Most people use air purifiers solely for air purification purposes. However, there is more to having an air purifier than just improving the quality of air in all the rooms including your bedroom. If you have been having a bad night’s sleep, it could be because of the air quality in your bedroom, and that is where an air purifier comes in.
So then, you may ask whether an air purifier can help improve the quality of your sleep. The answer is yes. The air purifier improves the quality of the air circulating in your bedroom. Breathing fresh air enables you to sleep faster and have a long uninterrupted sleep.
Read on for a deeper insight into the causes of sleep issues. Learn how an air purifier will come in handy in helping you remedy the situation and more info on the usage of air purifiers in the bedroom.
Common Causes of Sleep Issues
Inadequate sleep triggers daytime drowsiness, lack of mental clarity, fatigue, and reduced ability to use one’s available resources for problem solving. There are different causes of sleep disorders. However, let us focus on those that can be fixed using an air purifier.
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Depression
Did you know that you can be depressed by so many things among them being a dirty environment? Now imagine your bedroom window is directly adjacent to the sewage plant or a factory nearby. Every night you have to inhale the exhaust fumes and contaminated air. Tell me why you wouldn’t fall into depression and fail to sleep if all you inhale is stale air and exhaust fumes. Luckily, an air purifier will come in handy and help you remedy the air quality problem.
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Hygiene
Still rounding off to air quality is the hygiene levels in your bedroom. You may have taken a shower and blow-dried your hair in the room. This means the room is full of smoke and smells from hair oil. This may linger in the room for a while, disrupting your normal sleep. However, with an air purifier (see my reviews), you will get rid of the unwanted smells and be able to fall asleep quickly in a clean environment.
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Air contaminants
To wrap up on the causes of sleep problems, get rid of all air contaminants summarizes everything. The first kind of air contaminant to deal with is in the form of gases and particles. Secondly, you need to ensure the air is free of allergens, mold spore, and dust, all of which can easily irritate your respiratory system and interrupt your sleep. Lastly, get rid of any unpleasant odors from the air.
All these things can cause you disturbance and keep you awake for long hours. Having an air purifier in operation is a sure way of getting rid of all these air impurities. Once the air is clean, you will be able to sleep well. Evidently, air purifiers play a big role in ensuring better sleep.
How Do Air Purifiers Improve Sleep
- Air purifiers trap up to 99.97% of airborne allergens like dust mites (see 24 easy ways to get rid of it), pet dander, pet hairs, dust, mold spores, and any type of bacteria that causes congestion and keeps you awake for the better part of the night. Such allergens cause such things as sneezing, congestion, sinus headaches, stuffy noses, and even shortness of breath. Such conditions make it almost impossible to sleep at all.
- Many sleepers fall asleep easily when there is white noise. White noise is a term referring to static frequencies that mix to form a soothing ambient sound. An air purifier releases the white noise, acting as a sleep aid. The sound even blocks the noises from outside, helping you drift away to sleep faster.
- One more way that air purifiers contribute to good sleep is by circulating fresh air. Most people sleep well in a cool environment with fresh air circulating. It cools your body temperature, burns calories, and helps you rest easy.
Thus, the role an air purifier plays in sleep improvement is one that cannot be achieved in any other way. Thus, you cannot ignore the importance of having an air purifier concerning your sleep.
What Is the Best Air Purifier for the Bedroom?
If you are improving indoor air quality with an air purifier, it could make sense in putting it in a room where you spend more time. Most people spend eight or more hours in the bedroom. In fact, scientists call it a sleep breathing zone. It is the major focus of air quality studies. Keeping the air in the bedroom pure has significant benefits in addition to cultivating better sleep. Thus, it is advisable to have an air purifier in here.
That said, you must decide what kind of air purifier you want in the bedroom. Would you prefer a small and quiet one or one that produces some white noise? To determine what air purifier you will install in your bedroom, it is important to consider some factors to do with air quality and the purifier’s performance in a bedroom setting. Here are the considerations to look at.
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Pollutants
As already mentioned, various pollutants may be present in the air. You may see particulate pollutants like pet dander and pollen. Gaseous pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may also be present. You can get an air purifier that can get rid of all these contaminants. Alternatively, if you can point out the specific contaminant that is problematic to you because of certain allergies, then you can be more, specific on the type of purifier to use. A purifier that is more specific to that contaminant could be more efficient for you and you will never have any sleep disruptions coming from the air quality.
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Room Size
The size of your bedroom is also a big determinant of the air purifier to purchase for your bedroom. All purifiers, of course, have a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) number, which determines how much air is being cleaned at a time. However, it could be almost futile if you buy a small purifier with a low CADR number, yet you have a large bedroom. It will not clean the air as quickly as it is supposed to in order to guarantee you quality air in the room. Thus, the size of an air purifier to buy should be proportional to the size of the room.
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Noise
Some people sleep better with the white noise produced by a purifier’s fan. Others like it if the air purifier is silent completely. Depending on your preferences, you will be able to choose the perfect purifier for your bedroom.
Should You Run the Air Purifier All Night?
One may wonder whether they should run the air purifier throughout the night as they sleep. The simple answer is yes. To get maximum result from your air purifier, you should let it run 24/7. At any given moment, it should be cleaning the air. What would be the using of investing in an air purifier, if you only run it for a few hours? This hypothetically means that you will be breathing fresh air only in the few hours when it is on, and the rest of the time, you breathe contaminated air. Makes no sense, right?
How Do You Get the Best Out Of Your Air Purifier?
Now you know that you can improve your sleeping using an air purifier. Unless there is any other issue depriving you of sleep apart from those an air purifier can solve. Now want to ensure that you are getting maximum benefits from your investment. Most purifiers are easy to use, but you can increase their efficiency by following the tips below.
- Leave it on all the time to ensure that the air is always cleaned. As already, mentioned, if you switch it off, then you are going to be breathing contaminated air. If you want to breathe fresh air all the time, the air purifier should be on all the time.
- If you have only one air purifier, it would work best if you leave it in the same room. In this case, you may want to keep ‘it in the bedroom, as this is the room where you spend most of the time when you are at home.
- Ensure that you place the purifier with clean air towards your breathing zone. This ensures that you always breathe the cleaned air first. If the air purifier is on 24/7, then you do not have to worry about the direction it is facing because the air is clean all the time.
- With time, the purifier’s filters collect many pollutants and they may even lose their efficiency. For maximum efficiency, ensure to replace the filters on time.
- Above all, do not just buy any purifier. Ionic air cleaners, for instance, emit ozone, which is a harmful lung irritant know to trigger allergies and asthma.
Overall, How Can You Tell That You Need an Air Purifier?
Apart from improving your sleep, there are several other reasons why you may need to purify the air in your house.
- Allergies– if you are always sneezing, it could be because of pollen, dust, and pet dander floating in the air you breathe. It is time you invested in an air purifier to solve this problem.
- Varnish and disinfectant smell– if your house is full of smell coming from disinfectants or varni0sh, it could be in order that you buy an air purifier that can get rid of volatile organic compound (VLOCs)
- Stale and stuffy air- if the air in your house smells bad, .may as result of nearby sewage, smoke, burnt food, exhaust fumes or anything that could give the air a foul smell, get a purifier. You do not want the discomfort of having to breathe in stale air.
- Snoring– allergens such as dander and pollen congest airways, making one to snore loudly. Use an air purifier to get rid of such allergens, and with time, you will be able to sleep better and snore less.
Related questions
Do air purifiers work for allergies?
Air purifiers get rid of air contaminants, some of which are known to trigger allergies. This means that continuously breathing fresh and cleaned air is a sure way of suppressing allergies.
Do air purifiers work for mold?
Yes, air purifiers are a good solution if you want to deal with mold. Apart from cleaning the air, it also captures fungi spores and mold spores, thus preventing their growth in your house.