How to improve your sleep with better bedroom air quality

Getting a decent amount of sleep is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your health. Even if you prioritize sleep and have a goal of getting seven or eight hours, you might not be able to achieve that if your bedroom air quality is poor.

Why should you improve your bedroom air quality?

Did you know that bedroom air quality is one of the most important factors for getting a good night’s sleep?  A recent study on the effects of bedroom air quality showed that the student participants who slept in rooms with variable temperatures, poor air quality, and high Co2 levels had a poorer sleep than those with better air quality, optimal temperatures, and low Co2.

The subjects reported that, as bedroom air became fresher, their sleep improved and they felt less sleeping the next day and better able to concentrate. Their logical thinking skills also improved, and that’s important whether you’re a student, a professional, or a parent.

How can you improve your bedroom air quality?

Opening your windows and ensuring your room is at the best temperature for sleeping is important, but so is reducing the allergens in the room, eliminating air pollutants, and adding some moisture to your air. All of these irritants will affect your sleep, and although it sounds like a tall order to remove them all, there are quite a few easy ways to do so.

Improving bedroom air quality with humidifiers and dehumidifiers

You might not think the moisture in your room could play such an important part on your sleep, but if you’ve ever compared your sleep on a hot, humid night to a crisp, cool night, you know that you sleep better when the moisture in the room is lower.

When it becomes humid outside, a dehumidifier will be your favourite small appliance. It removes excess moisture from the air, and because a constantly humid room can turn into a breeding ground for mold and fungi, it can decrease the conditions where mold can spread.

At the same time, a bedroom that’s too dry can result in dry skin and dry nasal passages, leaving you with nose bleeds and skin conditions. Because the mucus in your nose protects you from colds and flu, a dry room is also likely to make you sick. That’s where a humidifier comes in.  With a humidifier, you can control the moisture in your air and ensure it’s at optimal levels.

Reducing allergens in the bedroom with a stick vacuum

The simplest way to reduce the level of allergens in your bedroom is to choose the right vacuum clean to keep it clean. A stick vacuum or a hand held vacuum cleaner will make cleaning easy. You can use these appliances to vacuum your mattress on a weekly basis, get into the small corners of your bedroom where dust collects, and if you have a high-reaching stick vacuum, remove the cobwebs and dust strings from your ceiling.

Because many models of stick or hand held vacuum have whole machine true HEPA filters, they capture up to 99% of allergens that can affect your sleep. Any allergen like dander or dust is removed and trapped in the filter, and the machine will only expel clean air.

Choose an air purifier to filter allergens

They may work silently beside your bed or on your dresser, but an air purifier is constantly working to improve your bedroom air quality. Every time you turn them on they filter allergens and dust particles from your bedroom air and send out a clear stream of fresh, clean air.

You can choose air purifiers that double as a fan or a heater, letting you heat, cool, and filter allergens out of your bedroom’s air. Many air purifiers also have true HEPA filters to remove 99% of allergens, and there’s sizes of air purifier both large and small to suit your sleeping space.

Diffusers and essential oils to improve bedroom air quality

Lavender and other essential oils can help you sleep, and the easiest way to bring in the scent of lavender is to set up a diffuser. A diffuser will let you enjoy aromatherapy and use different essential oils safely, and they emit a nice mist you can have on continuously throughout the day or just before you sleep.

Some diffusers will double as a night light or a sleep machine, playing different soothing sounds while emitting a slow burst of scent that can improve your sleep quality.

Maintaining the perfect temperature for sleep

Hot summer nights or icy cold winter evenings? You know that if you’re too hot or too cold, it can be hard to sleep.

Sleep experts say that your brain works to achieve an optimal body temperature, and if your room is too cold or too warm, it continues to work while you’re sleeping. That constant quest for warmth or heat can cause you to wake up, and if you wake up frequently you won’t be able to achieve deep, restorative REM sleep.

Thankfully it’s easy to maintain the perfect climate in your bedroom when you have a heater, fan, or air conditioner.

Because heaters and fans are essentially portable, you can place them anywhere you’d like to heat up or cool down. Air conditioners come in a stand alone or window unit, and depending on their BTU, can cool off a small room and make it the perfect temperature for sleeping on a hot summer night.

There’s also evaporative cooler fans. Also known as swamp coolers, these small appliances are an environmentally friendly and healthy way to cool off a small space. Just like when you step out of a swimming pool and you’re cooled by air hitting moisture on your body, an evaportive cooler draws in warm air, sends it over pads moistened iwth water, and recirculates the cooled air back into your room.

An evaporative cooler can drop the temperature in your room by 12 to 20 degrees depending on your unit.