The Window Debate: Does Sleeping with the Window Open or Closed Benefit Your Health?

Are you the ‘window open’ or ‘window closed’ team? This age-old issue keeps popping up. Because, what about now? We figured it out once and for all and asked an environmental specialist, skin therapist and sleep expert for advice.

If you don’t leave the window open, you can smell it in the morning. That musty smell… Open the window, then? We found out whether your health benefits from an open window.

Open the window against the flu?

Answer: Especially do it

Hatsjie! You wake up in the morning and sure enough, you have a cold. If only you had closed the window. No: a cold is caused by an infection, with a bacteria or a virus, virologist Jan Wilschut told us in an earlier article about flu and cold. And flu is caused by a flu virus, also called the influenza virus. So you cannot get sick from the cold itself. In fact, sleeping with the window open makes it easier for germs to be sucked out. Are you shivering from the cold while lying in bed? Then your resistance will decrease and you can indirectly become ill from an open window.

Window open for a good night’s sleep?

Answer: May, but not necessary

In a cool bedroom – a temperature between 15 and 19 degrees – you fall asleep faster and sleep better and deeper. To fall asleep, your body needs to cool down. In a cold room, your body is kept cold, allowing it to remain in its natural temperature cycle for longer. Is it necessary to leave your window open?

“The temperature in your bedroom is important, but it is especially advisable to look for what is comfortable for you. Then the chance of peaceful and good sleep is greatest,” says sleep professor Eus van Someren. “If you continually wake up with an open window due to traffic noise or because you feel unsafe, it is better to close the window. If a closed window makes you feel stuffy or hot, leave the window open.”

Something to take into account: warm feet. Your hands and feet suffer the most from the body’s attempts to limit heat loss. You may then start to shiver, which generates energy and does nothing to help you fall asleep. Van Someren tips: “Grab a hot water bottle or put on a pair of warm socks.”

Open the window for beautiful skin?

Answer: Give it a try

A day at the beach not only leaves you with a rosy feeling and tangled hair, but also with red cheeks. Wonderful, that fresh air! At the same time, we complain en masse about dry skin in the winter. Does sleeping with the window open or closed also have an effect on the skin?

“The fact that the skin often feels dry in winter has to do with the contrast between the cold outside air and the heat and dryness inside, which is often caused by heating,” explains dermatologist Koen Quint. “I don’t expect the skin to immediately become drier if you sleep with the window open in winter. In the summer it doesn’t seem to be a problem at all.”

Skin therapist and researcher Annelijn van Ireland adds: “It is mainly the humidity that affects the skin. Research shows that exposing the skin to a very low humidity of ten percent for a period of three hours increases the roughness and dryness of the skin and can especially affect the skin condition of people with eczema. However, the humidity does not quickly become that low. In winter the humidity is often slightly lower, but as long as it is between 40 and 60 percent, it is good for the skin to sleep with the window open.”

Window open for fresh air?

Answer: And and and!

We already mentioned that germs leave the room more easily when the window is open. But that’s not all: an open window also helps against air pollution. “Bedrooms are the most poorly ventilated rooms in homes: there are relatively many people here in a limited space and the interior doors are often closed,” says Jelle Laverge, researcher at the University of Ghent. “A bedroom produces very high concentrations of human waste, such as CO2, and chemicals emitted by building materials, furniture board and treated textiles.” Remon Jonker, Environment and Health advisor at GGD Amsterdam, agrees.

To achieve air quality that you dread, it is necessary to let fresh air flow in day and night and to suck out polluted air, reports Jonker. “This can be done by leaving the ventilation grilles open and running a mechanical ventilation system 24 hours a day.” What remains is to air out your bedroom by opening the window for about ten minutes every morning. No ventilation grille? Laverge: “Then leave the window ajar at night, so that there is always fresh air while you are in the room.”

Even if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of air pollution, it is better to ventilate, Jonker reports. “The indoor air is almost always dirtier than the outdoor air.” Only in case of major outdoor air problems, such as a fire in the neighborhood, a smog alarm or if you live on a very busy road, it is advisable to keep the bedroom window closed. Laverge: “If you don’t feel like keeping your window open at night, at least open the door. This is not always sufficient for good air quality, but it does have a major impact. And don’t forget to vacuum the bed, mattress, bedding and under the bed regularly.”

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2023-09-12 22:03:47
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