I’ve found I fall asleep much easier if there’s a fan or soft music on. For some reason, I can’t relax in complete silence, my mind doesn’t have anything else to think about I guess. But then I have friends who must have absolute silence to sleep. If the computer is left on, the little fan hum drives them nuts. I was just wondering if there’s some early childhood experience (like a parents breathing now becomes the fan, or people talking for the music/radio) that lets certain people fall asleep easier? And if so, why do some people need silence?
I can only answer with my personal experience. I too fall asleep much faster with a fan on. One reason for this is I grew up in the 60’s ands 70’s without air condition. Our house was cooled either by an attic fan or a room fan, both within audible proximity. A second reason I believe the fan helps me sleep is because it creates a pseudo white noise that cancels out other noises that might keep one awake. Last reason I like a fan is to circulate the air in the room.
I’ve grown accustomed to the noise of the fan like anyone else might to the sounds of a radio or other noise. I sleep rather lightly and wake up when I hear any uncommon noise.
I can certainly sleep without a fan, but I don’t prefer it.
I con’t sleep without a fan on, and it drives my wife nuts.
I’m certain this does not go back to childhood for me. It goes back to early adulthood (18-19) when I began keeping such goofed up hours. Running a fan helped block out other noises like people talking, radios/t.v. in another room, and those #$%*&!! birds that start chirping at dawn. I became so used to the constant “Hummmmmmmmmmmmm” of the fan that now I can’t sleep without it. A lot of 3rd shift workers I know are like this too. I think being used to the constant hum makes it a familiar sound and therefore ads to the relaxation needed for good sleep. That’s my theory anyway. My so doesn’t mind the noise but hates the air blowing through the room when it’s not really warm or stuffy.
Ditto. I am a hafta-have-a-fan-on person too. I think my experience is similar to pkbites. I used to work three different shifts and lived in an apartment where my bedroom window was next to the play yard of a daycare center. I would come home at 7AM and by the time I fell asleep it was time for the first wave of “playground time”.
I like the breeze, even in the middle of winter. I just throw more blankets on the bed. A couple of times this summer thunderstorms caused the power to go out and I couldn’t get back to sleep until it came back on!
For travel I bought a battery powered white noise machine, but I can also sleep if a hotel has a room AC that makes noise.
One responder said he couldn’t fall asleep in complete silence, so I was wondering where do you find complete silence? I have to have a fan on or else I fear that I will just be falling asleep when the neighborhood Eternal Dog starts in, and other dogs and so on, or that these will wake me up. The fan covers other noises. (The Eternal Dog: most dogs live only to be about 12 years old, but this same dog has been barking for 30 years at any unexpected time of the day or night. His genes are needed to perfect a longer-lived beast friend for man, splicing out the bark gene). But now a warning: never go to sleep with a fan or anything else blowing on your face. I have heard that if you do, especially if it is cool or cold air, it will injure an important face nerve, possibly bringing on tic doloreaux.
An old wife told me this, but it is not just a tale, but probably true.
I agree that a fan is a must. It drowns out the traffic… How I long for my days as a lad living in the country.
I will also raise this point, while it looks kind of stupid and you laugh at first… REMOTE CONTROL FANS ROCK!!!
We got one for our wedding and I love it!!!
Also, I was lucky enough to marry a woman who also needs a fan to sleep.
Sledman,
Nothing “stupid” about that idea, my friend!
I recently installed a ceiling fan, and hated the idea that I had to either turn the wall-switch off at night (and lose the fan) or pull the string to turn the light off, then play the whole “flick the switch, oh-the-light-is-broken-, flick the switch, remember the little chain, etc” game every morning.
So, I went to Home Depot and bought a little kit that let me install a remote control receiver to control the light and fan seperately. It’s awesome! I can set the fan to any of three speeds, plus turn the light on and off (and dim it) without getting out of bed!
PS - It helps reinforce jdimbert’s conviction that I am, in fact, a genius. 
I hope you guys are aware that you can get a “white noise” generator which uses much less power and you can control the volume to whatever level suits you. They usually have different sounds to choose from besides white (waves etc).
Quiet. All I want is quiet. And Roommate wants the fan on. Drives me nuts for two reasons.
- The noise of the fan. That little “prrrrrrrrrrrr” of the fan will keep me up all night. I need silence to sleep.
- The wind from the fan. I am already under 3 blanklets because Roommate insists on the air-conditioning on at night, and the wind from the fan (on ‘HIGH’, of course) blows right across my face.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve dreamt of tornados and windstorms. The couch is not a comfortable place to sleep (not to mention large glass windows, too expensive to curtain), and if I turn off the fan, Roommate whines and kvetches all night.
I have always needed quiet to sleep. At home, mom would insist on keeping all the bedroom doors open (‘for circulation’) and leave the tv on all night 'til I got up to shut it off at 2 am. No wonder I was cranky all through living at home til I got my own place. Then I find Roommate and the noise starts all over again.
I’ll never win.
Although the remote control does give me an idea…
I posted this question several months ago (why white noise settles us down). No one was ever able to give me a good answer. Too lazy to find the link for you but its out there.
Sledman longs for country quiet life, but the country is even noisier than the city. All night long the raccoons are screaming and howling and fighting over scraps of garbage that they have banged out of noisy cans, and the cats are also carrying on while owls and other animals wail away, and there are the distant or all too close explosions from fireworks-crazed people at any time of the year. From February to December there is the incessant racket of frogs and insects. And since there is no country anymore anyway but only the as yet undeveloped portion of a city or suburb, you still have all those people dragracing down your road.
I am now going to start a new thread on whether negative ion machines would help, qui vide.
Different country living I think. I’ll give you the frogs but for a shorter period of time here in beautiful Wisconsin.
Traffic. Occasional loud vehicle but no where near as much traffic. Depends on the road you choose to live on I guess.
Raccoons…Buy plasic trash cans or keep them in the garage.
And…a very eliminatable problem in the country.(know what I mean, know what I mean)
Cats??? never had a problem with cats.(maybe they knew better)
Perhaps it is the noise you are used to. I hate the fact that traffic and trains don’t bother me much anymore.
Nonetheless I am now firmly hooked on having a fan. To the point of packing one when visiting the Mother in law.
Some of you should be glad you are not dead by now.
I, too, need a fan to sleep. Dead of winter, freezing cold (as freezing as it gets in Houston!), it doesn’t matter. I need the noise. If the power goes out I know immediately, because the lack of noise wakes me up. It drowns out the TV in the other room, too. My hubby is a devout insomniac, and stays up all night. On the rare occasions we actually sleep together (as opposed to “sleep” together ), thank God he likes the fan, too.
I used to be a total white noise addict. I just could not fall asleep in silence. Fans were ideal, or quiet air conditioners, or leaving the computer in my bedroom on. I also liked to have the soft glow of a multitude of tiny electronic buttons (computer, stereo, etc.). However, my husband likes total silence and complete darkness. For once, he won out, and after a couple of years I can now get by without my white noise all right. I miss it tho.
Count me among the white noise addicts. I used to work third shift, and the white noise helped block daytime activity noises. Now I work days and live in the country; it’s quiet enough out here, but I can’t stand to hear ticking clocks or other irregular noises. They keep me awake. Depending on the weather, either an electric heater or a fan will do; if neither is needed, we run a small air filter.
I always like to sleep with a fan on.
When I’m on the road, I always immediately seek out CNN Headline News, and leave it on at low volume all night long or else I find it difficult to sleep. NOt very difficult, but difficult nonetheless.
White noise addict here as well. I ALWAYS sleep with a fan on and find it difficult to sleep comfortably when one isn’t available. Even in the dead of winter, I need a fan going to rest peacefully at night.
Also a ‘white noise’ addict… I used to use a fan, but the motor gave out, so now I have a thunderstorm CD that I put on ‘repeat’. Drives the cats nuts!
Damn you fan people!! Your kind has tormented me relentlessly! My roommate is a must-have-the-fan-on person, and it drives me nuts for the same reason screech owl mentioned: Noise and wind. I’m in a small dorm room too, so I have nowhere to go to escape it. I just deal with it and have learned to fall asleep either way. But I can’t believe the huge number of people who absolutely need that fan like a security blanket. Learn to adapt!!
C’mon, where’s my fellow anti-fanners? I know you’re out there!!