How Does House Lighting Affect Our Well Being
The quality and intensity of lighting in a house have a significant effect on people’s social and health lives. That is why it is helpful to have sufficient lighting in your home at all times.
Building experts argue that the best indoor lighting system should be a combination of natural and artificial lighting and, as much as possible, the artificial lighting should be adjustable both in intensity and position. That way, a house occupant is able to control the amount and intensity of the light in the house depending on the time of day and individual preferences. Being able to adjust the position of the lighting source (either closer or further away from the user) is also important for the wellbeing of every occupant in the home.
This post explores 6 ways through which house lighting affects our daily lives and our general wellbeing. Please read on to understand why you should make your house lighting appealing and comfortable for all occupants.
- Focus
Bright lighting can significantly improve your focus and alertness. This explains why you are able to get more done when working in open spaces than when confined in a dark room. Being alert and focused is essential to your mental health.
- Improves the quality of your sleep
Sleeping in a dimly lit room as opposed to a totally dark setting will greatly improve the quality of your sleep. This may be due to the fact that darkness breeds fear and insecurities. Everyone will agree that sleeping in the dark can be terrifying and uncomfortable. Too much lighting, on the other hand, will interfere with your sleep as it is hard to sleep in a highly illuminated environment. That is why you need to invest in enough dim lights for your bedroom. Also, in order to get a good night sleep and enhance the quality of sleep, install some soundproofing materials in your room so that no noise disturbances occur during the night. If you live in a busy and dynamic area, which boasts a lot of nightlife noise, then these soundproof materials will stop the noise to a considerable extent and allow you to have a quiet room.
- Increases productivity
Moderate lighting enhances concentration in a classroom, library, offices, and even at home. Proper morning lighting, for example, can help you to have maximum productivity throughout the day. Because your day starts in the house, you should ensure that your next home remodeling project maximizes the amount of natural light.
Away from home, rooms that are meant for optimal productivity such as in schools, hospitals, and offices should be well lit to enable all workers- as well as learners- to achieve maximum productivity. Personalized lighting options also increases productivity as people feel more in control of their work. In such cases, if the room does not have enough natural lightning, then some immediate renovation is needed in your exteriors to let natural light enter. Make sure to hire a siding contractor to open a window that allows the natural light to penetrate in the room.
- Health hazards
It is important to note the health hazards that could emanate from a poorly controlled lighting system. Artificial lighting, in particular, has many negative effects to our wellbeing when uncontrolled. For starters, too much artificial light may cause eye damage in the long run. Sitting in front of your computer or the TV for hours on end could also cause headaches, fatigue and stress. On the other hand, dim lighting can cause frustrations especially when a reader is forced to strain their eyes for long. Excessive stress and frustrations can easily cause depression.
Lack of natural sunlight can have adverse effects on the human body and mind. One such effect is a condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). In respect to that, therefore, it is advisable to have a designated “basking” area in the house (the balcony, maybe) where you go to expose your body to direct sunlight. This is particularly relevant for people who work indoors all day long and the city dwellers who live in small apartments.
- Emotional stability
Good lighting keeps your emotions in check. Everything feels stable and relaxed. Your spirits are always high. All these are ingredients for a happy and stress-free life. You probably have noted that light from the window has a unique calming effect.
Darkness in a home, on the other hand, may trigger emotions of fear, making you constantly defensive. Living with the fear that something bad will happen any minute makes people pick fights easily and be unnecessarily rude and aggressive. Emotional instability can significantly hurt your social life.
- Eating patterns/behavior
Multiple types of research have shown that light actually affects our eating behavior and patterns in more ways than one. Dim lighting, for example, may slow down your feeding rate or reduce your normal food intake. On the flipside, people will tend to eat more when in a sufficiently illuminated room.
Conclusion
The main takeaway from this post is that good indoor lighting is vital to your happiness, body comfort, and general health. Don’t leave your wellbeing or that of your loved ones to fate. Ensure that your home is well lit both artificially and naturally.
Guest post by:
Lena Linetti
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