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On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

gwern.net

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Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#61
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd need hundreds of houseplants to mitigate the co2 created by one person completely, I am not sure if a few would be better than nothing.

There are more variables at play than just co2, humans are not perfectly elastic spherical CO2 emitters ;) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study https://www.apa.org/monitor/apr01/greengood.aspx

Do you know a chart of how fast a plant turns over carbon dioxide? I'm trying to search, but the results are mostly global warming related.

Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#62

Self experiments like these are a great re-enforcement of how insanely hard it is to do accurate, reproducible science. This submission tells us absolutely nothing due to the lack of rigor applied. SO many potential confounding variables, there is zero value in what is being done here.

Here's a Nature opinion piece arguing in favor of N=1 studies: https://www.nature.com/news/personalized-medicine-time-for-o...

And another more recent one https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07535-2

Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#64
post #25

Fire safety experts recommend that bedroom doors be closed at night: https://closeyourdoor.org/

Maybe they should change it to closeyourdoors-crackyourwindow.org instead...

Police recommand you close your windows to prevent breakins.

Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#65
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our HVAC system has a “circulate” option that we sometimes keep on. It turns the variable speed blower on the lowest setting a few times per hour and keeps air flowing well.

Yeah, we have a Nest in our house and I have it set to circulate the air for 15 minutes out of every hour. We started running it like that only at night as we found that the bedroom would get pretty warm during the summer while the center of the house (where the thermostat was) would stay nice and cool, but after running it like that for a bit, decided to just let that routine run all 24 hours of the day since it equ…

Wow, I never realized that this would help equalize temps through the house. Our bedroom gets so hot when 2 people sleep in it at night. I have been considering putting a vent in the wall above the door so heat could escape to the rest of the house.

Though all this time, I thought it was just the heat. I wonder if the CO2 levels are also what is keeping me waking up at 4-5am every day...

I'm going to try this circulation trick with my Nest now and see how it goes.

Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#66
i can't wait for the final results of this analysis.

for a long time i've wondered why i was so sleepy. i often work out of my apartment (a new building), and NYC being NYC, my windows and doors are often closed to allow for air conditioning.

i bought an awair sensor, and when i plugged it in, i was getting readings of 1000-1500ppm on CO2. immediately started ventilating the apartment, outside weather be damned. impossible to tell, but i feel more awake and healthier in general now. i also make it a point to get outside more and work more from my office (which is very big and airy and lightly attended).

Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#67
post #29

I was lucky to get my hands on 5 proper co2 sensors from university, while I was teaching and working. So plenty of test places. What I found: -Just a couple of hours in a office, without ventilation spikes the co2 enough to make everyone dizzy and tired by the end of the day. Keeping eye on the meter and ventilating properly, increased everyones productivity and people werent so tired by the end of the day. - Classr…

There was an NBA coach who use to obligate his players to sleep with at list some inches/centimeters of air access in their windows hotel rooms the night before playing an important game/match. Don't remember what Team.

Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#68

i can't wait for the final results of this analysis. for a long time i've wondered why i was so sleepy. i often work out of my apartment (a new building), and NYC being NYC, my windows and doors are often closed to allow for air conditioning. i bought an awair sensor, and when i plugged it in, i was getting readings of 1000-1500ppm on CO2. immediately started ventilating the apartment, outside weather be damned. impo…

I just want to say that while suggestive, correlation and causation yadda yadda. If you find that you’re tired all of the time, prone to falling asleep whenever you sit down somewhere, and especially if you snore or often wake up with a headache...Get A Sleep Study! You may have sleep apnea, which is quite common and easy to treat. These days you can get a take-home kit under most insurance, and if you need the full clinical study they’ll go from there.

It’s all totally painless, and the change proper treatment makes if you need it can’t be overstated. Sleep apnea could also conceivably make you more sensitive to nocturnal hypercapnia.

Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#69
This is especially pronounced at high altitude, and when running a furnace in the winter. I keep large black tents (4x4 ft or 2x4) in every bedroom in the house, and grow kale, spinach, chard, peas, tomatoes, etc inside (with handmade COB LED lights).

I don't have any sensors to get a real idea of the difference in CO2 it makes, but it allows us to run the furnace less at night (heat from the lights), and makes a noticeable difference in humidity ( very dry air here ).

Also, we get about 1-2 family meals / week of food at full capacity ( total 4x8 grow space and 800 watts of light running only at night ).

Not economical and takes a lot of maintenance, but it's a fun hobby from which we all feel the benefits.

Re: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

#70
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, we have a Nest in our house and I have it set to circulate the air for 15 minutes out of every hour. We started running it like that only at night as we found that the bedroom would get pretty warm during the summer while the center of the house (where the thermostat was) would stay nice and cool, but after running it like that for a bit, decided to just let that routine run all 24 hours of the day since it equ…

Wow, I never realized that this would help equalize temps through the house. Our bedroom gets so hot when 2 people sleep in it at night. I have been considering putting a vent in the wall above the door so heat could escape to the rest of the house. Though all this time, I thought it was just the heat. I wonder if the CO2 levels are also what is keeping me waking up at 4-5am every day... I'm going to try this circula…

It works fantastically!

At first I was worried about the extra electricity usage or the extra wear and tear on the HVAC system, but after trying it at the recommendation of a neighbor, I've been nothing but happy, and I haven't noticed any change in my electricity bill so there's no worries there.

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