Fact Finder: Can an Airtight House Leave You Feeling Sleepy?

In order to continue to address factual inaccuracies that I encounter in the media, I consider a suggestion from Today Health and Prevention that struck me as odd.

As part of their series "Spring clean your life", they suggest that "sealing a house too tightly doesn't allow the entry of new oxygen or the escape of carbon dioxide that you exhale. As a result, your body doesn't get the amount of oxygen it needs, and you end up feeling tired and lethargic." This is attributed to Matthew Waletzke, a certified building biology consultant in Long Island, NY.

I do not profess an expertise in buildings, but I suspect that you cannot seal your house so tightly as to cause such a phenomenon. Most homes are a little drafty (suggesting air circulation). Moreover, houses often have an "air intake" that prevents a vacuum from being created as you pump air from your furnace to other parts of the house.

Moreover, the medical science (for which I do have credentials and expertise) is suspicious. It is possible to increase the carbon dioxide in your blood (sometimes called CO2 narcosis) and become sleepy. However, this typically implies a significant lung disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema. Other medical conditions might also lead to it, but it is unlikely to result from your sleep environment, no matter how tightly you might close your doors and windows. I certainly know of no scientific research that demonstrates such an association.

If you are feeling tired or lethargic, perhaps instead it is due to inadequate sleep or a sleep disorder. That seems about right.

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