Daylighting with replacement windows in San Jose, CA can play a major role in the good health of your family, and it will provide other benefits in the process. Daylighting refers to the process of illuminating a space with natural sunlight.
In extreme northern parts of the country, one of the major issues faced in the winter months is a severe shortage of natural sunlight.
Barrow, Alaska, which is 330 miles north of the Arctic Circle, has 67 days of darkness, beginning with sunset on November 18 and ending with sunrise on January 23.
The rest of Alaska sees only four or six hours of any daylight for approximately three months, so the exposure to natural sunlight is minimal. This can have detrimental effects on physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Many people who live there have lamps that mimic natural sunlight and they use them extensively during the winter months.
However, the further south you travel in the United States, the amount of time that natural sunlight is available increases, even during the shorter days of the winter months (some places get as much as 11 hours of daylight).
The health benefits of daylighting are extensive. In a study done by Roger Urich on the effects of daylighting, he looked at the recovery rate of patients who had had surgery. One group of patients was put in rooms where they had only the view of brick walls. Another group of patients was put in rooms where they could see sunlight and nature outside their windows.
The patients with only the brick wall view out of their windows recovered almost 10% more slowly than the patients who could see nature and sunlight outside of their windows. Additionally, the patients who had sunlight and nature for their view outside of their windows needed less painkillers than the patients who had the brick wall view.
Another benefit of daylighting with replacement windows is its ability to help regulate circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms refer to the internal 24-hour clock that all humans have. This is one of systems that gets disruptive in neurological diseases like dementia. It also gets disruptive for workers who work during the night hours and sleep during the daylight hours.
When we don’t get full exposure to the light and dark cycles during a 24-hour period, we experience sleep deprivation, which can lead to serious health problems, drowsiness when we should be paying attention (there are more car fatalities during the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. for people who work overnight shifts than for any other type of driver during those hours), and detrimental effects to the brain (adequate sleep sweeps out the brain toxins that are players in the development of many kinds of dementia).
Daylighting with replacement windows can lead to higher levels of mental alertness during the day, whereas artificial light, especially fluorescent lighting, can lead to mental fatigue and sleepiness.
Replacement windows can help maximize the benefits of daylight because they allow full sunlight in during the day while keeping the heat out during the summer and keeping the heat in during the winter. This is an excellent reason to consider replacement windows.
To learn more about the daylighting benefits of replacement windows in San Jose, CA, you can speak with our knowledgeable staff at California Custom Creations. You can contact us at (408) 316-6293 to make an appointment for a free in-home consultation.
