Filed under: Bedroom, Your Home
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?