Should I sleep with my air purifier on?

If you’re worried about the health and well-being of your household, chances are you’ve done your research and invested in an air purifier. That’s a significant step towards cleaner air in your home.

But how often should you be running your air purifier — and should you sleep with it on? 

That’s an excellent question, and I’m here to answer it! Ready to learn more? 

Science-backed reasons to sleep with your air purifier on

1. Air purifiers can help you breathe better at night

According to this academic sleep study, a lower concentration of pollutants in your environment leads to significantly improved sleep quality. 

It makes sense, doesn’t it? If your air is cleaner, you breathe more easily and sleep better. And remember: it’s not just about how long you sleep, but the quality of your slumber.

2. Air purifiers remove allergens that can negatively affect sleep quality

In addition to the various toxins you can find in your environment — such as ultrafine particles, cooking smoke and smells — multiple allergens could be a problem for those who suffer from allergies.

Pet dander, dust mites and more can all cause allergic reactions, which impact your sleep. 

Symptoms associated with allergic reactions can include:

• Sneezing and running nose
• Coughing, wheezing, or a sore throat
• Congestion and watery eyes.

All of these can disturb your sleep and subsequently affect your sleep quality. With an estimated 30% of Americans suffering from allergies (who are twice as likely to have sleep issues), that’s a lot of sleep disturbance.

3. Air purifiers can help reduce snoring

Running your air purifier in your bedroom at night when you sleep can help to remove the ultrafine particles, allergens and other pollutants in your environment. 

This means that these irritants are less likely to affect your airway passages, which will hopefully help minimize snoring. 

People snore when the airflow between the nose and mouth becomes blocked or obstructed. Air full of pollutants and allergens can irritate your upper airways, which subsequently causes inflammation in the throat and nose and leads to stuffiness.

Snoring affects how much restful sleep you get and the oxygen flow to your brain. That then leads to fatigue and — in certain situations — more severe health problems.

4. The sound produced by air purifiers can help you sleep better

If you’re having trouble falling asleep, then the white or pink noise produced by running air purifiers can help. 

This study published in ​​Frontiers in Neurology found that people who used white noise machines fell asleep up to 40% faster than those who didn’t. Additionally, this study published by the Archives of Disease in Childhood (ADC) found that young kids and babies could fall asleep more easily with white noise machines.

However, a more recent 2020 study has found that people could fall asleep even faster (and go into a state of “deep sleep”) when using pink noise. In addition, another 2020 study showed that pink noise could also improve memory, work efficiency and performance over a longer period.

White and pink noise is created by air sucked in and blown back out of the machine. White, pink and brown noise all have a static frequency resulting in an ambient, soothing sound when blended. These ambient sounds are highly effective at drowning out other noises or providing a soothing base sound to help you fall asleep more easily. 

• White noise contains all frequencies across the audible sound spectrum between 20 and 20,000 Hz.
• Pink noise also contains all frequencies between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. But pink noise is deeper than white noise due to a reduction in power at higher frequencies and an increase in power at lower frequencies.
• Brown noise has intense, lower frequencies, which can rumble between 5 and 9 Hz.

5. Cleaner-smelling air can help your sleep quality

Did you know that strong smells can affect your sleep? While it won’t cause you to wake up (and you can’t smell in your dreams!), it can affect your sleep quality. Additionally, according to a study by the National Sleep Foundation, 71% of those surveyed said they felt their sleep was “more comfortable” when they had fresh sheets on the bed. 

In addition, 78% of those surveyed said that the fresh sheet smell made them feel more excited to go to bed. We don’t blame them! After all, who among us doesn’t love a “fresh sheets on the bed” situation?

As one of the main advantages of air purifiers is the ability to remove and reduce odors, you could be helping to create your perfect sleep atmosphere by running them in your bedroom at night.

Final thoughts

As you’ve seen from this article, sleeping with your air purifier on is a big yes from us! There are so many reasons to sleep with it on. It will help you breathe better at night, ensuring you get a good night’s sleep, which is vital for your health and well-being.

It can also reduce snoring significantly and help you fall asleep faster, courtesy of the white and pink noise produced by the fans. As we’ve mentioned several times, good quality sleep is part of your body’s natural defense system — allowing you to fight off infection, improve your immune system and carry out essential repair and regenerative functions. 

Additionally, it’s critical for cognitive function — particularly in children.

There are no downsides to running your air purifier at night. So now, you have to pick a purifier and ensure you’re putting it in the right place in your bedroom!