For all the health and mood-boosting benefits that natural light can provide, we sure don’t get enough of it.
A 2001 study found that the typical American spends around 93 percent of their time indoors. Subsequent studies have found that the problem has only gotten worse over the last 20 years, exacerbated by the uptick in hours we spend in front of screens.
Break it all down and that means on average, we spend more than 22 hours per day inside. And many of our homes and workplaces — where we spend the bulk of our time — lack windows that are large or well-placed enough to let the sun in.
The pattern is detrimental not just to our mental health, but to our physical health as well. While too much sun exposure comes with its own health risks, natural light plays an integral role in how our bodies and minds function (think about it. Humans didn’t evolve in office cubicles!)
Luckily, sunrooms and solariums like the ones provided by Global Solarium provide an ideal environment for soaking up natural light. The high-performance dual-pane glass sunroom materials let the sun’s rays in while keeping the wind and rain out. Consider all the benefits of adding a sunroom to your home:
Boost your mood with natural light
It’s proven: exposure to natural light makes us happier. Contact with sunlight boosts your brain’s production of serotonin (aka the “happy hormone”), which increases energy, alleviates feelings of pain, and improves overall contentment.
Improve your body’s Vitamin D production
Sunlight provides ultraviolet B (UVB) energy, and the skin uses that energy to kickstart the production of Vitamin D. Vitamin D plays a critical role in the human body — it allows your bones to absorb the calcium you ingest, maintains normal blood levels of phosphorus, and controls genes associated with cancers and autoimmune diseases. It’s important! And in order to produce enough Vitamin D, your body needs exposure to at least 10 to 15 minutes per day of natural sunlight.
Set a healthier schedule by fixing your circadian rhythm
We’re built to wake up when the sun rises and go to sleep when the sunsets. But when we don’t get enough exposure to natural light, the signals in our brains that would usually indicate waking hours versus sleeping hours short circuit. Increasing your exposure to natural light can help your inner clock reset — in one study, researchers found that employees of an office with windows slept an average of 46 minutes more per night than their windowless office counterparts.
Ward off the winter blues
Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, affects around 10 million Americans every year. While its exact cause is unknown, the Mayo Clinic indicates that shorter daytimes in the winter can trigger drops in serotonin and melatonin and cause moodiness, apathy, and listlessness. To help ward off seasonal depression, it’s important to get the most out of the hours in the day when the sun is actually up.
Cultivate a green thumb
Stunning, Instagram-worthy plants need natural light to thrive. By cultivating them in a sunroom or solarium, you can ensure that high-light plants are soaking up enough rays to trigger photosynthesis and maintain all their lush, green glory. Keeping your indoor plants healthy has the added benefit of improving air quality within your home.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, pollutant levels indoors are often two to five times higher than those outdoors.
Minimize time spent in less-than-optimal lighting
If you’re not using the sun as a natural source of light, chances are you’re using electricity. Some kinds of lightbulbs can have a detrimental effect on your health over time — a study this year found that exposure to fluorescent bulbs can increase stress levels, especially among people diagnosed with anxiety disorder.
Increase the value of your home
For all the enjoyment you gain from using a sunroom or solarium while living in your home, you’ll also reap the benefits if it comes time to sell. A solarium installation increases the livable indoor space of your home, adding to its value. That’s why HGTV lists sunroom additions as one of the 10 best ways to add value to homes.
Global Solarium has a proven history of providing high-quality prefab solariums, solarium kits, solarium repair services, and aluminum sunroom parts along the West Coast. Questions about a sunroom install, or looking at options for solariums near me? Call us at (800) 810-7666 or email us at info@globalsolariums.com. We provide exceptional dealer service in Portland OR, Los Angeles CA, Sacramento CA, San Jose CA, San Francisco CA, Salt Lake City UT, Seattle WA, and Spokane WA.