Are you sure you know what color sunlight is? If you think it’s yellow, light can be affecting how you live. Surprising to some, sunlight is blue and it’s the color that tells you to get up and start your day.
The transition from darkness to blue sunlight signals your body to start producing cortisol. It’s a natural steroid that helps you wake up after sleeping for several hours. The arrival of blue light also lets your body know it’s time to stop secreting melatonin. It’s the hormone that helps you fall and stay asleep.

Light Color and How It Affects You

Blue light is energizing. It helps you stay focused and improves reaction times. It can also elevate your mood. Your energy levels start to decrease as the light intensity decreases. The light is fainter and warmer, urging you to stop and relax.
Yellow is a warmer color, and it applies to lighting. These feelings of relaxation aren’t due to the color’s association with the sun. Instead, it is thought to originate with humans’ primitive ancestors. Fires at night are a light source, heat, and protective. Early humans relaxed around the fire, staring at the warm yellow hues.
It may be why yellow light encourages relaxation while blue stimulates the mind and body. Compared to blue sunlight with a color temperature of 6,500K, yellow light has a color temperature of around 2500K-2700K.

Humans’ Circadian Rhythms followed the patterns of the sun until artificial lights began lighting up the night sky. The loss of warm yellow evening light and relative nighttime darkness began interfering with circadian rhythms. It is harder to relax and fall asleep.
The increase in light pollution helped form the Dark-sky Movement. Since the 1950s, the organization is working to reduce the amount of light pollution at night. Their mission statement reads in part,
“The advantages of reducing light pollution include an increased number of stars visible at night, reducing the effects of electric light on the environment, and improving the well-being, health, and safety of both people and wildlife. The study of the role darkness plays in the lives of a living organism is called Scotobiology.  Interrupting nighttime darkness with artificial light has effects on most organisms; “changing their food gathering and feeding habits, their mating and reproduction, migration (birds and insects) and social behavior.”

You can’t remove parking lot and streetlights to improve circadian rhythms, but LED products let you attune the lighting.
The color control system lets you tune the light for specific applications or individual preferences. You can set the lighting to follow the sun’s movements going from cool blue to warm yellow. With presets for different times in the day, you can mimic natural morning, afternoon, and evening light.
Using LED lighting in the workplace allows you to set the mood you want in each room and work area. Use cooler blue lighting colors in offices and conference rooms, and yellow in the breakrooms.
With an LED color tuning system, you can easily control the lighting color to meet the needs of your space. Our knowledgeable lighting specialists can answer any of your questions and help you choose the right light control technology for your space. Speak to one today by calling 610-558-9773, emailing [email protected], or schedule a call that fits your needs by clicking the button below.