200 Irish Rooms in Energy-efficient Social Housing Between 2022 and 2025, Finding Bedrooms Spent About Two Hours Nightly in Winter Above

Researchers monitored 200 Irish rooms in energy-efficient social housing between 2022 and 2025, finding bedrooms spent about two hours nightly in winter above unhealthy CO₂ levels, while living rooms remained fine. High CO₂, a proxy for stale air, can impair cognitive function at 1,800ppm and harm sleep quality at lower levels; European standards cap bedrooms at 950ppm above outdoor levels, which typically run 420–450ppm. Two sleeping adults exhale about a pint of water nightly, and trapped moisture can cause mould, which contributed to the 2020 death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, prompting Awaab's law requiring social landlords to fix damp and mould promptly.

Experts recommend opening windows, keeping trickle vents open, leaving bedroom doors ajar, and practicing Lüften—a German ritual of airing rooms for 10–15 minutes after waking, popularized on TikTok as house burping. Dehumidifiers, costing £90–£300 and running at 6p–9p per hour, can also help. Lala Rukh, a PhD candidate at the University of Galway and Atlantic Technological University, authored the research, which was first published by The Conversation.