As the days get shorter and the nights get longer, many people are taking advantage of the time to check their conservatories and skylights and book any repairs or maintenance appointments if they need them.
The reason for this is that whilst a conservatory is often a delight in summer, it becomes more of a responsibility as the weather beats down on it.
However, that is not to say that a conservatory loses its importance in autumn and winter. Any room that is inherently constructed with daylighting in mind is not only important for a person’s mood but also potentially could improve their mental and physical health as well.
To explain why, we need to explore the connection between the body and daylight.
Conservatories, Skylights And The Circadian Rhythm
Daylighting is any architectural or construction work designed to maximise the amount of natural light that enters the building and is visible, typically trying to balance exposure to natural light without causing unnecessary amounts of glare or uncomfortably bright surroundings.
Conservatories are very popular among daylighting architecture because most of them are sunrooms by design, largely made of glass and designed explicitly to capture as much sunlight as possible during the summer.
However, it can also include skylights, roof windows, glazed partitions, open-plan interior design and anything else that removes the barriers between sunlight and most of the lived areas of a home.
The reason why this is undertaken is that there is a connection between exposure to natural light and several processes in the body that are collectively known as the circadian rhythm, often simply known as the body clock.
At a very basic level, the body times many of its internal processes to match what it is expected to need to do at different points of the day.
The most obvious example of this is the sleep-wake cycle, where the body will be more alert when exposed to light indicating that it is daytime, whilst it will produce the hormone melatonin at night when it is time to sleep.
It is an essential bodily function, but something that can be disrupted by relying heavily on artificial lights during the day as opposed to natural light, which can happen in buildings not constructed with daylighting in mind.
It can also contribute to eye strain and potentially to seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression often seen in winter and connected to issues with a person’s circadian rhythm as well as their production of serotonin and melatonin, the sunlight and nighttime hormones respectively.
A well-maintained conservatory can help here, as it provides a space that is designed to allow for as much light as possible, which can help to boost a person’s mood and exposure to sunlight even as the days get shorter and there is less access to them.
This is what makes maintaining a conservatory essential even during colder months, as creating a light, open environment is beneficial to health, and choosing the right repair service will help you to avoid stress and all of the health problems that it can cause.