How Home Lighting Affects Your Daily Life

In the days to come, all aspects of our lives will be optimized and digitized, including light and the manner in which we relate to it. Both artificial and natural light has an effect on all life on earth. It does more than act as a source of vitamin D for humans. It enables sight, affects mood and improves overall well-being. If you experiment with light, you can change the manner in which you experience your home. The following are five ways on how home lighting can affect your daily life.

1. Regulating the circadian rhythm

Light plays a significant role in regulating the human circadian rhythm, also known as the body clock. It is one of the natural biorhythms of the body. The body clock does not work in agreement with the artificial clock. It is a little bit slower.

On an average, the body clock runs for 24 hours and 30 minutes, meaning that humans are naturally included to sleep and wake up thirty minutes later every day. When the body is exposed to bright light in the evening, the sleep cycle is delayed, and this makes us prefer sleeping later. This can hurt health. Due to spending many hours at work, you may not get enough sleep during the work week, and you will sleep longer during the weekends. Sleeping longer during the weekends can compensate for lack of rest.

However, it may reset a later circadian rhythm in the coming week, making you feel groggy. If you expose yourself to the appropriate quality of light at the same time every day and night, your natural body clock can synchronize with artificial clocks. It is advisable to have a dim light in the bedroom since it has a soothing and drowsy effect that prepares the body to sleep.

2. Concentration and productivity

The place where we need to stimulate our minds such as offices and schools are usually brightly lit. However, fluorescent lights are most often used in these places since they are energy efficient and cost effective. Spending many hours in harsh artificial light can make you feel edgy and uneasy.

For this reason, use warmer lights to make your home more soothing for activities like reading. You can also use warmer garage lighting since it can be more comfortable on the eyes when you are working on something for a long period.

3. Emotions

The lights we are exposed to throughout the day greatly affect our emotions. You may have realized that natural light coming through the windows has a great calming effect. Lack of lighting, on the other hand, can be depressing.

4. Eyes

Both artificial and natural lighting can strain or even damage the eyes. Spending many hours in areas that are brightly lit may cause tiredness and headaches. Adjust the lights in your home to avoid this strain.

5. Decision making

Under bright lights, emotions are experienced powerfully. The effect that bright light has on the emotional system may be the result of the body perceiving light as heat, and the perception of heat may trigger the emotions. Dimming the lights can help reduce emotionality as you make everyday decisions.

Final Words

Light affects the way to live on a daily basis. Humans and animals have always used the sun and the amount of light at different times of the day to regulate their body clock. This is natural and the body does it automatically. You can use lighting to create a family hub in your home, encourage guests to sit in a particular area or assist with the transition from day to night.

Salman Zafar

Salman Zafar is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of EcoMENA. He is a consultant, ecopreneur and journalist with expertise across in waste management, renewable energy, environment protection and sustainable development. Salman has successfully accomplished a wide range of projects in the areas of biomass energy, biogas, waste-to-energy, recycling and waste management. He has participated in numerous conferences and workshops as chairman, session chair, keynote speaker and panelist. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management and environmental sustainability across the globe Salman Zafar can be reached at salman@ecomena.org

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