How Sunlight Affects Your Well-Being

With so many recent news stories about the negative effects of excessive exposure to the sun’s rays, we could be forgiven for forgetting just how vital sunlight is to our continued good health. Natural light has many positive effects to offer as far as our well-being is concerned, some physical and some mental. By introducing more natural light into your home and workspace, you can enjoy these positive effects along with your work colleagues and other members of your family. Below, we highlight some of the most important health benefits you can look forward to enjoying, should you decide to let a little more light into your home and work environments.

The Healing Power of Sunlight: How More Sunlight Could Improve Your Well-Being

Although direct exposure to the sun’s rays can be harmful, especially as far as UVB rays are concerned, sunlight has a number of benefits to offer as far as our well-being is concerned:

• Improved Air Quality – UVA rays from the sun, which are able to pass through standard glass skylights and windows with ease, have been shown to have antimicrobial activity. In other words, these rays kill and slow the growth of a variety of microorganisms, including both bacteria and viruses. By introducing more sunlight into your home, you can improve the quality of the air you breathe.
• Improved Mood – Long ago, scientists discovered that natural light has the ability to enhance our mood, by encouraging the release of serotonin into our bloodstreams. This is one of the reasons we often feel an instant lift in our mood when going outside on a fine, sunny day. With more natural light in your home and workplace, you can feel this way all the time.
• Greater Productivity – Many studies have shown that greater levels of natural illumination lead to greater productivity, in commercial settings as diverse as offices, warehouses, factories and industrial plants.
• More Focus – When working in spaces with plenty of natural light, people are able to focus more easily on whatever they are doing. This means that in such environments they normally make less mistakes and are less susceptible to fatigue when performing repetitive tasks.
• Better Sleep – When we are exposed to more sunlight during the day, our body's circadian rhythms follow their natural ebbs and flows more closely, which makes it easier for us to fall asleep once the sun goes down. If you often experience restless nights, installing bigger windows, light tubes and skylights could result in a significant improvement to your sleep quality.
• Reduced Stress Levels – People who are exposed to plenty of sunlight on a daily basis tend to exhibit lower levels of stress than people who spend most of their lives in the dark or under artificial lighting. Introducing more daylight into your property could help you to relax more easily.

If you would like to enjoy all of these health benefits, there are several easy ways for you to introduce more sunlight into your home and work environments, as we discuss in the next section.

Letting in the Sunlight: How to Increase Natural Illumination Levels

There are a few ways in which you can easily increase the amount of sunlight that is able to penetrate the interior of your home or commercial property, of which the following are most often employed:

• Panoramic Windows – If they won’t spoil the appearance of your property from the exterior or pose any privacy or security concerns, panoramic windows could prove to be a very effective way to introduce more natural light into your home or commercial premises.
• Skylights – For single-storey homes and for the upper floors in multi-storey properties, skylights offer a simple and very cost-effective way to increase the level of natural light inside (during the daytime of course). There are many different styles of skylights available today, which means it should be easy to find some that are perfect for your property.
• Roof Lanterns – Roof lanterns may be thought of as a more ornate type of skylight. They are normally pyramid-shaped, with multiple panes of glass separated by decorative frames. They are a great option for period properties and for homes with more traditional architectural lines.
• Sun Tunnels – Sun tunnels, sometimes also referred to as light pipes, light tubes, tubular skylights and tubular daylighting devices, can be connected to glass domes on the roof of your property, in order to transmit sunlight to rooms on lower levels. They are often used to introduce natural light into below grade spaces such as residential basements and cellars.

If you decide that skylights and roof lanterns are the best option for you, please feel free to browse our selection at your leisure and to get in touch if you have any questions that you would like us to answer. 

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