Aging in Place

Want to stay put? Here’s how Solatube can help.

As we age, a home that we have lived comfortably in for many years can become difficult to navigate. There’s a lot to think about when improving your home to create a safe environment that you can grow old in.

When many hear the term “aging in place,” certain home improvement ideas come to mind: grab bars in the bathroom, wider doorways to boost accessibility, and other safety additions to help make for a secure living environment. Often overlooked, is a critical type of improvement that addresses both those concerns and directly affects health and wellbeing — access to glare-free, balanced natural light.

Live Well Longer – Let Light In

Increasing balanced natural lighting is an important improvement that not only affects the livability of your home, but also your physical and mental wellbeing, too.

Artificial light? No thank you.

As you age, changes in vision like cataracts or macular degeneration, can mean you’ll require more quality light to see well. By increasing natural light in your home, you can remove artificial light glare while improving electricity bill costs – at a point in your life where controlling expenses is more important than ever.

Solid night sleep? Yes please.

The human circadian rhythms are the body’s natural clock. When your brain detects natural light, it tells your body to wake you up and when darkness hits, it triggers your body to fall asleep. These important natural cycles tend to change as we grow old. Can you believe that one in four elderly patients report relying on sleep medication to try to get better sleep? By exposing your body to natural light throughout the day, your human circadian rhythms will begin to regulate, and may even help to alleviate some of the worst sleep problems experienced by older people.

Additionally, a University of Pittsburgh study showed that people with access to sunlight had lower medical costs because they required 20% less pain medication — and who wouldn’t mind having one less pill to remember to take?

On top of supporting healthy circadian rhythms, adequate sleep, and pain, studies have shown that natural light is also linked to lower cholesterol, lower resting pulse rate of the heart – improving cardiovascular health, better liver function and enhanced kidney function. It is also said to prevent high blood pressure, bone diseases, muscle pain and reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.

With all of the health and wellness benefits connected with natural light, it’s clear that when improving your home to age in place, the amount of daylight should be taken into consideration.

If you are interested in bringing natural light into your home, call your local Solatube Premier Dealer to schedule a free in-home consultation. Solatube Premier Dealers are trained and certified residential daylighting experts. They can assess your needs, provide a customized solution, and install your new daylighting system in about two hours.

To find your local dealer, you can visit Solatube.com, or call Solatube International, the industry leader, at 888.SOLATUBE.