Let there be...light!

The left window is the new one.

We got a new window installed in our master bedroom a couple of weeks ago. Really new. Not just a replacement. They cut a hole in the bricks and then in the inside dry wall and inserted a window. Before that there was only one north facing window in that room. It was like perpetual twilight. In fact, most of our house felt like twilight, all day.

It’s always bugged me. I like lots of light. I thought about putting in a skylight. But I like to see out. Also, John wants us to go solar someday and since that side of the roof is the best place for putting solar panels. I thought, why not add a window instead? I’ve seen houses in another part of town that have two windows in some bedrooms. Corner rooms, particularly, like this one is, usually have two windows—one on each wall. But our home’s builder (Fox and Jacobs) is known for cutting corners and only doing the minimum. I suspect one way they did that was to only install the minimum number of windows required in each bedroom. I suppose too when this house was built windows let in a lot of heat. But we have low-e glass in all our windows now so that cuts down on that problem.

I read recently in an article by Linda Geddes on BBC.com that if a person gets plenty of light during the day that they sleep better at night. Also they are less susceptible to blue light, like the kind coming from computer screens, in the evenings.

I’ve known for some time that getting too much light, especially blue light, close to bedtime can disrupt my sleep. So I’ve tried to limit my screen time and overall light exposure in the evening. I also installed an app called F.lux on my old computer that reduced the blue light coming from its screen at night. I was delighted to discover that my new computer came with its own “night light” feature. All I needed to do was to enable it in settings. It seems to work like F.lux. The screen goes a slight yellow tinge after sunset. Other colors on the screen look a little different too. But the benefits for sleep and health outweigh the disadvantages. In my opinion computer makers would do everyone a favor if they made it the default and people who didn’t want it could disable it. I suspect most people don’t know about that issue so never know to look for it. I knew about the issue but only accidentally discovered it was a feature I could enable on my new computer.

A few years ago when I first learned about blue light issues at bedtime I installed a free app called Twilight on my cell phone . I don’t think it works as well as F.lux or the night light setting on my computer. Instead of actually removing the blue light it just sort of covers it with another color. We also bought blue blocker glasses that go over our prescription glasses. We used them for a while but mostly don’t now. I don't know why we stopped. They really did seem to help at first. I tried mine again last night but it doesn’t fit very well on my new glasses that I got last month.

Anyway, when I read Geddes’s article that said more light during the day can improve sleep at night I thought it was worth a try to see if I could increase my light exposure during the day and see what happened. Although I usually seem to sleep fairly well, if not as long as I would like. I know that fibromyalgia, which I have, is said to cause non-refreshing, non-restorative sleep. So, any chance that I could make my sleep more restorative is worth exploring.

So, I started turning on more lights in the house during the day. I don’t know if it has improved my sleep but I noticed an immediate increase in my energy level. That is a huge blessing! One of the worst problems from fibromyalgia is fatigue. Any increase in energy is a major help!

There seems to be a few terms used to measure and indicate the light level in a room. One is called lux (lx). Lux is the metric term. The non-metric equivalent is foot-candles. I prefer lux since that is how I first learned about it—it’s also shorter!

Recommendations for lux levels vary based on the type of room and functions to be performed in them. I found a chart by a lighting company in Australia that gives recommendations for homes. For most general purpose areas they recommend 100-200 lx, for task lighting 300-400 lx. Their recommendation for hallways was 50-100 lx.*

Lighting recommendations for businesses are much higher.

I downloaded a free app from Google play store called “Light Meter.” Then I measured the lux levels at our house.

First, I went outside. At 9:47 a.m. in the sun next to our mail box the lux level was 17,000. Under a shade tree in our front yard it was 1083 lx.

Then I went inside. The two hallways are the darkest areas. Without electric lights on they ranged from 1 to 4 lx, depending on which hallway it was, position in the hall and time of day. With the electric light turned on the lux only went up to 7. That is much less than the recommended 50-100 lx for hallways. Official charts say twilight is 10.8 lx. So the hallways are darker than twilight, even with the lights on! I think it’s time for some brighter lights there!

In my home office recliner at 10:00 a.m. the lux with the window open and no artificial lights on was 7. It went up to 160 lx when I turned on all the lights. One recommendation I found for home offices was 100-400 lx for general work and 300-400 lx for task.

In the middle of our living room with all the curtains open and no artificial lights the lux was 16. With all the lights on and the curtains open it goes up to 215 lux in John’s recliner and 162 lux in mine. The difference is probably because the spot light that is pointed at my chair is burnt out. When I turn off the spotlights but leave on the *normal* overhead lights the lux drops all the way down to 35! That is a significant difference. I didn’t realize how useful those spotlights could be even during the day. I will be adding replacing that bulb onto my to-do list (or should I say onto John’s to-do list 😉)

The brightest room in our house is the kitchen. It has a large window above the sink and a sliding glass door next to it. Even with that though at 1:30 in the afternoon with all the kitchen lights on and the windows open the lux reading was only 130. That was next to the window. The task areas are much lower. Even with the lights on they range from 35-75 lx--much lower than the recommended 300-400 lx. I can hardly imagine so much brightness! Maybe that’s why I’m so *burnt out* on cooking lately. I just need more light in my kitchen. Ha!

In the master bedroom before the new window was installed I measured the lux in the spot where the new window was going. It was 9 lx. That was with the other window open on a clear sunny day at 3:00 in the afternoon. That is less than twilight! When I turned on all the lights it only went up to 37 lx.

Later--Now with the new window the same spot is much brighter. Even now as I write this paragraph at 9:30 a.m. when the sun is still on the other side of the house, depending on which direction I point my phone the lux reading ranges from 260 if pointed at the window, 40 if pointed straight up next to the window. That is without any other lights on but both windows open. When I turn on the lights it went up to 46 when pointed up and down to 205 pointed at the window--what? It must be some clouds passing by. Yesterday I checked it in the afternoon when the sun was shining in almost directly and it was much higher but I didn’t think to write it down! Anyway, I am very glad to have this new window. My bedroom is much brighter and more pleasant.

We may add a light blocking Roman blind for the night time like we have on the other window. But the new window is small and our neighbor on that side doesn’t have such a persistent security light. I also wear an eye shade over my eyes so the increased light at night hasn’t been much of a problem.

The view from the new window-- baby redbud tree on left.

View from the new window --the big tree on the right filters the late afternoon sun nicely. The gravel rectangle is where our motor home usually parks. It is away getting worked on at the moment.

Other links on lux:
* https://www.noao.edu/education/QLTkit/ACTIVITY_Documents/Safety/LightLevels_outdoor+indoor.pdf

https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/lux-much-light-need/