Fans of Bedtime

June 2023

I took part in an annual golf outing with my son and some friends last week.  Our whole group was staying at our seasonal home prior to it. As each person arrived and walked up the driveway, they were carrying their various golf implements, as well as luggage, pillows and such.  The final guy, a friend of my son, came walking up with just a box fan.  I reminded him that we had air conditioning, but he made it clear the fan was not for that.  He needed it for the noise, he stated, as he could not sleep without it.  I made it clear we had fans in the house he could have used.  His reply shocked me a bit when he stated, “This is the only one that works.” Obviously, this statement caused me to ponder. Recalling how often I have encountered this phenomenon and wondering why this is such a thing.  So, I did some research.

Now let me start by saying, this is not an isolated case. I have a friend that admits that his wife has a fan on one side of the bed pointed at her, and he has one on his side of the bed pointing away from him.  Every night of the year. Their teenage daughter has a ceiling fan on high and another fan blowing on her.  Again, every, single, night. My son’s girlfriend has a fan that is so loud that it sounds like she is sleeping in a factory. Yes, she brought it with her when she stayed at our house.  I swear that when it is running someone could break into the house and have a kegger with a hundred guests, and she wouldn’t know until she woke and saw the dishes. 

Finally, I had a buddy that was a fan addict.  Each year, when we went down south to play golf, his first trip after we arrived at our destination was to Walmart. Not to buy beer, golf balls or snacks, but to get a 30-inch box fan. It had to be a very specific size and made of metal for him to be able to sleep. He would just leave it behind when we departed and buy a new one the next year. Every year he did this.

Chances are, you know of at least a few people who rely on a small appliance for a good night's rest. Given the data, you’re likely one of them yourself. If you’re observant, and now you will be because you’re better informed, the next time you check in to a hotel, or are waiting to board a cruise, look around, you will likely see people lugging a sleep-inducing machine with them. That’s how many people can't sleep without their fan whirring away next to their bed.

I have never seemed to need this sound effect for sleeping. The quieter the better for me. If I did want some noise, it might be crickets, or a soft rain with distant thunder. Maybe waves gently breaking on the beach.  I love an open window where the sounds of nature seep in from outside.  Very relaxing indeed.  For me anyway. But I have found out that I am in the minority.

When I began to study this, I was shocked to see the data on how many people are “fan-addicts”. A CivicScience poll of nearly 12,000 people found that 61% run a fan every night while sleeping. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine confirms this. It seems that these people sleep with a fan on for several reasons.  One is comfort, mainly because the cooling effect from the airflow helps regulate body temperature for better sleep. I kind of get that, as I love a very cold room to sleep in. But wait, there’s more.

What we really find out is that it is all about noise.  Or creating a steady predictable noise versus infrequent random ones.  That’s what a fan provides. Which I guess I understand too, to some extent.  The fan's drone drowns out disruptive sounds, creating what is called “a more soothing and consistent sleep environment”. "People who sleep with a fan are capitalizing on what we call white noise. Just like white light, which encompasses all the colors in the spectrum, white noise encompasses all the sound frequencies within typical human hearing". This is a quote I found from a sleep expert with the mattress manufacturer Sleep Train. Ok, that’s logical, but why does this work?  What’s going on here?  The most perplexing question is, how, from a physiological standpoint, does this work?

I guess we have to look at what's going on in the brains of people who need fans. Or, is it what’s going on in the brains of people who don’t need fans?  That ends up being the better question.  Because that is likely where the answer lies. It’s all about how our brains are wired. And everyone is a little different, as you would expect. 

There is a phenomenon scientists identified and named Sleep Spindles, spikes of brain activity that emerge for some of us during REM sleep.  These brain wave bursts are seen when electroencephalogram tests are conducted on sleeping individuals.  Interestingly, not everyone exhibits these.  Yet, people that do tend to be sounder sleepers. 

Apparently, spindles seem to help moderate the brain's responsiveness to those unpredictable noises previously mentioned.  They help isolate the resting brain from disruptions and allow for deeper rest. Fans or other white noise are what modulates external disturbances for people without these spindles.  So, people who experience sleep spindles have a better defense against the interruption of outside noise, than those who don't experience them.  But wait, once again, there’s more! 

Sleep spindles are believed to play a vital role in long-term memory.  They seem to assist the neural connections in your brain when transferring information from short-term to long-term memory. Effectively storing what has been learned during the day. There is also Research that spindles may support emotional health, helping the brain reset emotions and potentially fostering mood stability. These are all currently theories. 

So how do the sleep spindles accomplish the feat of blocking noise? Experts agree on one thing; we do not have enough information yet to draw firm conclusions.  What we do know is, these spindles are produced in the portion of the brain called the thalamus, which is the area that sound and sensory information must pass through before allocation to the correct area of the brain. The thalamus likely prevents these noises from being a disruption to sleep. Since spindles are common during REM sleep, they are most effective at fulfilling this task during that phase.

Regardless of all the science, no one knows for sure why some people have super star sleep spindles while others suffer through the curse of light sleeping. But we do see how people are compensating for this. However, it is unknown if fan use gives us the proper type of sleep, or if using an external noisemaker actually inhibits spindles from forming.  This is an area of intense study, as sleep deprivation is now considered an epidemic, and a risk factor within our society for so many different maladies, both physical and psychological.  Important work indeed.  Until we know more, fans seem to be an answer. Hopefully not one that is doing more harm than good. Because clearly, using a fan to help with sleep is undoubtedly habit forming.

Nevertheless, there are now fans designed specifically for this purpose. Some have controls to help personalize the proper frequency.  Of course, there are also a seemingly endless number of apps available on our devices. I have even read that mattresses and pillows are starting to come with noise making capability.  “Fan-addicts” will have all sorts of options to work with. 

On an oddball note, I have found out that there are people in Asia that believe sleeping with a fan in an enclosed space, can cause death. This may sound absurd to you, but it’s no joke to some, and it dates back decades. Although the origin of this mythos isn’t clear, the superstition about fan death has been fueled by the media. Even recently! And this fear has been around a while, dating back to the 1920s, when newspapers wrote about the risks of anoxia and hypothermia. But I don’t think I would lose any sleep over this!

All of this seems a bit silly, but remember, there are some important things to think about here.  Phenomena like sleep spindles may be inhibited for people that use fans.  If they are as important as they seem to be, you are not likely doing yourself any favors by using a fan to help you sleep.  Especially if the sleep you are getting is of low quality or sacrificing the other benefits that sleep spindles may bring. So, keep an eye on science, because there is a lot going on.  One thing for sure, sleep is too important to take for granted. We all need more of it, and for it to be of the highest quality possible.  Only then can we get the most out of our waking hours, which means our lives.