The quality of your sleep is influenced by the light in your home, just as it is by natural light. Can you imagine sleeping in a room where a big light bulb shines brightly? You need to plan your bedroom lighting to get a good night’s sleep, and we’re here to help!
You should also bear in mind that you’re unlikely to fall asleep as soon as the sun goes down (especially in winter). As a result, you’ll need to install lights that have the same brightness as natural daylight, while ensuring that the change in lighting while you sleep is natural.
We’re going to break this question down into two parts. Firstly, work out which light bulbs you should use to help prepare your body for sleep. Then, we’ll talk about the best form of lighting for sleep. We’ll also look at how light from telephones affects your sleep and what type of lighting is best for children at night. Let’s get this party started!
Light that promotes sleep
Although you won’t sleep straight after the sun goes down, it’s necessary to start preparing your brain for the sleep phase as soon as the light goes down. While LED bulbs can be used for everyday lighting, fluorescent bulbs provide the best light for the night. They promote the production of melatonin, one of the most important hormones involved in inducing sleep.
Fluorescent lighting is bright enough to give the impression of a well-lit room. It also helps to ensure that the sleep process is natural and that you’re not constantly tossing and turning in bed as you sleep. As soon as it gets dark, avoid moving to a dimly lit room, as this can be demanding on the eyes.
Fluorescent bulbs are also energy-saving. If you stay up a few hours longer than usual, leaving your lights on will only have a small impact on your energy consumption.
A useful light for sleeping
Ideally, you should sleep in the dark, but if you want to sleep with a light on, that’s also acceptable. In this case, always use soft or blue lighting, or a low-intensity nightlight. Blue light, according to numerous scientific studies, helps to relax your brain before and during sleep. It’s the opposite of yellow light, which is what we see during the day.
We also tend to check our phones just before bed, whether it’s to check our emails or watch an episode of our favourite show. This can disrupt the sleep process, but it’s difficult to break the habit completely. Once again, blue light is an excellent strategy for compensating for this effect.
As the light emitted by phone screens is predominantly blue, the presence of non-blue light in the environment amplifies the effect. However, if the space is lit by a low level of blue light, the light from your phone screen will appear natural. Your eyes won’t have to adjust to the lighting in the room if you decide to turn your phone off or look away for a minute. The night settings on modern phones can also help by using blue light.
Many people with insomnia or difficulty sleeping are also advised by professionals to use blue lighting at night.
The best nightlight for children
Children’s eyes are more sensitive than adults’. So if you have children at home, make sure they get the right amount of light to sleep in. A rapid transition from yellow light to white light and then to blue light can cause long-term damage to their eyes.
Another factor to take into account is that children are more attached to normal sleep patterns. You can change the intensity of the light in the room and lull them into a natural state of uninterrupted sleep by using a dimmer switch. Any type of light, including LEDs, can be used with dimmers.
Children often don’t like to sleep in total darkness. Instead of having a powerful bedside lamp that serves a dual purpose, you should reduce the general light in the room to create an ideal sleeping environment for your children. In this case, nightlights can be very useful for children; a twilight plug-in nightlight automatically emits a dim white light as the room darkens and switches off when daylight begins.
Final thoughts
Many of your bodily processes are influenced by the lighting in your bedroom. With the right lighting, you can choose to stay awake for long periods, or you can change the lights to encourage natural sleep. When it comes to sleeping with a light on, blue light is always the best option.
For children, however, it’s best to gradually reduce the amount of light in the room. While an adult’s eyes can acclimatise quickly to a change in light from yellow to blue, a child’s eyes may struggle more. When it comes to lighting your child’s bedroom, using a dimmer switch is the best option.
Make sure you think ahead when choosing light bulbs for your home, as this will affect not only the health of your eyes, but also the quality of your sleep.