A good idea isn’t it: experts explained whether it is worth sleeping with an open window in winter

Healthy and sound sleep is important for every person. Even in winter, real fans of fresh air leave the windows ajar or even wide open at night. Sleeping with an open window has several benefits - for example, fresh air cools overheated rooms in the summer, where it is otherwise difficult to fall asleep. In addition, a lot of fresh air enters the room at night. It also reduces the amount of CO2 in the air. If the CO2 content is very high, there is a risk of headaches upon waking up, writes utopia.

“During the night, a person releases up to half a liter of water. Especially when several people are sleeping in the same room, opening a window can help reduce the humidity in the room. If you don’t want to sleep with the window open, you can air out the room before going to bed. However, opening the window at night also has some disadvantages - especially in winter. If you heat a room ventilated all night long, a lot of energy is lost. If not heated, at night the room can cool down so much that you freeze“.

Fresh air is considered good for health, and sleeping in the cold even stimulates the immune system. Peter Geisler, head of the sleep laboratory at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Bezirksklinikum Regensburgin an interview with Apotheken-Umschau debunks this notion: “From a scientific point of view, there is no evidence for this. However, the expert notes that the room should be neither too cold nor too hot to promote good sleep. This is the right temperature for sleeping.

Doctors recommend keeping 18 degrees Celsius in the bedroom for a comfortable night’s sleep. But the temperature can be lowered even more. Sleep doctor Peter Geisler points out to Apotheken-Umschau that the ideal temperature varies from person to person and also depends on bedding and bedding. “The ideal room temperature is one where you don’t sweat or get cold.‘, he advises.

So is it worth sleeping with the window open or not? This question can only be answered individually. Peter Geisler recommends paying attention to your own body. If you often wake up shaky in the morning and feel tired during the day, you should look into the reasons, says the sleep researcher. In this case, you can also try leaving the window open at night - or not - as well as experimenting with the room temperature and keeping an eye on the noise at night.

Recall the opinion of a specialist why you should not sleep on your back.