Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a real thing. When the temperatures plummet and the sun starts going down earlier, especially in northern climates, people are driven inside. Today’s light bulbs can be made to mimic natural light, but it’s not the same as pure Vitamin D from the direct sun.
No matter the time of year, you can get as much Vitamin D as you like during your custom home build. In this article, we’ll talk about some of the benefits of adding natural light, as well as the best ways to add it.
Table of Contents
Enhance Mood & Well-Being
Improved Health
Visual Spaciousness
Energy Efficiency & Lower Costs
Connect Indoors & Outdoors
Mold Prevention
Home Orientation
Windows & Doors
Paint Colors
Skylights & Sky Tunnels
Reflective Surfaces
Open Floor Plans
Final Thoughts
Enhance Mood & Well-Being
Think about when you’re happiest. Are you happiest when you’re shut up inside with little connection to the outside, or when you’re outside enjoying the day? If for some reason you can’t go outside, bring the outside in. Sunlight triggers the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is responsible for boosting mood and promoting feelings of happiness and calmness.
Adding plenty of natural light through large windows, doors with windows, sky lights, or sky tunnels brings in that natural light you can’t get to. Sitting next to the window brings the sun’s rays right to your lap and a better mood.
Improved Health
The sun provides more than natural light. With it comes increased levels of Vitamin B and Vitamin D, two vitamins essential to good overall health and well-being. Exposure to natural light also aligns your body clock with the sun, regulating sleep patterns, appetite, digestion, and immunity. An increase in endorphins and serotonin levels also help regulate your body’s hormones.
Visual Spaciousness
If one of the goals of your custom home is added space, ‘add’ more space by adding natural light. Natural light has the ability to visually expand a space. Tall windows draw the eye up to take in the whole space, projecting a larger, airier, and inviting atmosphere.
Energy Efficiency & Lower Costs
Large windows and doors that include glass panels may be more expensive up front, but the cost savings through their lifetime will more than make up for it. Large windows that face the sun harness the power of the sun for both its warmth and its light. The proper use of these materials can result in less need for artificial light. The less you have to have your lights on, the more money you’ll save in electric bills. You’ll also feel the benefits of natural solar heating and cooling, keeping the need for running the air conditioning or heat at a minimum.
Connect Indoors & Outdoors
Many clients want the ability to have indoor/outdoor living, no matter where they build. Large balconies, patios, decks, and more are frequent requests. Having the space is great, and being outside using those spaces connects you to the natural environment. Having large windows connecting the indoor and outdoor spaces can bring the outdoors, and its natural light, inside. One popular option is a wall of windows that can be opened and closed, providing the best of indoor/outdoor living.
Mold Prevention
Not only does the sun act as a natural mood enhancer, it also acts as a natural disinfectant, as well as a natural moisture eliminator. The combination can mean less worry about mold and other bacteria in the home, as well as less cleaning and maintenance.
Home Orientation
The simplest way to add more natural light is to orient your home in a such a way to take advantage of the sun’s rays. This is a ground-up decision, and will start at the design phase. Keep in mind this may be limited by your lot, it’s location, the building envelope, and other factors. Being mindful of where the sun is at various points of the day is a big help in creating a home that takes advantage of all of the opportunities for natural light throughout the day.
Windows & Doors
Earlier, we mentioned a ‘wall of windows’ that can open and close to create the best indoor/outdoor living. Tall windows, or an array of windows reaching floor to ceiling, orientated in the right direction, can flood a room with natural light all day long. Full-length glass doors, or any door with a glass panel, can help your home harness natural light in every room or space.
Paint Colors
To maximize natural light, choose light, airy colors. The lighter the color, the higher the Light Reflectance Value (LVR), or the amount of light the color reflects back into the atmosphere. Pure white reflects nearly 100% back into the room, bouncing natural light all over for a fuller natural light experience. Total black is 0%, making white and light colors the most popular choices.
Another tip: paint your trim around doors and windows white, and your ceiling a lighter shade than your walls to maximize natural light.
Skylights & Sky Tunnels
Give the sun every opportunity to enter the home and make it a brighter place. Skylights and sun tunnels allow light to rain in from above. Depending on the model of skylight you choose, it can also be opened to let in fresh air, too. We can help you plan a skylight and sky tunnel design that will increase the natural light for rooms like the kitchen, living room, dining room, bedrooms, and even bathrooms.
Reflective Surfaces
Paint colors aren’t the only way to add reflective surfaces to your home. Choosing building materials like glass, lighter colored flooring, mirrors, and metallic finishes optimize natural light once it enters the home.
Open Floor Plans
Sunlight travels 93 million miles from the sun to the earth, only to be stopped by the solid ground – or your new home. Allow the sun to enter your home through large windows and doors, and give its rays plenty of room to play.
Open floor plans are the ideal opportunity. Not only will there be a natural entryway at the window, the lack of interior walls gives the sun more room to flow freely throughout the space.
Final Thoughts
The staff at Acipe Design is here to help you create your dream home from foundation to completion. We’ll walk you through all the ways you can add natural light into your build to help you create a home as bright as your future in it.
Contact us today!