Making your home healthier

Making your home healthier

From regular handwashing to reduced physical contact, people are adopting more and more ways to ensure they stay safe and healthy during the pandemic. But, did you know there are changes you can make to your home to help with this that go beyond basic hygiene and social distancing.

In our latest #StaySafeWithMyGlazing article, we’re going to look at how you can make your home as healthy as possible – helping to safeguard you, your family, friends and anyone that enters your property.

Health and wellbeing in the home are of increasing importance to homeowners now, yet despite this, some may still be surprised by the direct impact windows and doors and conservatories can have on their quality of life. For example, access to natural light and air quality are all affected by your glazing, especially if your windows, doors or conservatories are more than twenty years old.

The impact of natural light on personal wellbeing

During lockdown, 12% of people have made changes to their property to increase the amount of natural light in the home. This is largely due to its proven benefits for our mental health and wellbeing. Increased exposure to natural lighting can also reduce symptoms associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The body releases serotonin – the ‘happy hormone’ – during prolonged periods in natural light. Just 30 minutes a day is enough to meet the average daily requirements.

With this in mind, it is important to include sources of natural light into your home’s interior design. Choosing skylight, lightwell or fanlight windows for your will allow natural light to flood your loft or extension living spaces, as well as in difficult to light spaces such as hallways and staircases. Similarly, large windows that face the sun during daylight hours, bifold doors, conservatories and orangeries can help you to reap the benefits of natural light within your home.

Help establish a routine

Natural light is also one of the most effective tools for regulating the body’s internal clock. Allowing the sun to wake you up in the morning is one of the least disruptive ways of starting a new day. Having windows within the bedroom that face the direction the sun rises can help with this.

Of course, with early starts for work and darker mornings during the winter months, this isn’t always possible. Nevertheless, spending just one hour a day in natural sunlight can improve sleep quality and make your morning routine that much easier.

Energy savings in the home

Installing modern glazing can not only allow natural light into a room, it can also reduce your energy costs and provide many wellbeing benefits. Did you know that up to 24% of heat energy can leave a house through inefficient glazing? This means having energy-efficient windows and doors in a property significantly contributes to the warmth and comfort of a home further improving the health and lifestyle.

As well as preventing heat loss in your home, modern energy efficient glazing can also assist with heating your home. This is known as Solar gain and is an effective form of passive heating as heat rays from the sun is are able to pass through the glass in a window or door and heat the building itself, further contributing to energy savings in the home.

Ventilation

It’s important that your home has access to proper ventilation and a stream of fresh air during the pandemic. Whilst the summer months are great for opening up a window, when winter descends, temperatures drop and we experience more rainy days, cracking open a window just doesn’t seem neither appropriate or appealing.

That’s why ensuring your windows have trickle vents can see you reap the benefits of fresh air and good ventilation. Trickle vents are small openings in a window that allow a small amount of air to pass from one side of the window to the other, enabling an easy air flow without having to open your window or door. They can also reduce condensation and moisture in the air which can lead to mould further impacting health and in particular respiratory illnesses.

If you are improving your home to make your home healthier, we’d love to see it, so make sure you tag us on Instagram and Twitter using @MyGlazing. And if you do need to hire a home improvement company, read our Safe Guide to ensure you keep you, your family, friends and your tradespeople safe during these unusual times.