Fan In Bedroom At Night
As spring makes way for summer, it's about time your fan gets into action. The soothing air from your fan dries sweat and cools you down, but is sleeping with a fan on bad for health?
The constant breeze may impact the health of some people, while for others sleeping with the fan on enhances comfort. In this article, we discuss how sleeping with a fan can affect your health, ways to tackle the downsides of keeping the fan on, and why using a fan is still beneficial for many people.
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Downsides of Sleeping With a Fan On
Most people enjoy the cooling and comfortable breeze of a fan. But excess wind makes the air dry. When you sleep, this dry air may affect your breathing, causing sleep disruptions. It can even aggravate your allergies, making you uncomfortable throughout the night. Below, we list 4 disadvantages of sleeping with the fan on.
Triggers Allergies
Along with air, fans also circulate dust, dust mites, spores, pollen, and other allergens in the room. Inhaling these allergens could trigger reactions such as excessive sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, itchy throat, and breathing difficulties. If you are prone to asthma, allergies, and hay fever, these indoor allergens may worsen your symptoms.
Causes Congestion
Leaving the fan on can dry out your nose and throat. Excessive dryness triggers the overproduction of mucus, causing sinusitis, headaches, and a stuffy nose.
To alleviate the dryness, you can drink some water, but waking up to drink over and over interrupts sleep.
Dries Eyes and Skin
If you sleep with your eyes open, the air from the fan can dry your eyes out.
A constant blast of air may also cause dry skin and irritation. Using moisturizers at bedtime may tackle the problem to some extent.
May Aggravate Muscle Aches
Cold air circulating close to you can cause muscle contractions. If you already have pre-existing muscle pain, it may worsen when you sleep with the fan on. The concentrated flow of cool air makes muscles tense up and cramp.
Sleeping with the air conditioner on at night can cause the same problem. To prevent waking up sore, it's best to set your room temperature between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit.
Minimizing the Negative Effects of Sleeping With the Fan On
Though sleeping with the fan on may be bad for your health, there are ways to minimize its negative effects. The fan's speed and distance from you determine its degree of impact on your health. Keeping the fan further away from you or setting a timer can prevent nasal congestion, headaches, muscle aches, and eye dryness.
Use Air Filters
Air filters in the room can reduce the circulation of dust-mites, spores, and other allergens. Using one may be beneficial for those prone to allergies.
Buy a Rotating Fan
A rotating fan prevents the constant flow of air in one direction. Evenly distributed airflow keeps you cool while potentially preventing stiff neck, muscle aches, dry nose, mouth, and eyes.
Set a Timer
You can set a timer on the fan so it turns off an hour or a couple of hours after your bedtime. It eliminates the risk of a cold breeze blowing throughout the night, which can leave you feeling uncomfortable.
Keep Fan at a Distance
If you keep the fan 2 to 3 feet away, the concentrated airflow won't affect you as much. You'll have a light breezy sleeping environment instead of a gust of air blowing directly on you. If you sleep with the ceiling fan on, keep the fan on a moderate speed to prevent excessive dryness.
Benefits of Sleeping With a Fan On
It's difficult to imagine a hot and humid summer without a fan. You need a fan to keep you cool when the temperatures soar. To reap the benefits of the cool air while minimizing the downsides, keep your fan at a distance and on medium speed.
Maintains Comfort
Hot sleepers tend to wake up sweating. Disturbed sleep leads to daytime drowsiness, affecting productivity. Sleeping with the fan on prevents overheating. Even if you sweat at night, the breeze dries away excess moisture, keeping you cool and comfortable while you sleep.
Promotes Air Circulation
People often prefer to keep their windows closed because they don't want to invite pollen and other allergens from outside.
Without an open door or windows, your room feels stuffy because there's no air movement. Turning the fan on promotes air circulation in the room. Constant circulation of air throughout the night helps in maintaining a breezy and comfortable sleep environment.
Cuts Your Electricity Bill
Though a fan isn't as effective as an air conditioner, it consumes less energy. You can save on electricity bills during the summer months by using your fan instead of the air conditioner.
To make the air from your fan even cooler, you can freeze a few water bottles throughout the day and keep them on a tray in front of the fan at bedtime. The air passing over these freezing water bottles brings a cool breeze much like an air conditioner. Though you may not feel the cool breeze through the night, it can last up to a couple of hours.
Helps Prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Approximately 2500 infants die of SIDS every year in the United States, making SIDS the third leading cause of infant mortality. High temperatures and increased carbon dioxide levels in the room increase the risk of SIDS. According to some studies, keeping the fan on may help prevent SIDS. Circulation of air lowers room temperature and decreases the concentration of carbon dioxide, addressing some of the causes of SIDS.
Other Ways to Sleep Cooler
You may not choose to sleep with the fan on if the dry air causes you to feel uncomfortable or disrupts your sleep. But there are other measures to reduce heat while sleeping. You can follow these steps, with or without the fan, for a cooler sleeping environment.
Light-Colored Curtains
Curtains block sunlight, keeping your room cool. Lighter colored curtains are preferred because they reflect heat. Darker shades tend to absorb and trap heat.
Shower Before Bed
Taking a warm shower before bed causes your body to heat up, and once you step out of the shower, your body naturally cools down. This process of cooling keeps you comfortable and makes you fall asleep faster.
Wearing loose clothes leave room for your muscles to relax as you sleep, while a breathable fabric ensures your clothes don't trap heat.
Use a Cool Mattress and Bedding
Memory foam mattresses with cooling technologies, such as plant-based memory foam, gel memory foam, or latex foam may feature heat-wicking additives like copper or graphite. Innerspring and hybrid beds promote airflow within the mattress, keeping you cool too.
Breathable sheets made with materials such as cotton, bamboo, and Tencel® are beneficial for hot sleepers as well. They wick away moisture and don't trap heat.
Our Amerisleep Mattresses
As a healthy alternative to sleeping with the fan on, you can try any one of our Amerisleep mattresses. Our beds feature plant-based oils, making them cooler than other mattresses. Our hybrid mattresses allow for even better airflow than our memory foam mattresses since they contain a layer of individually wrapped coils at the base.
Our mattress covers are made of a soft, breathable, and absorbent material to wick away heat and moisture, keeping you cool and comfortable. The Bio-Pur® material in the top comfort layer conforms to your body, providing pressure-point relief. You can choose from one of five different firmness levels to suit your comfort.
Cost of Amerisleep Mattresses
All our mattresses are manufactured in the United States, and they come with a risk-free 100-night trial. We offer a 20-year warranty, covering defects and sagging greater than 0.75 inches. That way, you can rest assured that you're getting exactly the sleep you want and need for decades to come. No need to worry about buyer's remorse.
| Mattress | Price |
|---|---|
| AS1 | $909 |
| AS2 | $979 |
| AS2 Hybrid | $1329 |
| AS3 | $1049 |
| AS3 Hybrid | $1399 |
| AS4 | $1259 |
| AS5 | $1539 |
| AS5 Hybrid | $1889 |
| Amerisleep Organica | $1849 |
Our Amerisleep Sheets
We have two types of sheets, our Amerisleep Percale Cotton Sheets and Amerisleep Tencel® Sheets. Both fabrics are extremely breathable. While the natural cotton fibers are light and airy, Tencel® fibers are super absorbent.
Our percale cotton sheets contain long-staple fibers, making them soft, luxurious, and durable. The Tencel® sheets are smooth and have a sheen to them. Cotton sheets get softer with every wash, while Tencel® sheets are soft from the beginning and resist wrinkling.
Cost of Amerisleep Sheet Sets
Our sheets are available in seven standard sizes, including the difficult-to-find split-king size. All Amerisleep sheet sets include 1 oversized flat sheet, 1 fitted sheet with 18-inch deep pockets, and 2 pillow covers.
| Sheets | Price |
|---|---|
| Amerisleep Percale Cotton Sheets | $150 |
| Amerisleep Tencel® Sheets | $230 |
FAQs
Is it safe to sleep with windows open at night?
Open windows improve ventilation, promoting better air circulation. Keeping windows open at night dissipates the concentration of carbon dioxide levels in the room. But whether to sleep with windows open or not is a matter of personal preference. Some people don't feel safe with the idea of sleeping with windows open because it could invite bugs or pollen.
Do fans trigger coughing?
Dry air, whether from the fan, air conditioner, or heater, can trigger coughs. You can use a humidifier to add moisture to the air. Moist air also prevents the circulation of dust mites and other indoor air allergens, irritating your nasal passage and throat.
Can sleeping with a fan on cause headaches?
Sleeping with a fan on can cause sinus headaches. Dry air can dry up your nasal passage, leading to mucus overproduction. This excess mucus flows into your sinuses, blocking them and causing headaches.
Conclusion
The fan is a cost-effective way to keep you cool during the hot and humid summer nights. But sleeping with the fan on may trigger congestion, dryness, sore muscles, or allergic reactions in some people. If you have allergies but sleep hot, try using air filters and humidifiers to reduce symptoms of allergies.
Source: https://amerisleep.com/blog/is-sleeping-with-a-fan-on-bad-for-health/
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