Why Everyone Should Have a Night Light (and How to Pick the Best One)
There are many things we use or do as children that have very practical uses when you “grow up”. Exhibit A: Night lights, those little bulbs you stick into the wall, filling a room or hallway with a dim, soothing light. Night lights are usually associated with young children who are afraid of the dark, which means that most of us reject them as soon as we see ourselves as adults (or at least adults). The connection between night lights and fussy babies is too strong.
But night lights are a great idea. There are plenty of reasons why you should install some night lights in your home, and there are almost no reasons not to.
Night lights are great for safety
It’s easy to say that the number one reason you want night lights in your life is safety. Living in pitch darkness at night is fun and hilarious until you trip over a sleeping cat on your stairs and fall to your doom, or trip over a dumbbell left on the floor causing so much pain that you briefly see God. Night lights provide soft lighting that does not disturb the peaceful atmosphere of a sleepy home and does not cause night blindness due to eye strain. People tend to think of vision problems as something only older people should worry about, but science tells us that every person, no matter their age, needs light to see and needs to see if they’re going to avoid it. tripping over things. in the darkness.
Night lights are great for safety
There’s a reason why flight attendants always tell you that your plane’s aisle will be lit if both engines fire up and you’re about to get rough familiarized with the ocean: light helps a lot when problems arise. You may like to sleep in a house that is so dark that you begin to detach from reality, but if an emergency arises, you will need a light to help you navigate.
Night lights are great for sleeping
Okay, there’s a lot of evidence that sleeping with the lights on in your bedroom can negatively affect your sleep. But it’s important to note that this refers mostly to bright and white light, which can cause your body to remain in a state of relative alertness even when you’re unconscious, resulting in poor sleep quality. As we will see, the right night light in your bedroom can actually help you sleep better. If your bedroom is as dark as an underground cave and you’re still struggling to get a good night’s sleep, consider adding a night light.
How to choose a night light
So, if you are tired of living in a void, how to choose a night light? A few things to consider:
- Lumen. Every light in your home, including night lights (even fancy LED lights) , has a lumen value , which is a measure of how much light they put out. For a night light, you want to keep this value at 50 or lower. By comparison, the average light bulb puts out between 1,500 and 2,000 lumens, so your night light won’t be too intrusive.
- Color. Night lights don’t have to be white – you can find night lights in a wide variety of colors. If you put a night light in your bedroom and are worried about the quality of your sleep, choose a red night light. There is growing evidence that soft red light can help you fall asleep and improve sleep quality. In other parts of the house, it is best to use yellow light. White or blue light can trick your brain into thinking it’s daylight, which can disrupt your jet lag.
- Motion sensors. Having motion-sensing night lights can offer the perfect balance between your desire for soothing darkness when you’re trying to sleep and your safety concerns. It can be completely dark when you snore, but the moment you go to the bathroom, the light turns on, saving you from being killed by a Matchbox car or a Lego brick. You can even install motion-activated lights under your bed .
- Lamp. You can still buy old school incandescent night lights, but they are not very energy efficient and the heat they generate can actually be dangerous. LED is the best choice these days. They last for years, use electricity and don’t generate heat, so you don’t have to worry about the light bulb leaving a mark on the wall or causing other, more serious problems.
- Adjustable. You can buy dimmable night lights that allow you to adjust the brightness, so you can experiment with different levels of brightness until you find the right balance for your needs.
Far from children’s night lights, they actually improve our lives – they make us safer, help us sleep, and ensure that the monster under the bed stays there.