How Managing Light Improves Mood and Energy

We may not realize it, but light – and the absence of it – affects us in many ways. Instinctively, we may feel far more energetic on a bright sunny day than a rainy, dreary one. In fact, your mood and energy might swing dramatically when the sun comes out after an extensive cloudy period.

Fortunately, the Park City area and the Utah Wasatch Front are known for getting their fair share of sun and light. Yet there are still times in the mountains when daylight hours are short and days may be relatively dark. The good news is technology has solutions to keep your energy up no matter the weather or light.

In this blog, we’ll mention how two incredibly convenient smart solutions – home lighting automation and motorized shades – can help you make the most of natural and artificial light all day long.

Circadian Rhythms and Tunable Light

On these pages, we’ve talked before about tunable lighting. Tunable lighting is made possible by recent advances in LED lighting and combining that with smart home automation systems like Control4. Our bodies react to light and form rhythms around how it increases and fades throughout the day, and that’s called the Circadian Rhythm. Many studies have concluded that the Daylight Savings Time change in the U.S. upsets many people's sleep patterns, and much of that is due to how our bodies react to light at certain times of the day.

With tunable lighting, indoor lighting can mimic the type of light the sun shines during the day. Bright daylight is more intense, "cooler," bluish light, which tends to awaken us. In the evening, the setting sun is dimmer, and the hues are "warmer," red and yellow tones which tend to relax us.

With a Control4 home automation system and tunable lighting, you can vary your indoor lights to mimic this pattern. The effects are subtle, but your body will appreciate it, feeling energetic at the right times and more ready for a good night's sleep.

Managing Natural Light

Of course, your home is not illuminated solely by artificial light. Your windows let in substantial light during the day. With motorized shades, you can synchronize the outside with the in to feel in tune with the day. Your tunable lights can adjust to the hue and intensity of the sun, with your shades opening and closing automatically throughout the day based on the sun’s position around your home. On days with low amounts of natural light, you can use daylight modes indoors to boost energy and productivity.

As always, motorized shades have benefits in energy efficiency and comfort. They can lower to control heat gain and glare in summer and rise to take advantage of sunny days in winter. They're the perfect complement to indoor lighting to ensure the ideal illumination for your home at any time of day.

Controlling Light

A Control4 smart home system makes it easy to coordinate all your intelligent technology. You can use a schedule or sensors to determine lighting and shading scenes or have preprogrammed settings that can be activated by one button or a voice command.

A smart thermostat (several of them) can join the automation action and synchronize temperatures based on the lighting, whether you’re home or not, or even what area of the house you're in. And with Control4's new OS 3 software, managing it all and seeing precisely what the state of all your lights, shades, and other functions are in has never been easier.

 

SEE MORE: 5 Reasons You Need Home Lighting Automation

 

Are you ready for a more natural approach to home lighting?  We encourage you to set up a one-on-one consultation with our team to explore the options. Just give us a call at (801) 444-3200, fill out our contact form, or chat with us below. We look forward to working with you!