The picture of a good night's sleep: A room in which the windows are shut! Photo: Getty Images
For the last three and a half years, I have lived on the ground floor of an apartment building on a reasonably quiet street, and in those years, I have come to the conclusion that sleeping with the windows open is overrated. I know, I know, I'm basically telling you I hate fresh air, but the truth is, there are many advantages to sleeping with the windows closed, chief among them: Actually sleeping.
In any season, noise is the primary reason for hitting the hay with your windows locked up tight. While I live in an urban locale where there are people on the streets at all hours and garbage pick-ups right outside my bedroom at dawn, noise is a problem everywhere. In the suburbs, you have barking dogs and the neighbor's barbecue that turned into a late-night affair. There's not even peace in the country: I recall opening the windows of a room in a country house on a cool summer night and looking forward to the summer breeze lulling me to sleep. Sadly, that blissful slumber was broken by a very early morning riding lesson given by an instructor with a booming voice at the neighboring horse farm.
Another reason to sleep with the windows shut is to enjoy the comforts of air conditioning. For years I was one of those New Yorkers who proudly declared, "Oh, I don't have an air conditioner." I thought people were wimps to need AC (I grew up in a house without it), and I shuddered at the thought of sleeping in all that stale air. However, my last apartment came with an in-window unit that I reluctantly accepted and used on only the hottest days. Today, I've caved in completely: I bought an AC unit for my current pad and if the temperature is anywhere in the upper-70s or higher when I'm ready to retire, I close the windows and fire up the air conditioner. Because you know what? Sleeping soundly is priceless. The cool air, the decreased humidity and the sweet white noise of the air conditioner's hum add up to a better night's sleep than fresh air through an open window.
Bugs are yet another argument against open windows. Even with screens in place, mosquitoes can work their way in to the bedroom and feast on you while you sleep. One summer in Brooklyn things got so bad (the borough was experiencing a major mosquito infestation that year) that I took to putting on bug spray before bed in the hopes that it would let me sleep in peace -- I now realize I should have just shut the window and turned on the AC.
While I, myself, am not an allergy sufferer (thank goodness), those who are afflicted with seasonal irritations have further motivation to keep those windows firmly shut. Throwing your windows wide open leaves you vulnerable to pollen from trees, grasses and weeds; sleeping in an air-conditioned room with a clean filter is the best bet to keep symptoms at bay.
Now, I'm not such a curmudgeon that I don't enjoy the kiss of a cool summer's breeze as I slumber, especially on a rainy summer night when the air is just so, but I will say that more and more often I'm leaving my windows shut. And I love it.
What about you guys? Do you sleep with windows open or shut?
Reader comments (Page 1 of 3)
It's good to have fresh air entering your bedroom from another opened screened window but not in the same bedroom.
ReplyThe old cliche of opening all the windows and sleeping with a stack of blankets especially in cold weather is not heathy. Although keeping warm that way, it's harmful to your lungs drawing in cold air while asleep.
It is not harmful at all. Fresh air is good for you.
Then going outside when the temperature is 30 degrees would be even worse because the same method you use to breathe when you are sleeping is the one you use when you are wide awake.
This writer sounds like a typically maladjusted self-centered New Yorker. If living conditions are so bad move out of NY. The country is much better and the noisy riding lesson an exception. Some people will find fault with any environment. Using an air conditioner all the time is not environmentally friendly. Fresh air is free but can't be found much in NY. After living in NY for 40 years I moved to the midwest. It's much better.
Replyplease folks, do not encourage the city folks to come out to the country. they want street lights, sidewalks, fire hydrants, manicured lawns and if things dont please theire narrow minded worthless brains they may very well organize and dictate foolisness and mahem. Oh by the way, the smell of fresh spread poop is good for the lungs. That is an other thing the foolish city folks detest
OOHHH Poor baby; the noise in the city keeps you awake when you leave your windows open. The noise in the sububs keep you awake due to back yard bar-b-q's, the noise on the farm keeps you awake, because the riding instructor is loud. Deal with it.
ReplyWhat if you lived in the city, and gun fire kept you awake?
Or the smoke from the Bar_b_q was a neighbor's house on fire?
Or the riding instructor was an auctioneer selling off someone's farm?
There are a lot more problems to keep you awake at night, than street noise, Bar-B-Q's and
loud riding instructors.
YOU FORGOT---WITH THE WINDOWS OPENED ALL NIGHT YOU LET IN THE HUMID AIR WHICH IN TURN MAKES IT EVEN STICKIER THE NEXT DAY AND AFTER AWHILE TO MUCH HUMIDITY CAN CAUSE MOLD AND MILDEW TO FORM---TRY TO GET RID OF THAT EASY.
ReplyWhile I agree that sleeping with your windows open and unlocked is an open invitation to all types of criminals, I object to your racist comment about Mexicans. They are no more/less guilty than our home grown criminal ........of which we have plenty.
ReplySound like some of you need to move out of the city......go small town.....less crime, less noise. Sleep with windows open most nights....only need air on during hot, humid summer nights. The cool night air give me the best, deep sleep that I can find.
ReplyMore than anything else sleeping in a nice air conditioned room is far better than sticking to the sheets with humidity.
ReplyI guess Http://www.homeremediesguide.info the bugs and noise would make me want to keep the windows shut.
ReplyIt's a/c for me all the way. I can't sleep with any outside noise coming in or heat/humidity. The malcontents can call me anything they like, it matters not to me. What I care about is a good night's sleep, and I get it with the a/c running.
ReplyLara.....you're right! Anyone who thinks 'fresh' air is better just isn't thinking clearly. What is fresh about moisture, bugs, heat, stickiness, sweat???? I'm cooooollllll!
Sadly, here in NW Florida, if we open my windows after a nice cooling rainfall, the humidity is so dense it sets off my smoke detectors...gets on the sensor plates and drives us nuts! If the humidity is below say..80%, then we can open our windows and enjoy what mother nature has to offer us...which is a blessing..cool breeze, smell of fresh air, ...we live in the country...no equestrian training facilities here! It is quiet, except sometimes for the occasional coyote packs running through the cotton fields in the wee hours of the morning...they can get a little noisy, but for the most part, quiet, cool, and wonderful!
ReplyMy current home doesn't have A/C. There's no point in getting it for the two weeks out of the year when I'd need it. I can tough it out for two weeks, use a box fan and open the windows once the temperature drops at night. So that's what I do.
ReplyMy apartment in Las Vegas had A/C, but I only used it when daytime highs went over 100. I opened the windows during the warm parts of the year whenever the temperature outside was lower than the temperature in the apartment. I used the heater a little in winter, mostly at night, and opened the windows whenever it was warm enough to do so. Yes, it was noisier, but my electricity bill was 1/4 of the average electricity bill in my complex. That was reason enough to open the windows.
Spend under $20 for one of those wireless thermometer setups that reports both inside and outside temperatures. I save a lot more than $20 a month on my utility bill by using my windows as climate control. I do use dowels/bars in my window tracks so they can't be opened more than about 6". That's enough to deter most burglars. A determined serial killer wouldn't be deterred by even locked, closed windows so why bother?
I don't know. I think the air in the Adirondacks is pretty clean.
ReplyThis article is silly. When it is nice out, you don't need your air conditioning on. What did we do before A/C? Oh, let me guess....we opened the windows. As to those worried about people climbing in their open windows, sheesh, either move to a safer neighborhood or get some help for your paranoia.
ReplyWell said, David. We live in an artificial environment way too much. Cold? Close the window. Hot? open it--and if you need more air movement get a window fan-(they're cheap!) And if you live in a high-crime area, I feel very sorry for you--MUST you stay there??
@Adelle . You sleep with the windows open and LOCKED sometimes? Gee maybe I should try that.
ReplyI would think it all depends on what the weather is like when you are sleeping. Running the A/C is best to keep out the summer heat, but especially the humidity, which is bad for your home. If you have cool nights with no humidity, then by all means keep the windows open, with screens in place. It's all a matter of what time of the year it is and what is most comfortable for each person while they are sleeping. Just two rules to live by.....in the winter, don't let the room get too cold, and in the summer, don't let the humidity into the house. The rest of the time it's all personal choice.
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