Smart Lighting for Better Health and Well-being

The relationship between light and our health is significant. It has a deep impact on various aspects of our lives from vitamin D deficiency and symptoms of depression to how it generally affects our mood, appetite and energy levels. While these effects have been considered in many commercial spaces, many of us are not thinking about lighting enough in our homes.

Exposure to too much light late at night or too little during the day, can have a negative effect. Below we look at how smart lighting can help with this and promote better health and wellbeing.

Blue Light Makes Us More Energetic

Exposure to blue light during the day makes us more alert and gives us some extra energy. This heightened alertness lasts for a full half hour once blue light exposure ends. Blue light comes from the sun as well as from our lights, phone screens and computer screens. This heightened alertness is great during the day but becomes a problem at night.

Too little light in the day and too much at night can disrupt your circadian rhythm, mess with your sleep schedules, or make it difficult to find energy throughout the day. It can also affect your mood. Dimmer lighting allows our bodies to adjust, making us feel more relaxed and calmer, which is great when it’s getting close to bedtime.

How Light Impacts Health

Poor lighting can be responsible for fatigue and headaches as well as bringing on symptoms of depression and impacting our immune systems. On the other hand, natural light can help reduce symptoms of depression. One study found that people with both vitamin D deficiency and depression had alleviated depressive symptoms following seven weeks of increased sunlight exposure.

How Automated Lighting Can Help

Ensuring you strike the right balance of light in your home is easier by using smart technology. Smart window coverings can help you adjust natural light to your advantage and ensure you are getting enough during the day to improve your mood and wellbeing.

Automated lighting can control lights in your home and turn them off when it's time to sleep. More light can be mood elevating, and dimmer light can be sedating, so it’s a good idea to use timed lights and dimmers to set your mood and energy levels.

You can pre-program your smart lighting to adjust according to the time or switch off lights as you require from your smartphone. You should also limit your blue light exposure from TVs, laptops and phones around an hour before bedtime.

Interested in Home Automation Solutions?

For automated lighting and smart window covering solutions, you can count on the team at Somfy.