We’ve known forever that light has a profound effect on the human body and its sleep cycle. As more people transitioned to working from home, the effect of blue light on sleep patters became more apparent. Basically, light keeps us awake. The best nights sleep I ever had was in an “Inside” cabin on a cruise ship…pitch black, I slept like a baby until 11am; it is why people use blackout curtains in bedrooms; or wear eye masks to sleep. Simply, light keeps us awake.
If you’re the type of person that needs, or wants, to be up early, this means most of the year you’re trying to get up before the sun. Your body hates you for it, its a struggle, it goes against every circadian rhythm convention. Straight from the CDC’s article on Effects of Light on Circadian Rhythms, “The light/dark cycle of the sun has a powerful effect on the circadian clock, sleep, and alertness. Your body’s circadian clock responds to light, as a signal to be awake, and dark, as a signal to fall asleep. Increase your amount of light during the day to be more alert. Darken your bedroom room at night to sleep better.” They even go on to suggest bright light exposure shortly after waking up to “help you feel more alert” in the morning.
So, what do you do if you want to wake up early, but the sun doesn’t want to cooperate through the winter months? Phillips Hue light bulbs. In a market full of “smart” home technology, Phillips Hue takes the cake. They’re ridiculously priced at $45 a bulb for the White and Color Ambiance bulbs and $23 for the White Ambiance bulbs, but they’re priceless in comparison to their effectiveness.
With their wifi capabilities, they can be programmed to do just about anything. You can program them to come on at a certain time on certain days, turn on and off when entering or leaving the home with geofencing capabilities, and create the perfect ambiance for movie night or Halloween. What separates Phillips Hue from other “smart” bulbs is their reliability. In the 5 years I have used Phillips Hue bulbs I have had 0 connectivity issues, I went from sleeping through alarms no less than 8 times a year to 0, and they make for some dope “scenes” to take movie night to the next level.
Light plays an important role in our lives, and Phillips Hue bridges, beautifully and seamlessly, the gap between technology and comfort.
