Sleeping with the fan on

[orchitect]

Most of us do it. We sleep with the fan on, but how many of us inevitably get sick after having that cool air blowing in your face all night?

It almost never fails for me.

[KuReshtin]

Not me.

Then again, I rarely get sick as it is, so I wouldn't say it's a surprise that I don't get sick from having some air blow on me while I'm sleeping.

[darkblust]

I have a cealing fan,but I dont think that counts.

[Mauve Shirt]

YAY AIR CONDITIONING!
But not at school. :smallsigh:
We have at least 2 fans on in our room at school because of how stuffy it gets and because Roomie gets bad allergies. Neither of them blow in our faces. One of them blows air straight up so that it fills the room more, and the other is just a standard rotating fan.
This year we'll have lofts, so it will be even harder to get air into our faces.
I get sick sometimes if a fan is blowing in my face constantly, so I avoid that.

[13_CBS]

Have you guys ever heard of something called "fan death"? It's not death by screaming people who really like someone's work, but is instead a South Korean superstition where, if you sleep with the fan on and the door(s) and window(s) closed, you'll die of asphyxiation. :smallconfused: It's very, very prevalent in S.Korea, to the point where it's considered to be as common knowledge as the sky being blue.

[valadil]

I get less sick from 8 hours of fan on face than I otherwise would from sleep deprivation caused by lack of fan.

I read somewhere recently that warm body, cold head was the most efficient way to fall asleep. Can't find the article though.

[Archonic Energy]

O NOES U R GOING TO DIE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death)

*cough*
sorry about that, i hate air blowing across me no-matter how hot it is, however i fall asleep much easier when i leave my PC on, the hum just knocks me out!

[orchitect]

I have a cealing fan,but I dont think that counts.

I was talking about ceiling fans, but AC counts too.

I'd heard of "fan death," but I never read anything about it.

[Cyrion]

I have my ceiling fan on pretty much 24/7, and at night during warm months I'll have another fan on as well. No extra sickness here. Really, the only sickness that a fan will promote will be if you've got issues with it drying out your respiratory tract or maybe chucking some extra dust your way. If germs aren't involved, warm or cold doesn't make a difference to you getting sick.

[Ravens_cry]

I read somewhere recently that warm body, cold head was the most efficient way to fall asleep. Can't find the article though.
I can agree with that on an anecdote level. Those conditions come across as 'cozy', and are quite sleep inducing.

[Eldan]

You can sleep with those things running? I mean, I only had one once, in a hotel, but it was terribly annoying. (But then, I also wake up when my brother breathes loudly in the neighboring room)

[Erloas]

Really, the only sickness that a fan will promote will be if you've got issues with it drying out your respiratory tract or maybe chucking some extra dust your way.

This is what gets me. If I sleep with a fan pointed even mostly towards me when I sleep it dries out my mouth and nose to the point where its really uncomfortable when I wake up.
Of course it doesn't help that when I had to do that I was in Arizona and its really dry there to begin with. I probably wouldn't have that issue in a higher humidity climate.
Of course I don't have to worry about either now because even during the middle of summer here it still gets down into at least the 60s at night.

[Rogue 7]

You can sleep with those things running? I mean, I only had one once, in a hotel, but it was terribly annoying. (But then, I also wake up when my brother breathes loudly in the neighboring room)

I literally can't fall asleep without a fan on (Alright, exaggeration. Still, I have a fan on almost every night when I get to sleep, even in the dead of winter). It provides that perfect level of white noise to protect against the dead silence that I find to be genuinely creepy. The breeze helps, too.

And with regards to that Korean thing- man, wut?

[orchitect]

I have my ceiling fan on pretty much 24/7, and at night during warm months I'll have another fan on as well. No extra sickness here. Really, the only sickness that a fan will promote will be if you've got issues with it drying out your respiratory tract or maybe chucking some extra dust your way. If germs aren't involved, warm or cold doesn't make a difference to you getting sick.

That's what happens! My throat gets dried out, and even if no one else is sick in the family, I almost always get sick.

I slept with a blanket over my head as a child because I was afraid of getting sick, but it was too warm to turn off the fan.

[Cyrion]

A couple of things to try then-

1) move the fan to the other side of the bed or readjust it so that it's not blowing on your face but still blowing on you. (OK, this one's a "Well, duh!" and you've probably already tried it, but just in case...")

2) Fill a skillet or something with water and place that in front of the fan. That might increase the humidity enough that you get the cooling effect of the fan without drying yourself out.

[Jacklu]

Not only do I not get sick from having a fan on every night, but I run into the problem of not being able to sleep without a fan when winter hits and it becomes far to cold to run one at night. I get used to noise and the feeling of the moving air at night.

[B-Man]

For the last 10-12 years I've had to sleep with a fan on 365 days a year. No matter how cold it gets (I usually sleep with my window open in the Winter (woke up with frost on my pillow once... ¬¬)), I need that cooler air hitting my face when I sleep.

[Eloel]

Well, I use AC where I am, because fans are just-not-enough. It has been over 40C here today at it's peak hours, and it's around 28-29C at nights.

Then again, I'm perfectly happy with a t-shirt in the midst of snow.

The AC I'm using is turned right onto my bed where it cools the whole of my body - including head. At 18C, one would expect me to live my whole life ill, but I don't...

[Umael]

I love hot summer days followed by warm summer nights with the fan on to lull me asleep.

It helps that I have never gotten sick because of having the fan on overnight. When the weather cools as summer goes into autumn, I tend to fall into an even deeper sleep - very refreshing, but I tend to wake up very cold.

Then it gets even colder and I have to put away the fan. It's always a sad moment for me, internally, because in a way, it tells me that yes, summer is over.

...okay, this is a little depressing. August isn't even over, and I'm thinking about the end of summer already.

[The Bushranger]

I sleep every night with my ceiling fan going and a box fan blowing right at me. And most nights I'm still uncomfortably warm.

[TRM]

My favorite sleeping conditions are when it is hot and humid outside, but I have a fun pointed at me and I'm wrapped up in a comforter; I feel cozy this way, even when it is much too hot to feel cozy normally.

I have never gotten sick from it. I haven't died either, fortunately.

[RTGoodman]

I HAVE to be cold, or else I can't sleep. I also hate laying on top of the covers. So, basically, I have the AC and a ceiling fan running pretty much all the time. Never gotten sick, though sometimes if I fall asleep face up with my mouth open, it gets all dried out, which is kinda weird to wake up to.

[Erloas]

At 18C, one would expect me to live my whole life ill, but I don't...
You must not travel much. 18C is nothing. Its 15C outside right now and its August. Our average temperatures even in the summer aren't a lot over 18-22C, our highs might get into the 30-32C range, but the lows at night are in the 10-12C range.
In the winter we are lucky to hit 0C for a high a lot of the time.

So no, I wouldn't expect you to be sick at all for staying in 18C AC all the time. Being broke from running the AC that much I could see though.

[Syka]

The only time my ceiling fan isn't on is when it gets to winter temps, which since I'm in Florida is maybe 2 months out of the year. Lately, I've even had the fan on in January because it hasn't gotten cold enough.

We have central air, but my room is the hottest in the summer and coldest in the winter and our AC runs at about 80 anyway to keep costs down. But since our temps rarely hit below the magic number, my fan needs to be on. Even WITH the fan on, I end up sweating at night most the time. That's more disruptive to me than the fan.

I also need to have a sheet of some sort covering me so that may have something to do with it. I've never gotten sick from it before.

[Totally Guy]

I've only used a fan at night one time. In the middle of a sticky ol' heatwave. I couldn't sleep with the noise though.

It's been quite warm recently so we've had all our windows open. No air conditioning here, summer is usually just right (although we still find a way to moan about that). I do have air conditioning in my car though and it's really good. But once you turn it off the car quickly becomes hot again which I don't understand, it's as if the coldness has no duration at all.

[Neko Toast]

I usually aim the fan away from me. White noise really helps me sleep, so I usually have a fan in my room during the summer, and a humidifier during the winter. Well, the dorm room has a fan all year round, but that's because it's a dorm room. We've opened our window during the winter before because it was too hot in the room. -.-

[Erloas]

I do have air conditioning in my car though and it's really good. But once you turn it off the car quickly becomes hot again which I don't understand, it's as if the coldness has no duration at all.

A bit about that...

Its pretty much because cars have virtually no temperature insulation. They have some for engine noise and around some really hot parts like the engine and the exhaust. Windows, especially single pane windows that cover maybe 30-40% of the car have very little insulating value. The doors are keep empty (except right around handles to keep air from blowing in) to keep room for the windows and reduce weight, and the roof isn't thick enough to have any real level of insulation either.
So there is nothing at all in a car to keep the inside temperature different from the outside temperature except for the HVAC system. Since heating and cooling a car takes mostly unused energy the engine develops anyway, they know people will be using active heating and cooling anyway so insulation isn't an issue.
As a side it is also why hybrid cars get a lot worse gas mileage in extreme temperatures, because they have to use electricity that would be running the electric motor to run things like the heater and AC to keep the passengers comfortable. Electric heaters use a lot of power too, and they have to use them because the engine doesn't generate very much heat on its own, where as a normal combustion engine just uses normal engine heat to heat air for the passengers.

And yes... I did work for a car company for a little while.

[Miss Nobody]

During summer, I can't sleep without keeping the fan on all night. Never gotten sick from it.

[Stadge]

Hmm, my fan, placed about 6 inches from my head, is on at night pretty much all year (even though winters aren't the nicest in the North West of England) and my window is always open when I'm in, but I never really get ill. I'd probably go so far as to say I get ill less than most of my friends, but I'm not going to put that down to the fan but more natural immunities perhaps?

[KilltheToy]

I sleep with my fan on all the time, although it's really only so I'll have a reason to sleep with the comforter. Even during summer (as in right now till about late October). Yeah, I'm weird like that :smallcool:

[13_CBS]

FYI, Fan Death (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death). It's a very popular belief among South Koreans (and, apparently, among some Japanese as well).

[Umael]

A bit about that...

Its pretty much because cars have virtually no temperature insulation. They have some for engine noise and around some really hot parts like the engine and the exhaust. Windows, especially single pane windows that cover maybe 30-40% of the car have very little insulating value. The doors are keep empty (except right around handles to keep air from blowing in) to keep room for the windows and reduce weight, and the roof isn't thick enough to have any real level of insulation either.
So there is nothing at all in a car to keep the inside temperature different from the outside temperature except for the HVAC system. Since heating and cooling a car takes mostly unused energy the engine develops anyway, they know people will be using active heating and cooling anyway so insulation isn't an issue.
As a side it is also why hybrid cars get a lot worse gas mileage in extreme temperatures, because they have to use electricity that would be running the electric motor to run things like the heater and AC to keep the passengers comfortable. Electric heaters use a lot of power too, and they have to use them because the engine doesn't generate very much heat on its own, where as a normal combustion engine just uses normal engine heat to heat air for the passengers.

And yes... I did work for a car company for a little while.


You missed something though.

Part of the reason that cars heat up in the summer so quickly is because the windows aren't just poor insulation, but that they let sunlight in. Sunlight, when it hits the interior of a car, gets partially transformed into infrared radiation (i.e., heat radiation). Unfortunately, windows are good for trapping infrared radiation, meaning that it will actually get hotter inside the car than out (which is why it is so dangerous to leave a child alone in a car with the windows rolled up during summer). Eventually, the heat exchange will reach an equilibrium between the heat energy from the trapped sunlight and the heat energy that escapes the car. If cars used better insulation* it would still get warmer when you turn off the AC, and in fact, better insulation could actually end up trapping more heat.

* - Unless you tint the windows or otherwise manage to affect how much sunlight gets them.

This process of trapping sunlight can be (and is) used to make a solar cooker that can actually trap enough solar heat to boil water and cook meat (albeit at a lower temperate). Considering that you need something with a decent amount of insulation, some reflective surfaces (to increase the amount of sunlight that gets into the cooker), and glass to let the sunlight in, you can make one fairly cheaply. Solar cookers are being used in parts of Africa as an alternative to burning wood.

For my senior project at university, I built a portable solar cooker out of mostly just cardboard, tin foil, and a few oven bags. I managed to get the temperature hot enough to boil water using the light from a partly cloudy spring day in Cleveland (for you unfamiliar, Cleveland is about 42 degrees North).

[Pyrian]

I keeping reading this thread as "Sleeping with the fun on". :smallcool:

[Coidzor]

I keeping reading this thread as "Sleeping with the fun on". :smallcool:

WAIT WAIT WAIT! It's possible to go to sleep while that's happening?! :smallconfused: In-terr-o-bang... :smalleek:

I have an air conditioning unit mounted in the window near the head of my bed.

I haven't gotten sick yet from it, though I do usually shift so it's not blowing in my face due to the fact I wake up all cold and shift positions in the middle of the night if it's turned up very high from the heat of the day still.

[Jack Squat]

With AC on, my room averages about 80oF in summer (it's normally off), so yeah, I sleep with the ceiling fan and at least one floor-based fan (at one point, there were four in the room). Heck, there's times when I need the fan on in winter.

I'm almost never sick and, quite obviously, I haven't died because of it.

If you're getting sick when your fan/AC is on (and figure that may be the cause), try replacing/upgrading the filters in your air return. If you've got one of those funky electronic filter things, stick a normal paper filter in them; according to my friend who works in HVAC they don't work too well. They also sell little filter things that you can place in the vents. Physically, there's nothing specifically about moving air itself that can make one sick, but the particles in the air may.

[Decoy Lockbox]

I've had a big box fan thats been on 24/7 for every day of my college education (last 4 years). I got addicted to the white noise it produced, to the point where I couldn't concentrate or sleep without it.

I never got sick because I don't get sick. My CON is too damn high.