Find out what’s really affecting your sleep
The ESP32 Services Sleep Sensor counts each time you get up at night, so every morning you have a number you can trust, without keeping a diary or wearing a device. Use it to see which habits help you sleep, and to bring real numbers to your doctor.
Sleep is shaped by everyday habits, and it’s hard to judge their effect from memory. Was it twice last night or four times? Is it getting better or worse? A night-by-night count answers that, so you can test what makes a difference. And when you talk to your doctor about your sleep, you’ll have weeks of real numbers instead of “I think I’m up a lot.”
Rings and watches estimate your sleep from your body: heart rate, movement and guessed-at sleep stages. The Sleep Sensor watches the room instead, and answers a simpler question: how many times did you get up? That’s a number a doctor will often ask about, and one a ring doesn’t report.
It also costs about a tenth of the price of a popular sleep ring, with a monthly plan that costs less than theirs. It plugs into the wall, so there’s no battery to charge every few days and none to wear out. And it works for anyone who won’t wear a ring, forgets to charge one, or takes it off at night.
The Sleep Sensor is about the size of a deck of cards and plugs into a wall outlet with an ordinary USB-A adapter. On your dashboard, open the settings menu and enter the hours you normally sleep, for instance 10:30 PM to 7:00 AM. The sensor watches for movement only during those hours and records each time you get up.
Each morning your dashboard shows how many times you were up and when, and the longest stretch you stayed in bed without getting up. Over days and weeks, the charts build into a sleep trend you can actually read. See it for yourself in the Sleep sensor demo.
There is no camera and no microphone. The radar senses movement, not images, so it never records what anyone looks like or what they’re doing. Your record is visible only to you and to anyone you choose to share it with.
Cutting back on caffeine, alcohol, late dinners and evening screen time can all help people sleep better. The hard part has always been knowing whether your change worked for you. Make one change at a time, keep the sensor running, and let a week of nights tell you.
Using the sensor lets you compare the number of times you get up at night before and after a change, whether it’s a new habit or a medication your doctor has prescribed. Share the numbers with your doctor, who can decide what they mean.
If you live alone, place the sensor on the bathroom counter. It will count each visit.
If you share a bed, place it on your bedside table, at least 2 ft from the edge of the bed and angled about 20 degrees away from it. That way it counts your trips, not theirs.
Pets that wander through at night can add the occasional extra count. If yours does, the sensor’s sensitivity can be decreased from your dashboard.
$25.99 plus a monthly subscription for the dashboard and nightly charts. For a limited time, Founding Customers receive a lifetime subscription with no monthly fee, ever.
The Sleep Sensor is a wellness product that keeps a record of how often you get up at night. It is not a medical device, and it does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to your doctor before changing any treatment.
Further reading: Why doctors ask for a nighttime record · What the research says about getting up at night
Caring for a parent who lives alone? See our Activity Sensors.