Promises of convenience and energy efficiency often fuel the desire for smart home devices, but lighting control and shading systems, with their power to impact the overall wellbeing of a home’s occupants, offer another compelling reason to splurge on such technologies.
A circadian rhythm, which regulates a person’s internal 24-hour-long sleep-wake cycle, is deeply influenced by the Earth’s natural lighting schedule. Since people spend 90 percent of their time indoors, bathed in artificial lighting that is typically set to just one constant correlated color temperature, this ultimately has a negative effect on one’s health.
The solution, then, for optimal sleep, metabolism, and productivity is to embrace human-centric lighting (HCL) products. These systems essentially mimic the outdoors through a combination of automated lighting control and LED lamps and light fixtures that can adapt their color tone or intensity to correspond with the dynamic range of natural sunlight.
Here are tips for circadian lighting from Mark Moody at Vantage-Legrand Integrated Solutions:
Advanced controllers, such as those from Vantage, even have the ability to precisely determine latitude and longitude and automatically calculate sunrise and sunset times on any given day for a specific location. They are complemented by shading systems like those from QMotion, which conveniently filter ideal levels of natural light into the house to prevent glare and increase comfort.
Software also allows homeowners to program customized daylight conditions throughout each room. For example, a pre-set “Wake” scene in the bedroom translates to slow-rising shades and lights that turn on gradually. The home office, all the more paramount in the pandemic era, defaults to “Daylight” mode, unleashing blue lighting that adds focus in combination with shades that make way for stimulating outdoor views, whereas “Relax” instills a calming presence for unwinding.
Automated precision doesn’t always take inevitably changing schedules into consideration, but with just the touch of a screen or wall keypad, residents can make brightening and dimming adjustments as they see fit, proving just how simple it is to bring the outside in.
A version of this article was originally published by CEPro.
