Light Is Today an Architectural Element of Our Homes

Answers to questions from the Novinky.cz website, June 2023.

1. How important is light in our homes?

Light is today an architectural element of our homes; like warmth or the arrangement of space, it helps to create the atmosphere of our most intimate place, the one we return to and where we wish to feel safe and in harmony. Just as every family and every home has its own style, so the arrangement of light will reflect a similar order, the character of those who make the home.

2. What influence do individual colours (or shapes and placement) have? Is there a recommended colour for the bedroom, kitchen, living room or study?

With lighting, let us imitate natural light, which is dynamic and changes during the day. It reaches its peak at noon, at about 100,000 lux, and conversely falls towards 1 lux during the night. We try to approach this through so-called colour temperature, with which we imitate the colour spectrum in a range of roughly 1800 K to 16,000 K – in terms of colours, from red through warm white to blue. Midday sun corresponds to a colour of 7000 K, the evening lighting to 2600 K, unless we are working, when a cooler light, typical of an ordinary day at 4000 K, is more suitable. From this one can recommend lighting suitable for the bedroom, that is, rather warm white, whereas for work areas in a study or kitchen a cooler light with a higher K value is appropriate.

3. What about decorative light? Does it affect our psyche, and is it important?

Decorative lighting, like everything that enriches our homes, can affect our emotions positively and create an atmosphere. Most of us still heighten the specialness of a moment by lighting candles, for example; today there is a whole range of battery-powered decorative candles that are indistinguishable from real ones, since they convincingly imitate a burning wick and are made of wax. To make the atmosphere more pleasant, many people today switch on their Christmas decorations ever earlier, sometimes even before Advent. A similar kind of festive lighting can now be used all year round, not only on festive occasions.

4. What kind of light would you not recommend for an interior at all, and why?

The lighting of our homes depends only on us and our taste; there are no a priori recommendations, and light, like any tool, is best handled rationally and sensitively. Personally, I would recommend for our homes rather warm white light (that is, about 2700–3000 K), except for work surfaces or places that we need to illuminate more strongly for some reason. But here users’ attitudes may differ, and some may prefer a cooler light, that is, with a higher K value. The colour of light works similarly to colour psychology, so let me give an example: at the beginning of the colour spectrum one can use red, which has a dynamic effect, but like other similarly stimulating colours it may be appropriate at a certain moment, while there is also the danger of the opposite emotion arising when there is an excess of colour. The truth of the saying “everything in moderation” applies to the light psychology of colours as well. So unless there is a special reason to use the effect of these colours (red and blue), I would warn against them, precisely because of the opposite effect in the case of long-term use of coloured lighting.

5. Is there currently any trend in home lighting that did not exist before?

The use of solar- or battery-powered light is certainly still growing; for safety reasons, among others, we replace the candles I mentioned, and other decorative lighting including Christmas lights, with artificial light. On the other hand, it must be said that in Czech conditions a solar panel does not perform comparably with ordinary mains electricity. LED lights, possibly with an economy mode, are certainly widely used, and smart technology for controlling the household is, in some cases, no exception either.

6. Can bad lighting at home cause problems (health-related – mental or physical)?

The blue component can affect our health, but unless we use computers, phones and the like irrationally, the risks are overstated in the media. Thrift and consideration are always in order, but the claim that the blue component causes cancer is somewhat sensational in relation to the other harmful factors in many things we commonly use. It would probably be good to say that it is one of the other lifestyle risks that may contribute to a greater risk of lifestyle diseases.

7. Your own recommendations, remarks, suggestions?

Today there is much talk of light pollution, light smog, the harmfulness of light and so on, but it probably needs to be seen in context, knowing that we decide about our own space above all ourselves – not only through a quality choice of luminaires and way of lighting, but also through an arrangement that should be sensitive and purposeful, so that we do not live in aesthetic smog either. If we do not know or cannot decide, there are by now enough ways of obtaining a competent answer or advice. As with any long-term investment, I would certainly argue for a good choice and quality lighting of our home, because it is surely one of the factors in how we feel at home and, with a degree of exaggeration, what we radiate into our surroundings.