Steel Farm Lights and Sleep

Home lighting is without a doubt the most essential form of lighting you’re likely to invest in. It’s the everyday lighting that you’ll come to rely on through all of the critical moments of life at home and will be a decision that will affect the perception of your home for years to come. 

As a result, it’s probably wise to start thinking about how you can maximize the benefits that lighting design can bring to your home. After all, having a home that promotes good health, even in the most subtle ways, is bound to have a positive effect on your livelihood in the long run. 

The effects of lighting are, to be honest, a lot less subtle than others would have you believe. Good lighting can be the difference between restful nights, positive outlooks, more energy during the day, and overall increases in happiness. 

COVID-19 has meant that streaming services have gone through yet another boom period, with people becoming all-consuming shut-ins as a result. This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the abundance of blue light that showers us every time we turn on the tv. But, unfortunately, this deluge of blue light means our day-night cycle is perpetually thrown in flux, with our poor bodies getting confused about the time and when it’s a good time to go to sleep. 

Given that we’re a lighting company ourselves, it makes sense that we’d be pretty interested in the idea of lighting and health. After all, if there’s a positive effect our steel barn-style lights are having on our customers, we want to know about it! 

Consequently, we’ve compiled a handy blog that details the finer points of lighting design, and the effects lighting can have on you, whether that be in your home or business. 

Read on! 

Big Blue Lights

So, what was that thing we mentioned about “blue lights” and TVs? Oh, right. 

The modern reality is that most of the light emitted by devices like TVs and smartphones during nighttime hours probably affects human health. This mostly comes from TV’s emitting a specific type of daylight-like blue “light,” which can be harmful to our eyes at night because it often causes insomnia or sleeplessness when exposed to too much daytime lighting before bedtime.

Many people are likely experiencing adverse side effects due to being overexposed to bright lights throughout the day— including exposure from television sets. This primarily revolves around how electronic screens emit “blue light”—the kind you see more prominently during morning and evening hours–which disrupt our circadian rhythm. 

The light from devices like smartphones and TVs is so bright that it makes them easy to see, but they also have the unfortunate side-effect of stimulating your brain to think you’re still operating during the daytime.

If you’re trying to get some shut-eye, then you can imagine how having a brain that still thinks it’s daytime might be difficult. 

For the most part, there are ways to mitigate this problem. Blue light filters are the most common and work by filtering out the blue light emitted by screens and devices using an orange film over a pair of glasses. These can help massively to reduce eye strain and protect your circadian rhythm. 

Circadian What?

Ok, so we saw where we lost you there; that’s ok, though. This isn’t common knowledge, after all. 

Every human on Earth has a circadian rhythm or an internal body clock that lets us figure out when it’s time to sleep. Most of the circadian rhythm is made of a combination of visual, audible, and sensory cues that, when combined, make it clear to us when we’re tired and when we need to recharge our batteries. 

Circadian Rhythms also benefit from making sure our sleep schedule is not in constant flux or leaving you to rely on your exhaustion as a way to go to sleep. In the case of humans, consistency and regularity are essential to a happy relationship with our rest. 

Naturally, this kind of thing runs against the excesses of modern life. Late nights and the latest Netflix or Hulu binge have become common reasons why, for many, operating during daylight hours seems unrealistic. 

Getting to Business

So, how does this all apply to business owners? We’ve spoken a lot about the home, but not so much about our careers.

From a business perspective, matching the lighting in your workplace to day/light cycles can be hugely helpful. For instance, installing large wall-mounted or ceiling-mounted steel lights at warehouses and other spaces with production facilities help employees see clearly during their workday while also maximizing visibility for safety purposes. 

Similarly, having dimmable light fittings that allow you to adjust between day and night mode is an excellent way of enabling employee time management. It gives them greater control over how they manage energy levels outside of working hours, and this helps workers stay more focused on what matters most: getting things done!

Like Steel Lighting Co.’s wall-mounted steel barn lights, outdoor lights make this process much easier with their own dusk-to-dawn sensor that aid lights to be more efficient while also assisting an employee’s body clock with an accurate visual cue of when a particular time of the day has been met. 

Famous models, like the Redondo and Gardena lights, are especially welcome in business and warehouse environments where large, industrial lights are required for the sheer volume of space they can light. 

If you need help making the right choice of lighting for your home or business, then contact our friendly team at Steel Lighting Co.,  our friendly team of experts would be more than happy to give some advice and recommendations on what kind of steel barn light can best suit your home or business needs.