Having sunlight flowing into your home’s interior is very beneficial, but there’s more to it than just saving electricity. In fact, saving electricity is the least important reason that you should consider opening up the windows of your home and letting them shower the interior in natural light unobstructed.
The biggest benefit of letting sunlight in your home is your mood. Yep, it does affect it, in fact, natural light affects your mood in multiple ways. Lack of natural light can make you start feeling depressed, sad and even tired, even if you aren’t really. Our bodies need sunlight as it increases the serotonin level which induces the happy feeling. Besides making you feel happy, sunlight keeps your eyes from getting tired too soon and also keeps you awake. Have you ever felt sleepy early in the day, even though you’ve had enough sleep? Lack of sunlight is the most common cause.
The other effect of natural light on your mood is how it interacts with the space. First of all, a room decently lighted up by sunlight appears a bit more spacious than it actually it is. The colors of the walls, the furniture as well as the decor come alive, creating a far more enjoyable atmosphere for you. You will feel less confined than if you were to stay in that room under artificial light.
Moving on to the next point, electricity. This is quite obvious but relying on natural light for the larger portion of the day is a great way to lower the electricity bill. It probably won’t be affected too much, but there will still be a difference.
There are many amazing benefits of having natural light all around your home and hopefully, you will consider this next time you want to close the shutters or pull the curtain. But what other steps can you take to make sure that you’re harvesting as much sunlight as possible?
The obvious call here is to clear your home’s windows from anything that can obstruct the sunlight. Most commonly, there will be trees, plants and other kinds of covers on the outside. On the inside, you should look for furniture or plants that might be in the way as well. You don’t need to completely remove your curtains or shutters to protect your privacy but you could train some restraint in using them.
The most drastic change that you can do in order to gain some more natural light is to install bigger windows. This is a great option if you’re already planning to renovate your home. In that case, you want to look for windows that are large enough but not feel out of place.
In any case, you need to know that natural light in your home can have a huge effect on your comfort and you should do your best to make sure you’re letting in all of the sunlight potential.
