Aaaah…a good night’s rest. It’s what we all look forward to after working or playing hard all day. Sleep well, and you awake refreshed and ready to conquer a new day. Sleep poorly? That’s a totally different story. But apparently, improving the quality of your sleep may be as simple as adding an air purifier to your bedroom.
Using an air purifier in the bedroom has been shown to improve sleep quality by decreasing the number of wake-ups and periods of wakefulness during the night. Sleeping with an air purifier may help you fall asleep faster and wake feeling more refreshed. (follow the journal)
If you struggle with poor sleep night after night, it’s time to take some action. Read on to see how using an air purifier in your bedroom can improve your sleep and put you on the path to better days.
Can Air Quality Really Affect Sleep?
A lot of things can affect our sleep experiences:
- Stress
- Pain
- Fatigue
- Strenuous physical activity
- Sadness or depression
- Noise
- Light
However, in one study of 256 university students, 55.1% reported that air quality in the room affected their sleep.
5 Sleep Benefits of Using an Air Purifier according to the Study
With the above statistic in mind, it is thought that using an air purifier in a bedroom can help deal with any impurities or air problems that would typically hinder sleep—and a study published in Sleep examined this idea.
Researchers installed an Alen BreatheSmart 45i air purifier in participants’ bedrooms for four weeks and monitored sleep quality with the SleepScore Max Sleep Tracker.
- Air Purifier: The Alen BreatheSmart 45i air purifier is recommended for dust, allergens, pet dander, pollen, and odors. It is designed to quietly clean the air of an 800 square foot room and automatically adjust its fan speed based on the air quality.
- Sleep Tracker: The SleepScore Max Sleep Tracker used in the study consists of a bedside sensor that measures the quality and quantity of sleep and, based on your sleep data, offers personalized advice and products that will improve your sleep habits.
The results showed several measurable and anecdotal benefits, as you’ll see below.
1. Increased Sleep Efficiency
Sleep efficiency is defined as a ratio between total time asleep (TST) to total time in bed (TIB). Study participants were awake less during the night. With an air purifier running 24/7, as mentioned in the study, you can expect a higher percentage of actual sleep time for the number of hours you are in bed.
2. Improved Sleep Maintenance
There are few more irritating things than to have a set amount of time to sleep, only to find yourself waking up before you have to. Once you fall asleep, the goal is to stay asleep for however long you planned or wanted. This is called sleep maintenance.
Air purifiers such as the Alen BreatheSmart model have been shown to create an environment that helps you stay asleep without waking up too early to get up but too late to go back to sleep.
3. Better Sleep Continuity
With higher quality air resulting from the air purifier, people often stay asleep for longer periods after they initially fall asleep. This allows sleepers to reap more of the benefits of the sleep cycle because their sleep isn’t interrupted by waking up or restlessness.
According to the Sleep Foundation, “progressing smoothly multiple times through the sleep cycle, composed of four separate sleep stages, is a vital part of getting truly high-quality rest.”
4. Fall Asleep Faster
The SleepScore Sleep Tracker app claims that 60% of its users fall asleep faster. Participants in the air purifier study self-reported that using the purifier helped them fall asleep faster.
Quite possibly, cleaner air in the bedroom means less frequent itchy eyes, fewer coughing sessions, or drippy noses—all of which disrupt and disturb sleep.
5. Improved Restfulness
After 4 weeks of sleeping with the air purifier, study participants felt like they slept better all-round, and most excitedly, woke up feeling much more rested than before. It makes sense that all the benefits already discussed should work together and help you feel more rested and energetic the next morning.
Conclusion
More sleep doesn’t always equal a more rested feeling, but if you’ve been getting way less than the recommended amount or waking up sluggish, it’s possible that improving the air quality around you can also improve your sleep.
What can it hurt? Why not give an air purifier a try, along with a sleep sensor, to see just how good your sleep experience can be?
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