Increase the amount of sunlight in your home
We all need light in our homes. Light is used to illuminate our rooms and to give atmosphere to our living spaces. While bulbs, LED lights and fluorescent tubes all provide artificial lighting, having as much natural light as possible is incredibly beneficial to our wellbeing in a number of ways.
Why natural light is important
Let’s start with the practical points. Lots of natural light in your house saves money on your electric bill each month, as you don’t need to have as many lights switched on. Of course, we all use more electricity in winter when we need the lights on for more hours of the day.
That’s where natural light really comes into its own. Studies have shown that bringing in natural light can cut up to 40% of your energy use at home.
Natural light also has a positive effect on your body and mind. It also helps with feeling more rested, more in tune with the world around you, more able to get up feeling bright and refreshed each morning and the ability to feel much more cheerful during each day. If you’ve been affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD), being able to have lots of natural light early in the day can be of real benefit to resetting your internal clock and making you feel better.
Enjoying nature
Being able to look out of your windows to the world beyond is also good for your health. Scientific research has proven that being able to look out into the garden is of real help to those feeling under the weather, and over the years, many hospitals have placed beds by windows to help the natural healing of patients.
A study showed that natural light may even help with levels of obesity. When mice were given food in natural daylight, they ate 50% less than those that were given food with less or no natural light. This could be proof that mood, sunlight and appetite are all linked.
Finally, natural light is also beneficial for children, and it’s even of benefit for teens in exams. One school monitored the results of pupils sitting in natural light and found that they scored 26% higher than those who were in artificially lit rooms.
Add natural light to your home
How you can achieve natural light in the home
There’s now lots of simple ways you can increase the amount of natural light in your home. These include:
- Skylights
- Floor to ceiling windows
- Origin bifolding doors
- uPVC patio door supplier
- Tubular daylight devices
- Glass walls
Glass bricks, which gained popularity in the 1970s, are also a great way of opening up a room without necessarily adding more windows.
Talk to the experts
There’s so much evidence that proves the importance of natural light. It’s time to think about making the changes you need to start feeling the benefits of the summer sun. Hamilton Windows will be happy to give you a quote that will brighten your day in more ways than one.
