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The upstairs neighbor's washing machine starts working when you're falling asleep. A delivery truck makes noise outside your window and the streetlight into your room across the pillow. You have to wake up for work so you already know you'll feel tired the next day.
Most sleep advice focuses on your habits like avoiding caffeine, less screen time and a relaxing routine. Nobody talks about the apartment. That's wrong because your apartment can affect your sleep every night through things like its layout, the amount of light passing and the quality of the air
The location of your bedroom matters a lot for sleep but you may not notice the problems by looking at the floor plan. If your bedroom is next to a hallway, elevator, trash chute or machine room you can hear constant low sounds at night even when you're very tired. If your apartment is on a corner facing a busy street you can get noise from two sides instead of one. Ground floor bedrooms can be disturbed by street noise and car lights.
Noise levels matter more than renters realize. WHO suggests to keep bedroom noise below 30 dB(A) at night for good sleep. A bus or an outside AC unit can make the room too noisy for good sleep.
When checking an apartment visit it around the time you would normally sleep.Close the bedroom door and listen for noises from the fridge, neighbors, elevator or other parts of the building. If the bed is next to a bathroom or kitchen you can hear plumbing noise that is hard to stop.
Bedrooms in rented apartments are not dark. The blinds are basic, there may be no curtains, and you cannot choose what the window faces. Outside and hallway lights can keep the room a little bright throughout the night.
Even dim light can affect your sleep. The Sleep Foundation says that night time light can disturb your sleep by reducing melatonin and make you more awake even if the room doesn't look bright.
There are some cheap fixes that you should make soon after moving in:
Old carpets, poor stove ventilation, a broken bathroom fan or water leaks can make the air in your home worse. The EPA says that gases and tiny particles inside the home can make the air unhealthy. Bedrooms can have more bad air because the door is usually closed and there is less fresh air.
Open a window before bed and see if you sleep better. You can also set the bathroom fan to run for a while.
Ask about the radon test and air filter. If no one knows when they were checked or changed that could be a warning sign.
Renters may not have much control over the temperature. A sunny bedroom can be much hotter than the temperature shown on the thermostat.
Cleveland Clinic says adults sleep best when the bedroom is between 60 and 67 F. A cool room helps your body cool down and sleep better.
If your bedroom is too hot in summer, a small AC or quiet fan can help you sleep better and wake up feeling fresh.
Do most of these checks before signing the lease. Ask what is above, below and next to the bedroom. Ask what happens if you have a problem at night. The answer can tell you how well the building is managed.
Buildings run by professional residential property managers keep track of noise complaints and filter changes and fix problems like a noisy fan because it is their job.If the landlord or manager is the only person you can contact about noise from the elevator near your bedroom and they don't fix it you may have to deal with the noise yourself.