Three Surprising Challenges of Sleeping in a Tiny House

Designing and building your tiny house is a remarkable opportunity to learn ingenuity and the value of hard work. But what happens when you need to sleep and recharge after an exhausting day of working on your house and you find it difficult to fall asleep? Electromagnetic interference, heat and unwanted light all pose challenges to sleeping in a tiny house but there are easy solutions to these issues.

Electromagnetic interference is a concern for many environmentally-minded people and has been known to interfere with sleep. Blocking these kinds of waves has helped many people sleep well and enjoy better health. Electromagnetic waves are everywhere in our homes and three significant sources of them are from kitchen appliances, wi-fi routers and personal devices. The farther away one sleeps from these sources, the better. In conventionally-sized homes, people can choose to sleep in a bedroom farthest away from the kitchen and on a different floor from their wi-fi routers. Those who sleep in a tiny house are physically unable to sleep far away from these waves because they live in such a small space. Sleeping near these waves has a very real potential to interfere with healthy sleep. People who own a tiny house should turn off their wi-fi router at night and and if possible, power off their appliances at night. This should get rid of most of the electromagnetic waves in their home and help them to get a good night’s sleep.

It has been widely-reported that people sleep much better in a completely dark room, devoid of even small sources of light, like the power button of a small device. There is a scientific basis to this idea since the blue light from most electronics interferes with the production of melatonin in the body, a hormone that is essential to healthy sleep. Small devices or even appliances (like the clock on a microwave or stove) that emit light in a tiny house have the potential to add unwanted light to a person's sleeping space, since he lives in such close proximity to all of his personal belongings. An easy solution to this problem is to keep items like smart phones and tablets in a box in the evenings. Choosing appliances without displays can keep unwanted light out of your tiny house but covering these sources of light with black electrical tape is a good option, too.

Lastly, people often report that they sleep better in a cool place. The bedroom space of a tiny house is usually lofted and since heat rises, the sleeping area of a tiny house can be quite warm in the summer months. In addition, many people choose a platform-style foundation for their mattresses in tiny houses. Unfortunately, platform foundations offer the worst airflow for mattresses and can trap unwanted heat. One solution is to set up your sleeping space in the living room of your tiny house in the summer months, where the air is cooler. In addition, many people choose a mattress that contains cooling gel so they do not feel so warm when they sleep.

Have you experienced any challenges sleeping in your tiny house? Did you find an easy solution? Please share in the comments below!