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On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality

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

#271

Post by co2_throwaway »

aicioara wrote: post #245
co2_throwaway wrote: post #174

This might be completely unrelated, but let's give it a shot: I've noticed that sometimes after spending extended periods of time (in the magnitude of hours) in very close proximity with a significant other (e.g. cuddling, kissing, etc.), I feel groggy, dizzy, and have brain fog/difficulty focusing. Could this be related to CO2 levels? I've been feeling it today and was wondering if it is hormone related, but CO2 cou…

I had that happening. For me it was an allergic reaction which slightly blocked my sinuses and reduced the air intake. The allergy was previously undetected because I do/did not use the same cosmetic products that my partner uses. A antihistamine nasal spray may help, but check with an ENT.

Interesting, so does that fall under the category of "mild hypoxia" or something?

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

#272

Post by fao_ »

krageon wrote: post #237
JauntyHatAngle wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the answer to your question is, yes, however you want to be sleepy due to a need for sleep rather than impaired function. CO2 is damaging to your body, I am not an expert in these matters however I know that much. Becoming tired due to CO2 is in effect a minor form of gassing yourself, and during sleep high CO2 is bad for you and I would assume does not give you high quality sleep - same as alcohol makes can…

Do you have some followup sources for these fairly strong claims?

https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=sl...

Most of the claims are trivially verified true with a proper understanding of hypoxia and the effects on the brain.

Of course you want to be sleepy, but you don't want that sleepiness to be due to hypoxia because hypoxia is known to damage the brain.

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

#273

Post by dangravell »

throw0101a wrote: post #265
AngryData wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has built my fair share of houses and worked on many more over the last 25 years, I have to agree that our ability to seal air better than ever is causing problems, especially if you don't have forced air heating and cooling running all the time. People just completely ignore or haven't ever thought about room ventilation, positive or negative room pressures, and where and how to ventilate to the outsi…

A house should not breathe. A catchy mantra I've run across is "seal tight, ventilate right": * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIcrXut_EFA Mold is not a ventilation problem, but rather a moisture control problem. Keep the humidity down (especially with whole house dehumidifiers), and eliminate condensation points (by eliminating thermal bridging), and it goes away. While the above video, which is from the really goo…

> A house should not breathe Well - first you have to define what "breathing" is, because I've talked to tradesmen who thought it meant allowing air in and out...

Closer to the correct definition shared amongst building scientists is to allow the passage of water vapour. Many engineers would disagree with the approach of having non-breathable walls. If you're renovating old properties you are putting a LOT of faith in your VCL if you go this route.

I like the concept of breathability personally, allied with high air tightness. But you have to use the right materials and, crucially, install it right.

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

#274

Post by dangravell »

throw0101a wrote: post #266
dangravell wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As someone who has built my fair share of houses and worked on many more over the last 25 years, I have to agree that our ability to seal air better than ever is causing problems, especially if you don't have forced air heating and cooling running all the time. People just completely ignore or haven't ever thought about room ventilation, positive or negative room pressures, and where and how to ventilate to the out…

You may be interested in the "perfect wall" concept by Joseph Lstiburek: * https://buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-001-the-p... Also check out Matt Risinger. They both have various good content on building science.

Thanks for the reference. Trouble is there is no one "perfect" - depends on so many other constraints.

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

#275

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

throw0101a wrote: post #269
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never considered an electric furnace - I come from a land of ice and snow and the only real option is natural gas.

What you want is not an "electric furnace", which uses electrical heating elements, but a heat pump per one of the other replies. Mitsubishi has some that can extract heat from the outside air even down to -30C. Most though only work down to about +5C (they're used in more temperate climates). So check the specs. They also work for AC.

The highest BTU heat pump I see is 46,000 - that's not going to be a solution for a lot of homes, which need 30,000 / 1000 sq ft, not to mention loss in efficiency as the heat drops so you're getting less than that when you need it the most.

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

#276

Post by efficax »

I read somewhere that in Germany it is (or was) traditional to "luften" the rooms of a house every day by opening the windows for a while to let fresh air in (even in the winter). After hearing about this I started doing it myself, and I feel like it's improved the experience of working from home. Even when the subzero temps descend on my city in the next few days, I'll open a few windows for a while just to make sure the air stays fresh.

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

#277

Post by jere »

farnsworth wrote: post #205
jere wrote: post #12

I'm eager to hear the results. I recently got an Awair 2.0 after seeing this talk by DHH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRqh8oLY7Ik It quickly confirmed that, without turning my thermostat fan to "ON", my bedroom CO2 jumps from about 1000 ppm to 2000 ppm within a couple hours of us going to sleep. In the fall, my wife and I started waking up in the middle of the night feeling like we couldn't breathe. What I figure…

Reading reviews of the Awair, seems that many people complain that the measurements are not accurate or consistent with other measurements... can you speak to that at all?

I can't really. I don't have other sensors besides the temperature matching what the thermostat says.

In the talk I linked, DHH said he had tried dozens of other sensors and found this one surprisingly accurate for the price point. He did mention the temperature and humidity readings were not as accurate as he expected since sensors for those are so cheap, but that's not really why I got one.

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

#278

Post by illegalsmile »

pstuart wrote: post #52
bizzleDawg wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect both! I should compare a $250 one with the $20 one

That would be a worthy HN post.

Is that something HN is interested in? I do work and research with remote environmental monitoring stations and am always comparing sensors. Currently doing a precipitation gauge intercomparison study.

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

#279

Post by drited »

benmccann wrote: post #212
forthispurpose wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you know how accurate it is?

It seems pretty accurate. The South Coast Air Quality Management District tested a bunch of consumer devices against a $30,000 professional device. I was deciding between the IQAir and Laser Egg 2+, which both did well according to their tests http://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations/field . I got the Laser Egg 2+ the other day. It's really enlightening to see how it spikes when we cook dinner or lunch on the gas stov…

Does the Laser Egg 2+ monitor CO2? Looking at the kaiterra product page [1] I don't see it

[1] https://kaiterra.com/compare-page/

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

#280

Post by Buttons840 »

cl0ckt0wer wrote: post #94
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it allows us to run the furnace less at night (heat from the lights) Dear God, what's your power bill? There's no way a LED lights heat is as efficient as just using the furnace. edit: I meant cheap, not efficient.

Assuming the furnace is electric too, they should both be the same efficiency, since 100% of the power is being eventually turned into heat, unless the light from the LEDs are going outside.

So, assuming you have an electric furnace, it basically costs nothing to run all the electronics in your house? (Also assuming it's cold enough outside that you never want to cool the house.)

I guess the water heater might cost some money, since it produces heat, but a lot of that heat just goes down the drain with the water.

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