People slept better, awakened less in the night and felt better the next day.
Opening the windows or doors before going to bed can improve sleep quality, new research finds.
Both measures help to decrease levels of carbon dioxide and increase air quality.
In fresher air, people sleep better, awaken less in the night and feel better the next day.
The study’s authors summarise their results:
“It has been shown that when bedroom air quality was improved in these experiments:
- Subjects reported that the bedroom air was fresher.
- Sleep quality improved.
- Responses on the Groningen Sleep Quality scale improved.
- Subjects felt better next day, less sleepy, and more able to concentrate.
- Subjects’ performance of a test of logical thinking improved.”
In the studies the fresher air was achieved first by opening the window and secondly by using a special vent.
Of course, opening the window is not always possible because of noise pollution and heat conservation.
When it is possible, though, ventilation can have a dramatic effect on air quality and on sleep, the authors write:
“There is no doubt that both interventions did improve bedroom air quality – the effective outdoor air supply rate was found to be greater by a factor of at least 10 if the window was open and by a factor of at least four if an air supply fan was covertly operated whenever the CO2 concentration was above 900 ppm.”
The study was published in the journal Indoor Air (Strøm-Tejsen et al., 2015).
