Natural daylight becomes a scarce commodity in northern climates as autumn progresses into winter. People naturally rely on 
their home lighting to supplant and supplement the bleak winter light, but not all home lighting is created equal for that purpose. Studies have shown that the winter reduction in certain wavelengths of light will cause many people to experience mild depression or “seasonal affective disorder” (i.e. “SAD”) during the winter months. This condition can be offset with next generation LED lighting that can be tuned to replace the lost summer daylight.
New LED light fixtures and lighting systems are available in different categories, including dim-to-warm, white tunable, and fully-color tunable. Dim-to-warm fixtures and systems are ideal for dining rooms and bedrooms that call for more relaxed and inviting illumination, and fully-color tunable systems are best suited for large open areas that can be reconfigured to adapt to multiple different uses. White-tunable LED home lighting fixtures and systems may be the best option to offset SAD winter blues.
The quality and character of light that is generated by a fixture are rated according to color coordinated temperature (“CCT”) and color rendering index (“CRI”). CCT ratings do not refer to the actual physical temperature of the light or fixture, but instead to the perception of whether the light is bright or warm. Bright lights that include certain blue wavelengths of light to offset SAD will have higher CCT ratings, typically in the range of 5000K to 6000K. Look for these CCT ratings if you are interested in LED lights that can help improve your mood in the colder and darker months. White tunable LED lights that are in this range are also dimmable, which will allow you to scale back the brightness of the light at later times of the day.
The versatility and range of options offered by LED lighting systems can be overwhelming when you are looking for new lighting options for your home. The experts at Yale Lighting Concepts in all seven showrooms can help you make the best choice for your lighting needs. Please contact us to speak with one of our experts and for assistance with your lighting projects.