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We here and use the term often in real estate. Home owners and home owners to be want it; natural light. People spend a lot of time of their days indoors and if you're anything like me, I love the outdoors, but with cooking, cleaning and other tasks that require me to be inside, I still love to have a feel of the outdoors. My house plants and natural light shinning through the windows helps me do just that. But how is this beautiful thing called natural light beneficial to us and how can it be used to our advantage? Here's how!...
Natural Light boots your body's Vitamin D storage which, in turn, boots your immune system. Vitamin D is important for absorbing calcium and promoting bone growth, as well as helping prevent certain types of cancers, heart disease, depression and weight gain. With all our time spent indoors, many Americans have a vitamin D deficiency due to a lack of outdoor sun exposure.
Natural light produces energy savings by allowing a homeowner, in certain cases, to use less heat, less air conditioning and eliminates (or greatly reduces) the need to use artificial light. Strategic natural lighting can reduce energy costs because it can help heat or brighten a space without using electricity.
Natural lighting helps people be more productive, happier, healthier and calmer, stated in several studies. Sunlight causes our brains to produce serotonin, a hormone that can improve mood by alleviating pain, providing energy and making us feel happy and well-rested. Sunlight also produces endorphins, otherwise known as the “feel-good hormone.”
Natural Light can also increase your home value! A study performed by Building Technology Innovations revealed that increased natural light makes a rental space look bigger and more open, resulting in people’s willingness to pay more. Plus, if you have an awesome view, those big windows will show it off in the best way!
If you want to maximize your natural lighting without renovations, follow these tips:
Make sure your furniture isn’t blocking windows.
Paint interior window frames white to amplify the reflection of natural light.
Use strategically placed mirrors to reflect natural lighting.
Avoid heavy drapes or window treatments.
Keep windows clean to allow as much light through as possible.
Choose lighter colors in general to reflect the light. Darker colors absorb it.
Use glass doors or doors with windows wherever you can.
Keep in mind, when looking at natural light on a cost-saving process, open your curtains in the cooler months to allow the direct sunlight to flow through and help warm the space. Our home is positioned to where it rises on the back side and sets on the front side. So in the morning, I have the back windows open. When the sun starts to shine through on the other side of the house, I close the curtains on that side and open them up on the other! This little trick helps tremendously in the cooler months.
Now for the warmer months, having natural light shinning through will not be cost effective seeing it will make your space warmer, in turn causing your ac unit to push even harder to keep it cool. For this reason, as well as when the sun goes down on the cooler months, I purchased energy saving curtains for each window in our home except for the large and small kitchen window. Standing by the windows covered and uncovered, you can tell a drastic difference in the two.
Below are some recommendations on energy saving curtains! Be sure to measure your height and width and purchase enough panels to cover the entire space to ensure maximum coverage for energy savings! And the are a multitude of options with these curtains based off your design preference!
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