Circadian lighting is a lighting design inspired by the natural light patterns of the 24-hour solar cycle. It aims to support human circadian rhythms, the internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle, by mimicking natural daylight patterns indoors. This type of lighting adjusts in color temperature and brightness throughout the day to emulate the natural progression from dawn to dusk, promoting better sleep, enhancing mood, and improving overall well-being.
During the morning, circadian lighting may emit cooler, brighter light to simulate daylight, helping to energize individuals and improve focus. As the evening approaches, the lighting becomes warmer and dimmer, similar to sunset, aiding in relaxation and preparing the body for sleep. This approach is particularly beneficial in environments with limited exposure to natural light, such as offices, schools, and healthcare facilities, as it helps to maintain the natural rhythm of the body, potentially reducing the risk of circadian rhythm disorders.
What Does Circadian Lighting Do?
Circadian lighting is a type of light therapy that helps to treat the seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a mood disorder that occurs during winter months, when the days are short and long nights do not give enough natural sunlight for your body to make melatonin. Circadian lighting can help reset your body's circadian rhythm, and improve sleep quality and mood in those who suffer from this condition.
Circadian lighting can be programmed to gradually increase in brightness and colour temperature in the morning, similar to the natural sunrise, and gradually decrease brightness and colour temperature in the evening, similar to the natural sunset. This can help regulate the body's internal clock and improve sleep quality, as well as promote alertness and productivity during the day.
In addition to regulating circadian rhythms, circadian lighting can also provide other benefits such as improving mood, reducing eye strain and headaches, and increasing energy efficiency. It is often used in environments such as offices, schools, and healthcare facilities, as well as in homes, to create a more comfortable and healthy lighting environment.
What are the Features of Circadian Lighting?
Circadian lighting is designed to mimic the natural light from the sun. This allows for better sleep and productivity, so it is a good option for those who work long hours and need to sleep during the day. It also reduces eye strain by preventing glare on computer monitors or projects that require focus.
Circadian lighting can be used in any type of office or workspace, but it is best suited for those who need to get up early or stay up late while working at home or on-site locations such as construction sites and warehouses where there are no windows (or not enough windows) available at all times.
How does Circadian Lighting Work?
As mentioned above, circadian lighting is a type of lighting that mimics the natural light in the environment. It is used to help regulate circadian rhythm and sleep disorders.
Circadian lighting can be thought of as an artificial version of sunlight, which helps to trigger a person's biological clock (the body's internal biological machinery). The human body has two clocks: one that controls day/night cycles and another that controls seasonal changes (e.g., temperature). When we are outside during daylight hours, our bodies receive signals from sunlight telling them when it is time for us to wake up or go back to bed at night; this process happens every 24 hours!
A patient who has been diagnosed with insomnia may benefit from using circadian lighting therapy because they experience difficulty falling asleep at certain times due to their inability to fall asleep early enough before midnight each day—making it difficult for them to get quality restful sleep throughout their entire 24 hour period
Where Is Circadian Lighting Used?
Circadian lighting is used in various settings to enhance well-being, productivity, and health. It's commonly found in offices and corporate environments where it boosts employee focus and energy during the day and helps wind down in the evening.
Healthcare facilities, including hospitals and care homes, use circadian lighting to support patient recovery and regulate sleep patterns. Schools and educational institutions implement it to improve student concentration and performance.
Residential spaces are also adopting circadian lighting to promote better sleep quality and overall health. Additionally, it's utilized in spaces with limited natural light, such as underground or windowless areas, to mimic the natural light cycle and maintain the body's internal clock..
Why Choose Circadian Lighting?
Circadian lighting is the best way to improve your sleep quality. The best circadian lighting is blue light, which is why we recommend it to all of our customers. The next step up from blue light is dim light, and this one can work even better than blue if you have a lot of trees in your yard or if you live somewhere where there are lots of trees. The third type of circadian lighting is natural sunlight; some people find that they get more restful sleep with bright sunshine streaming through the window during the day! Finally, bright artificial lights can be used as well—but make sure you read about how to choose a dimmer switch before purchasing any lamps at the TEKLED website!
Intensity Adjustment
The most familiar and cost-effective solution to circadian lighting is intensity adjustment. It means that the lighting fixtures maintain a fixed CCT while the intensity or the brightness of the fixture is adjusted through a controlled dimmer in order to correlate with the time of day. In the early morning, the fixture can be set to a lower intensity which then transitions to a higher intensity as the day progresses. It goes back to a reduced or lower intensity in the evening with the sun going down.
Colour Adjustment
Another important solution involves colour tuning wherein the light intensity, as well as the CCT (correlated colour temperature), are changed to mimic the day/night time cycle. Generally, we experience a cooler colour temperature (ranging from 4000K to 10,000K) during the peak daytime. Our bodies are typically most alert and active during this time. Therefore, cooler CCTs are used for lighting in spaces such as the office or workplaces to promote alertness and activeness.
Warmer colour temperatures (ranging from 2700K to 3500K), on the other hand, represent the period when the sun is rising and setting. During this period, people are either waking up or falling asleep. Therefore, circadian lighting is set to adjust based on the natural CCT for our bodies to feel relaxed.
Stimulus Adjustment
Stimulus tuning or adjustment refers to the lighting technology that replaces the ‘bad blue’ with ‘good blue’ light wavelengths to closely mimic the daylight spectrum. Lighting Fixtures can be programmed to reduce blue light wavelengths during the evening or nighttime to limit melatonin suppression while the CCT remains unchanged. This helps regulate the body to fall asleep easily during the nighttime.
