night’s sleep.

Generally speaking, children are best suited to sleeping with a lightweight, single-size, and low-tog duvet. This is because their bodies have not yet mastered proper temperature regulation, and anything thicker could cause them to overheat or dehydrate during the night.

Find your ideal duvet in our bedding range

And there you have it, now you know everything there is to know about the duvet tog rating system, and what tog ratings to bear in mind the next time you’re out shopping for new bedding.

Of course, if you’re in need of a fresh duvet, pillows, or mattress protector now, then look no further than our range. With a curated selection of bedding from top UK brands, you’re sure to find something suited to your sleeping needs.

And don’t forget that you can also benefit from our free and next-day delivery options on certain products, as well as finding plenty more advice in our selection of Buying Guides, including tips on purchasing the perfect pillow.