Things That Go Bump In The Night

There are many things that can contribute to a sleepless night, but few are as aggravating — and preventable — as uninvited noise. An astrophysics grad student from Harvard, Jon Bittner, decided to take a look at what the most intrusive and expensive nighttime disturbances are. He spoke with over 100 people on behalf of an apartment-sharing site, and ranked different sounds based on those that were most helpful to a good night’s sleep to those that were most disruptive. What he found may not be news to those kept awake by noise, but it is still interesting, and can serve as a heads up to people looking for a quiet place to lay their heads.

1. The single most disruptive source of complaint? Neighbors within the building having noisy parties that run late into the night. According to Splitwise.com, having the ability to tone down disruptive noise of all kinds would be worth approximately $12 billion dollars per year to the U.S. economy. The noise from nighttime revelry ranked a 4.19 on a scale of 1 to 5 for its level of disruption.

Noisy parties tops the list of most disruptive reasons for interfering with our sleep

2. Coming in at a very close second at just a smidge under the sounds of partying are construction sounds. Buzz saws, drills, hammering and jackhammers scored a 4.18 on the Splitwise scale.

3. Next on the scale is a sound that might make you blush … it’s the sound of noisy sex coming from your roommate’s room or one of your neighbors. Scoring a 4.11 on the survey, the researcher determined that people would be appreciative of the opportunity to get away from the amorous exhortations of their neighbors.

4. Having paper thin walls makes a lot of sound seem like it’s right there in the room with you, and it presents a significant annoyance. Described for the survey as thumping on the wall, it scores a 4.04.

5. The survey shows that it doesn’t have to be as intrusive as thumping and banging for neighboring noise to be annoying. Simple conversation that’s close by is enough to drive people to distraction and keep them from getting a good night’s sleep. Talking nearby scored a 3.87 on the survey.

6. If you have a sleep partner who snores then you’ve been waiting for this one. The sound of snoring scored a 3.81 on the survey, falling somewhere between neutral and very disruptive to sleep.

7. Though it might make you wonder what kind of roommate would encourage dancing when the person they’re sharing an apartment with is sleeping, but there must be a good number who do, because it scored among the top ten most disruptive sounds for sleep, and scored a 3.80 on the scale.

8. Coming in at number 8 on the list of disruptive sleep sounds was the sounds of footsteps. This one makes sense, especially if you’re prone to nightmares or getting creeped out by the idea of somebody walking around close to where you’re sleeping.

9. If your roommate or neighbor is watching TV or a movie, it’s bound to be annoying. The sound of this nighttime noise scored a 3.48 on the disruption scale.

10. Finally, noises coming from the street outside ranked tenth on the list of disruptive sounds. Whether those are passersby or fire trucks and ambulances racing to somebody’s assistance, they can wreak havoc with sleep.