Click play to listen to the How Indoor Air Quality Impacts Sleep article.

A good night of restful sleep has so many awesome benefits, like getting sick less often, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing stress, improving mood, and lowering your risk for long-term health problems.

But getting the sleep you need isn’t always easy. Factors like changing work hours, noisy neighbors, stress, and other health problems can keep you tossing and turning occasionally or on a regular basis.

Tips for creating an ideal sleeping environment often involve reducing noise and distractions, minimizing light, and investing in comfortable bedding. Here, we’re focusing on another essential component of a healthy sleep haven: the quality of your air.

Sleep and Air Quality

When assessing the quality of the air in your bedroom, consider the following areas: temperature, humidity, fresh air ventilation, and air purification.

Temperature

With temperature, you’ll want your bedroom to be somewhere between 60-67°F. This is because the body goes through normal temperature fluctuations throughout the day, naturally cooling off around nighttime. By creating a cooler environment, you can encourage natural feelings of tiredness and get to sleep more easily.

An AprilAire programmable thermostat can make it easier to achieve ideal temperatures throughout the day, allowing you to set a comfortable daytime temperature and automatically drop it at night to encourage restful sleep.

Humidity

Hot, muggy days in the summertime can impact your sleep. The Sleep Foundation reports that high humidity can interfere with your natural sleep cycle and disrupt the amount of time your body spends in the crucial stages of sleep. Low humidity can also disrupt sleep, and leave you with dry skin and eyes when you wake up.

To create a Healthy Humidity environment, (between 40–60%), explore the benefits of AprilAire whole-house humidifiers and dehumidifiers.

Air Purification

A 2017 study showed that people living in areas with high levels of outdoor air pollution were 60% more likely to sleep poorly than people in less polluted areas. In particular, that study measured the prevalence of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate pollution, both commonly created by automobile exhaust and the burning of other fuel sources.

Allergens like dust and pet dander can also impact your sleep. If you wake up stuffy or with itchy eyes, your sleeping area could benefit from air purification.

AprilAire whole-house air purifiers remove airborne dust, pollen, mold spores, germs, and pollutants throughout your home. For a supplemental air purifying option, or if you live in an apartment or somewhere you don’t have the ability to modify your home’s HVAC system, check out the AprilAire room air purifier.

Fresh Air Ventilation

A 2016 research study in Denmark found that students felt better and more rested after sleeping in a room with mechanical ventilation that removed excess levels of carbon dioxide and replaced it with fresh air.

Opening a window or door can introduce more ventilation, but it can also add more sound and light to your sleeping area. AprilAire fresh air ventilators introduce fresh air into the home to dilute VOCs (volatile organic compounds), airborne contaminants, and odors while your bedroom stays dark, quiet, and perfect for sleep.