No matter where you live, it gets dark, and more light in your home has some amazing benefits. So you should make the most of it. First, you will save money when you use the sun to its fullest. But there are also well-known mental health benefits too. Here are some more reasons.
To Brighten Up Your Home
Of course, a home filled with light is much brighter, and this makes your home feel much more welcoming and inviting. Family time in a bright and playful area, or even when eating together, is made much better with natural light. You can increase natural light with renovations such as traditional roof lanterns, going open plan, and installing larger windows. Any of these will transform your home into something more modern and will add value when you are selling.
Reducing Your Energy Bills
Is there any escape from rising costs? Although we have a small reprieve from energy bills because of the warmer weather, winter isn’t too far off now. And this means your bills will go up once more. Yet you can reduce your bills somewhat by using more natural light and maximizing how long you get sunlight. This means you can wait longer before you have to switch on your electrical lights. The savings may be small if you use LED bulbs, but every little helps, right?
More Light in Your Home Helps You Focus
More of us are working from home these days, and in the UK alone, over 60% of workers now do some work from the home office at least once per week. But there are many distractions at home, so you may not be as productive as at the office. However, a well-lit work area will boost your focus and concentration, with the added effect of keeping you energized. This is in comparison to a dingy room with closed curtains and no view of the world outside the window.
Overall Improved Mood
There are many documented benefits of natural light when it comes to mental health and your overall mood. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a documented condition where you can feel depressed without natural light and is very common in fall and winter, affecting around 6% of people. Natural light helps stimulate your emotions and can help lower cortisol, which makes you feel down. It has a similar effect to eating, sex, and exercises, and also improves sleep.
To Spare Your Eyes
Artificial lights are bad for your eyes in general, especially fluorescent lights. This is why they are becoming less common in offices all over the world. And because of the strain we place on our eyes from screens these days, there is an increase in eye diseases in people who use artificial light all day. Bad lighting needs to be counteracted with natural light, so flooding your home with sunlight can reduce the strain on your eyes and lower the need for artificial light.
Summary
More light in your home only has benefits, not least is a well-lit and inviting space. But natural light also helps you maintain focus and can reduce overall eye strain from bad lighting.
