The Secret to Managing Dry Bedroom Air This Winter

It’s important to keep your home well-heated during the winter months to avoid freezing pipes and other potential damage, as well as to look after your health. However, with low temperatures comes the frequent use of heating systems. Although central heating is a convenient way to heat your home, it isn’t without its problems. The good news is that managing dry bedroom air is simpler than you might think.

Despite its warmth like a cosy hug, the air is dry. And the more you rely on that warm air to heat your home, the drier all the air in your home becomes. Lower humidity levels can affect how well we sleep and how we feel when we wake up. Dry winter air can cause indoor humidity to drop to around 15% or less, which may cause problems that can affect your health, home and comfort. Try to keep it between about 30-50%.

Do you wake up with a sore throat or feeling stuffy?

Too little humidity isn’t good for sleep either. Dry air can lead to irritated nasal passages, sneezing, coughing, an itchy throat, and dry skin and lips. It can also exacerbate asthma symptoms and even increase suffering from colds and other viruses. All of them, in turn, can negatively impact sleep, including leading to more snoring.

You can’t control the weather, but you can control how humidity affects your bedroom. To ensure the best sleep possible, aim to keep the humidity level in your bedroom at about 30-50% year-round. (You don’t want to go too far the other way!)

Six ways you can prevent dry air in the bedroom:

• Invest in a humidifier for the winter.
• Use a higher tog duvet or several layers rather than cranking the heating up. This adds warmth but decreases moisture further.
• Add moisture to the air by placing large bowls of water around the home (the water evaporates and adds moisture), particularly near radiators.
• Hang wet/damp clothes to dry in your bedroom.
• Open your bedroom window (but close your bedroom door to prevent cooling down the rest of the house!).
• Keep plants in the bedroom (moisture evaporates from the leaves).

If you experience allergies, find out more about how your mattress can impact your allergies.