You probably value your sleep very much, right? Well, you should. Humans spend approximately one-third of their lives sleeping, and so much in our lives depends on a good night’s sleep. The quality of your sleep affects your overall health and, consequently, the quality of your entire life. Therefore, you must make sure you have optimal and healthy sleeping conditions.
How does a windowless bedroom fit in here? Well, it doesn’t. Sleeping in a room with no windows can have numerous negative effects on your sleep and health. Therefore, today, we are going to see what some of those effects are.
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Negative Effects of Sleeping in a Windowless Room
The Lack of Fresh Air Might Be Dangerous
A windowless room, no matter how spacious it might be, will always have stale air. Not being able to let some fresh air in is both unpleasant and potentially dangerous. Stale air is a perfect environment for bacteria and viruses. Considering the fact that you spend one-third of your life sleeping, a windowless bedroom definitely qualifies as a risky sleeping environment.
You Won’t Be Able to Cool Down the Room During Summer
Sleeping in a bedroom without any windows during summer might be a rather sweaty and unpleasant experience. You may ask yourself, why not simply install air conditioning? Well, sleeping with the A/C on can lead to a cold and similar health issues, even during summer months. On the other hand, a natural breeze or draft during a hot summer night will do wonders for your sleep. Sadly, you can’t have that in a windowless bedroom.
Here’s an article on how to cool a room with no windows.
Carbon Dioxide Might Build Up in Your Bedroom
On average, people spend 6–8 hours sleeping every night. All that breathing in a small and closed-off room can cause carbon dioxide to build up, especially if there’s more than one person sleeping in the bedroom. This probably sounds way more dangerous than it actually is, but it can cause certain health issues.
Do you ever wake up feeling hungover, even when you didn’t drink anything the night before? Do you sometimes have headaches in the morning? Or maybe you simply can’t get out of bed even if you weren’t up late last night? If the answer is yes, you might have too much carbon dioxide in your air, due to the lack of windows in your bedroom.
In some extreme cases, high levels of carbon dioxide can affect your ability to concentrate and think logically. They can also increase your heart rate and make you feel nauseous.
Having a window and keeping it open during the night can definitely help you feel better the next day. The fresh air will improve the quality of your sleep. You will feel less groggy and tired in the morning.
A Windowless Bedroom is a Perfect Environment for Mold Growth
The absence of windows in your bedroom means there’s a lack of airflow filtering in and out of your room. This can cause humidity to build up and lead to other problems. More precisely, stale air, humidity, and warm temperature create the perfect conditions for mold growth in your sleeping environment.
Naturally, this can be terrible for your health. As you probably know, mold spores are basically mold seeds that are released into the air by the mold growth. When you inhale them, these spores can cause various allergies that can leave you with itchy, watery, red eyes. Also, the spores can irritate your throat and cause you to have a runny nose.
Sleeping in a moldy environment for years and not being able to air out the spores can cause some serious health conditions. Some people can even develop asthma or bronchitis, so you should always pay attention to the humidity in your bedroom.
You might want to read: Mold On Mattresses: Symptoms, Causes, and Removal
A Room Without Windows Usually Contains a Lot of Odors
Odors and smells are definitely not as dangerous as carbon dioxide and mold. Nonetheless, they can make your stay in the bedroom unpleasant. Let’s be honest here; human bodies are living organisms that release various gases during sleep.
That is all perfectly natural. However, gases and poor ventilation are not a good combination, especially when it comes to the bedroom. The presence of unpleasant odors can have a negative effect on your sleep. Consequently, the lack of sleep can make you chronically tired and prone to other, more dangerous health conditions.
If possible, you should never sleep in a windowless bedroom. Sadly, some people have to settle for this kind of arrangement. If that is the case with you, remember; it’s not the end of the world. There are some things you can do to improve the air ventilation in your room. Let’s see how you can achieve this.
How to Improve Ventilation in Your Windowless Bedroom
Open the Bedroom Door and All Other Windows in Your Home
If you don’t have any windows in your bedroom, the only way to get some fresh air in is to keep your bedroom door open at all times. Also, make sure the other windows in your home are open as well. That way there will be some draft in your house, and you will be able to air out the bedroom.
This is one of the simplest home improvement tips, but it’s very effective in this scenario.
Use an Air Purifier or Dehumidifier
Air purifiers clean your home’s air, and that is their only purpose. They have fans that pull the air of your home through filters and they collect pollen, dust, and other dangerous airborne contaminants. Once the air purifier cleans the air, it releases it back into your home.
Dehumidifiers, on the other hand, remove humidity from the air. These devices extract the moisture from the air through condensation. They collect it in a collecting bucket and when this bucket is full, you can simply pour the water. Even though dehumidifiers don’t ventilate the air, they make it fresher and easier to breathe.
To Conclude
Sleeping in a windowless bedroom can have many negative effects on your overall health and should definitely be avoided. However, if you have to sleep in a poorly ventilated room, I hope the tips above will help you improve the air quality.
