All the Hacks · Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Dom Franks outlines four critical factors for air quality in bedrooms that impact sleep: particulate matter (like smoke, dust, pollen, mold spores), ventilation (using CO2 as a proxy), humidity (ideally 35-55%, below 50% to prevent mold), and chemical presence (VOCs). He notes that elevated particulate matter can disrupt sleep.
“So first is particulate matter. There've been a lot of wildfires recently and so this is any particular that's in the air.”
“We want to make sure that your particulate matter concentrations are as low as possible because elevated particulate matter can disrupt sleep.”
“We're also looking at ventilation, which CO2 is the best proxy for ventilation.”
“And then finally, we're looking at chemical presence. And so that's volatile organic compounds or VOCs and other compounds that can come from paint, furniture, other sources in the house.”