We are starting to do some renovations to the house. The first phase is lighting upgrades; installing dimmer switches everywhere and converting from incandescent to LED fixtures and bulbs. While we’re at it, we’re paying a lot of attention to the quality and temperature of lighting (measured in degrees Kelvin) as it has a real impact as to how well you see and how you feel; I’m happy to report we’re on the right track.
The temperature of light has to do with the color that’s emitted when an object is heated. University of Greenwich researchers found that workers put under “blue-enriched light bulbs” reported feeling “happier, more alert and had less eye strain.” There are other benefits of blue light as well, including lowering melatonin, which helps us to sleep. A lower level of melatonin was shown to keep people alert similarly to coffee.
Fun fact: When the swamp cooler is running, the incandescent lighting we use in the kitchen and dining area costs about $0.047/hour; that figure includes the electricity used by the bulbs and the impact on the cooling system due to all the heat being emitted by the bulbs. Switching to LEDs drops that figure to about $0.007/hour. Since light bulbs are not an efficient way to heat a home, there will be significant savings when the heater is on as well.
