Human sleep and wake cycles are directly affected by light. Previously, the daily routine was dictated by the sun. But now we spend up to 80–90% of our time indoors. Therefore, biological rhythms are affected by artificial lighting. Cian.The magazine tells you how to choose the right light in your apartment so you can finally get a good night’s sleep.

It happens that throughout the day you are exhausted, you don’t have enough energy even for simple actions. But in the evening the fatigue disappears as if by hand. It is possible to fall asleep only late at night; it is good if there are five to six hours left for sleep. There is no question of proper rest – the next day everything repeats itself.

Is this a familiar story? Most likely, your circadian rhythms are disrupted. And often the reason for this is improper lighting in the apartment.

But first, a little theory.

What are circadian rhythms and how do they affect our lives?

The circadian rhythm is the cyclical intensity of human biological processes, which depends on the time of day – on the change of day and night.

The name “circadian” itself comes from the Latin words circa (“about”) and dies (“day”) – the entire cycle takes approximately 24 hours.

Other living organisms also have circadian rhythms. They were first discovered when observing plants: the position of the leaves changes throughout the day.

If a person gets up around 6-7 am, has lunch around noon and goes to bed at 10 pm, their circadian rhythm looks like this.

The most effective signal for our body to support the daily circadian cycle is light. Early morning light promotes awakening and triggers all the processes necessary for active activity: cortisol is released, testosterone production begins, and the tone of the brain and cardiovascular muscles gradually increases.

In the evening, the body slows down, begins to produce the most important sleep hormone, melatonin, and gradually prepares to fall asleep. Intense exposure to light in the evening leads to a delay in rhythm and later falling asleep. So one of the frequent recommendations for those who have trouble sleeping is to give up gadgets a couple of hours before bed.

Screen radiation affects the circadian rhythm. Moreover, not only the brightness of the light affects, but also its temperature. The color temperature of light is usually measured in Kelvin: the higher the value, the cooler the color.

As you can see from the table, cool lighting corresponds to bright daylight. For the brain, this is an obvious signal: the time for rest has not yet come. Warm colors, on the contrary, have a relaxing effect.

Average light temperature in the apartment

When choosing a color temperature for each room, it is worth considering its purpose.

Cool light in the range from 3 to 5 thousand K is considered optimal for functional rooms – kitchens and bathrooms.

Cold light with a temperature of 5 to 6.5 thousand K is suitable for spot illumination of work areas: a desk in the office, countertops in the kitchen, mirrors in the bathroom or hallway. Clean, bright light helps you cope with tasks that require increased attention to detail.

For reading, it is recommended to use a slightly warmer light, in the range of 4 to 5 thousand K, to reduce eye strain.

Warm light from 2.7 to 3 thousand K is good for lighting bedrooms and living rooms, helping to relax.

Comfortable awakening and falling asleep is facilitated by even warmer light in the range from 2 to 3 thousand K, corresponding to the color temperature of sunset or dawn.

This temperature is not suitable for main lighting, so it is better to use point sources. For example, in recent years, so-called sunset lamps—small USB-powered LED lamps—have become very popular on social networks.

But you can simply replace the light bulb in your favorite bedside lamp.

The brightness of the main light in apartments is often determined by the preferences of the residents. It is believed that 10 W of power per 1 sq. m provide dim light, and 20 W – bright, but there are no strict standards. Illumination depends on the luminous flux of the lamp, the height of the ceiling, and the color of the walls.

Therefore, in the rooms where you spend time before going to bed, it is recommended to install dimmers – electronic devices that regulate the brightness of the light.

If you use dimmers with incandescent lamps, then as the brightness decreases, the color temperature will also change. For LED lamps, the temperature will remain the same.

There are also dimmers with a timer, they are suitable for smoothly turning on the light in the morning. This is especially true in the cold months, when it’s time to wake up, and there’s no hint of dawn outside the window.

Where to look for lamps with color temperature control

A fairly inexpensive spot solution is LED strips with color adjustment. Such strips take almost any shape, are easily hidden behind interior items and provide pleasant defocused light. The tapes do not heat up, and their service life reaches seven to nine years.

Depending on the “intelligence” of the tape, the color temperature can be changed either with the remote control or using a mobile application or smart speaker. There is a large selection of tapes on any marketplace, for example on Ozon.

For those who do not want to give up their usual lamps and chandeliers, smart light bulbs are suitable. These bulbs are based on energy-efficient LEDs and have a lifespan of more than three years.

They can change brightness, color, turn on and off on a timer or as the natural light in the room changes. The most common type of bulb is E27, compatible with most lamps and chandeliers.

An assortment of light bulbs is presented in Leroy Merlin hypermarkets. Please note that the description indicates which ones are compatible with the dimmer.

Many offers are also available on marketplaces, for example, Yandex.Market. In light bulbs from Yandex itself, you can control the light using the Alice voice assistant.

Another social media star in addition to the sunset lamp are corner floor or wall LED floor lamps.

They can also be found on Wildberries. The simplest ones are controlled by remote control, the more expensive ones are controlled through a mobile application.

An unusual solution is offered by the company Nanoleaf – smart LED panels that can be connected to each other and create various geometric shapes.

The color and brightness of each panel is adjusted separately in a special application.

ADVICE

When choosing lighting to adjust circadian rhythms, avoid sites where the description of the lamps contains the words “circadian”, as well as “light therapy”, “biodynamic”, etc. As a rule, the abundance of scientific and not so scientific terms does not have the best effect on pricing and Doesn’t help with sound and healthy sleep at all.

This article uses images from pinterest.com, blog.havells.com, gamma-uk.com, clearlightdesigns.com.au, homedepot.com, nanoleaf.ru and generated using Midjourney.