3 Great Ways for Bringing More Natural Light Into Your Home

Since the beginning of time, people have risen with the sun and slept through most of the night. Primitive people had to make the most of the daytime to hunt, gather vegetables and eat, for the night belonged to predators that could see in the dark.

Therefore, countless primitive people worshipped the sun. Sunshine, dawn, and sunrise are potent metaphors that signal hope, exaltation, and new beginnings.

The effect is not just literary. Scientists have discovered light, especially natural light, has many beneficial health effects. They start in our brain with the hypothalamus.

Sunlight Greatly Affects Your Health

When light enters your eyes, it goes to your hypothalamus, a part of your brain so important it’s often referred to as the brain’s brain. It helps regulate metabolic and automatic systems, including hunger, temperature, and thirst. It controls the pituitary gland. It governs your emotions and immune system. It also contains your body’s clock that controls the circadian rhythm—how you react to the daily cycle of light and darkness.

When your hypothalamus receives inadequate amounts of sunlight, that throws off your body. Lack of sunlight causes Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) during the winter months. But many people stay inside so much they do not get enough sunlight, even during the summer months.

The brain chemical serotonin rises with exposure to bright sunlight and falls at the lack of it. That’s important because serotonin is closely associated with good moods. It makes us feel good, and the lack of it makes us feel sad.

However, most people cannot change their work schedules and personal lives to spend as much time outdoors in the sun as they’d like. Apart from moving to a beach or desert, what can people do?

Let the Sun Shine In

There are three ways homeowners can increase their exposure to sunlight to improve their health and their enjoyment of life. Install:

Skylights
Sun Tubes
Windows

Skylights Make Your Home More Beautiful

From venting to fixed, skylights come in many different styles and sizes. They go great in living rooms, bedrooms, and even bathrooms. They not only let in the sunshine, but they also give the room a more expansive, spacious feel of luxury. Simple shapes and bright colors give skylights modern, stylish twists.

Install a skylight just over the head of your bed, and at night you can see the moon and stars above you. That’s dreamy.

Benefits of Skylights

* Energy efficiency. Modern skylights let in the sun’s energy to help heat your home, but, insulated, they retain heat during the winter. By letting in more natural light, you reduce the cost of electric lighting.

* Electric venting skylights help cool your home in the summer by drawing up the warm air and releasing it outside.

* Reducing energy consumption reduces electric bills, saving you money.

* Skylights in bathrooms bring in light while retaining privacy.

What Are Sun Tubes?

A sun tube also helps to bring more natural sunlight into your home.

On your roof, a weatherproof plastic globe allows sunshine into the tube. The tube itself is sheet metal rounded into a cylinder with a highly polished interior. They come in diameters of 10 inches and 14 inches. The tube channels the light down into your home, preserving its intensity, so it shines nearly as brightly inside your home as it does outside.

Sun tubes are great ways to add light to dark parts or rooms of your home where you don’t need or wish for a full skylight. They’re also good for bringing light in from the roof to brighten your home even through roofs, even from the second floor to the ground floor, up to 14 feet long.

How Much Light Do Sun Tubes Provide?

A 10-inch diameter sun tube can shine with the light of three 100-watt bulbs, illuminating 200 square feet of floor space. 14-inch diameter sun tubes brighten 300 square feet of floor space.

Can Your House Take a Sun Tube?

Installing sun tubes doesn’t require any alterations to the building’s frame. The main limitation is just finding the space to install the sheet metal tube. There are elbows and flexible tubing that can avoid obstacles in the attic, electrical wiring or HVAC ducts.

A tube placed at the southwest corner of your house captures the most sunlight. You can also install an electric light within the tube to turn on at night.

One new option for sun tunnels is to install a diffuser pane. It’s a ring of clear glass that is better at spreading the light around the room below.

How to Better Use and Improve Your Windows for Light

Windows remain the obvious and customary way to allow natural light into your home. They also improve your house’s beauty and curb appeal.

Good, modern windows increase the value of your home by enhancing its architecture. They’re also energy-efficient. Homeowners today have a wide choice between:

Sliding windows
Double-hung windows
Awning windows
Garden windows
Bow windows
Bay windows
Casement windows
Picture windows

Replacement windows are measured and custom fitted for maximum energy efficiency.

At BRAX Roofing, we team up with homeowners. We’d love to brighten up your home and your life by installing a skylight, sun tube, or new window. We sell and install only the best products from the highest quality manufacturers. We are a 3-Star Velux installer. Our experienced installers are GAF certified.

Call us today to arrange a free consultation and estimate. We’ll be glad to answer any other questions you have about bringing more natural light into your house.