If you’re a hot sleeper or live in a place with a hot climate, it’ll be tempting for you to open a window of your room before going to sleep. But is it bad to sleep with a window open?
Sleeping with a window open has both advantages and disadvantages. It provides you with fresh air to breathe but it can also invite unwanted pests to your sleeping area.
In this article, we’ll discuss all the benefits and downsides of opening a window while sleeping. It’ll help you decide whether you should follow this practice or not.
Is It Bad to Sleep with Window Open
Sleeping with your window open can be good and bad depending on several factors.
How Sleeping with a Window Open is Good
The following is the list of factors that make sleeping with a window open good.
Fresh Air
One of the biggest benefits of sleeping with an open window is that it allows fresh and cool air to come into your room. It comes in handy when you live in a place with a hot environment. According to Michael Benninger, MD, who is the chairman of Head and Neck Institute, sleeping with the bedroom window open can help you breathe better.
According to a study, opening your room’s window while sleeping improves air quality and ventilation and can also enhance your sleep quality. It allows you to enjoy a good night’s sleep and help your body to recover fully before waking up in the morning. Fresh air makes you feel tired and can help you sleep more deeply.
Prevent Carbon Dioxide Buildup
Another benefit of sleeping with open windows is that it prevents carbon dioxide buildup in your sleeping area. Keep in mind that you inhale oxygen but exhale carbon dioxide. It’ll find nowhere to escape if you’re sleeping in a closed room.
Inhaling carbon dioxide can be extremely dangerous for your health, especially if you do it for an extended time. The common symptoms of inhaling carbon dioxide include dizziness, nausea, and headaches and you’ll experience these after waking up.
Manage Humidity Levels
Bedrooms can have high levels of humidity and it can make the environment hot and unsuitable for sleep. Generally, you need to install a dehumidifier in your room to control the environment.
However, you can also achieve the same results if you keep your windows open at night. It’ll reduce the humid levels and make your room’s environment ideal to enjoy a good night’s sleep.
Natural White Noise
Opening your room’s window will allow you to hear the sounds of small insects such as the chirp of crickets. These noises make perfect white noise, which can help you fall asleep easily and quickly.
Studies show that white noise can also improve your sleep quality significantly. It means that opening a window makes for a cheap alternative to an expensive white noise machine.
You’ll only be able to reap this benefit if you live in a rural or suburban area. Otherwise, you’ll only hear car horns honking and people laughing and taking around your living space, which will keep you from falling and staying asleep. You can read our guide on how to sleep near a busy road if you are dealing with traffic noise and sleep.
Improve Sleep Schedule
Opening your window informs your body that it’s night and you need to sleep. It’ll also help your body to become alert in the morning as the lighter enters the room. This way, opening your room’s window can regulate your natural sleep schedule.
How Sleeping with a Window Open is Good
Here are some factors that make sleeping with a window open bad.
Can Damage Your House’s Healthy Atmosphere
If you live in an urban environment, especially near a heavily industrialized area, then opening your room’s window while sleeping won’t be a good idea. It’ll allow the pollutants present in the air to enter your room and make it unhealthy. In such a case, you should keep your room’s window shut while sleeping.
Pollen Allergy
If you’re allergic to pollen, you should keep your window closed, especially during springtime. Keep in mind that pollen will get into your room even if you leave your window ajar. So, you’ll need to keep your windows closed to protect yourself from pollen allergies.
Important Note: There are specialized filters available in the market that allow the air to get into the room but keep the pollen at bay. You can use these filters if you really want to open your room windows.
Burglaries
If you live in a place with a higher rate of burglaries, you should keep your room windows shut while sleeping. You don’t want to provide a burglar with an opportunity to enter your house and steal your valuables.
Is it Bad to Sleep with the Window Open in Winter?
According to Michelle Drerup, a sleep psychologist, the ideal temperature for sleeping is 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature range ensures the stability of your REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.
If the temperature of your sleeping environment is higher or lower than the range mentioned above, it’ll affect your overall sleep negatively.
Depending on the area you live in, winter can be extremely cold. Opening your window before sleeping will allow cold air to enter your room, making the environment even colder. Not only will it affect your sleep quality but it can also prevent you from sleeping.
If you find that you get too hot at night and need the window open, you may want to read our article on: Are bamboo sheets cooling?
Can Sleeping with a Window Open Make You Sick?
Whether sleeping with a window open makes you sick or not depends on the quality of air coming into your room from outside and the overall temperature of your sleeping space.
For example, if the air is extremely dry, it might lead to coughing. Additionally, you may fall victim to the common cold if your sleeping area’s environment becomes too cold after opening the window.
Conclusion: Is It Bad to Sleep with Window Open
Sleeping with a window open offers many benefits that not only help you with sleep but can also improve your sleeping area’s environment. However, it also has some disadvantages that you need to keep in mind.
We hope this guide will help you understand when you should open your window while sleeping and when you should keep it closed.