How Light Affects Us In Our Home

It’s no surprise that light affects how we function and feel. In the winter time this could not be more obvious as many of us long for the vitamin D that keeps us healthy and sunshine that helps ward off the winter blues. And now, we experience Daylight Savings Time and have to reset our internal clocks to rise without the help of the bright sun out our windows.

In this article we will talk about man-made lighting, but if you are interested in learning more about natural light in your home you can read more here. As a design build company in New England we give careful thought in coming up with a unique lighting design plan that works for your space for maximum flexibility and use.

New research around light may transform the way we light our homes with what is being termed Tunable Lighting. This LED-based technology allows us to tune our lighting to correspond to our body’s natural circadian rhythm. This technology has been around since the early days of LED, but is only now gaining greater acclaim with improved efficacy, colors, controls, and capabilities. You have likely already seen this technology at work when restaurants dim their lights as the dinner hour kicks in and the sun begins to set. For many of us at home, we begin dimming lights once the dishes have been done and we ready ourselves for bed.

The technology is here, but is not yet ubiquitous for the average homeowner. However, stay tuned because changes are coming. Imagine the day when you turn your lights on in the morning and the cool light wakes you and heightens your sense of alertness, but in the evening the same light warms to quiet the mind and body. Here is an interesting video from the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy showing how this works.