I live in a mid century modern home that was built in 1955 in the cold north east. It had a flat roof, It’s shaped like a wedge with the smaller side facing the prevailing winds. It also has large overhangs that cover the huge floor to ceiling windows that face south. In the winter, the sun is low in the sky and I get so much sun in my home that the heat doesn’t even come on during the day. In the summer, the overhang shades my large windows and keeps my house cool. They knew all this back in 1955.
@ I think he's referring to the design of the structure itself, like a roof eave. I generally understand an "awning" to be like a canvas addition, not a part of the building per se. Regardless, I don't have either in my house because of the aesthetic sensibilities of busy body suburban HOA people and the industry that caters to their whims.
Retired architect here. Thanks for raising an important issue. The Low-E window issue is part of the larger problem of buildings not being designed with sensitivity to their climate, orientation and location. These used to be important considerations, but modernism and mechanical HVAC systems conspired to allow architects to ignore these factors. That's why you see all-glass buildings in every climate that look the same on the north and south sides, for example. Passive solar design has been advancing for decades, but is still not quite mainstream. A small passive solar office building, for example, might have glass with no low-E film facing south (in the northern hemisphere), to maximize solar gain in winter, combined with an overhang or screen sized to block out direct light in the summer. Windows on other sides of the building would be smaller with low-E glass to reduce heat loss. A larger building on the same site might be quite different because higher internal heat loads would make the heat from solar gain undesirable even in winter. Designing buildings that provide as much daylight as we would get outdoors would be quite a challenge, though. The glare alone would make a lot of the work we do difficult. Glass that adjusts its transparency at different wavelengths throughout the day could help, though I'm not aware of research on what the ideal configuration would be. And innovation in the construction industry is very, very slow. In the meantime, the only real solution is to get outside more, and soak up those rays whenever you can (as I keep telling myself). Maybe other technologies could help, but in my personal experience sitting in front of a blindingly bright "happy light" didn't make me happy, just irritable. To open another can of worms, what effect do the glasses and contacts all us myopic people wear have on the wavelengths of light reaching our retinas and our circadian rhythms?
I wear glasses, have done since I was 11. And your last comment has just sparked a realisation. I always blamed school homework on my sudden insomnia problems. I started to do school homework at age 11. I have awful sleep problems, Sleep Paralysis , restlessness, and lately I have been waking up even earlier than usual and not getting a wink of sleep for the rest of the long, long night. I now view sleep as just boring rest laying down in the dark...perhaps this also answers the question as to why my night vision is so exceptional, way beyond that of an average person. Just used to staring around the room all night, my eyes have adapted.
The energy-efficient windows are also gas-tight, requiring properly designed ventilation. Old windows/doors/walls were just leaking everywhere, allowing houses to "breathe".
people forget about the existence of awnings and shutters which are on the outside of buildings blocking light from getting in (rather than curtains that just block the light from eyes while still heating the room with the sunlight that gets in). awnings allow for lower levels of heat when the sun is at a higher angle (during the hot parts of a day) and shutters allow you to block the light whenever you want manually. Also, just having trees outside your house allows for the blockage of light naturally
Technology Connections had a great video about awnings a couple of months ago. We gave up a lot of useful building techniques and considerations in favour of "style" because modern technology made it possible. Now that we learn more and more about the consequences, it might be time to reconsider some of them.
Trees are great. Trees are my friends. Once drove 16hrs out of my way to go look at trees. Love trees. That being said, with the increasing strength and frequency of storms, I have to also think about protecting my shelter. It’s symbolic of the many clashes between public good and personal good
This is reminding me of all the "sick offices" built in the late 70s/early 80s, which are so well sealed they run out off oxygen in the afternoons. I worked in one years ago, and it was standard to go outside for a break in the mid-afternoon, just to breathe fresh air. It's like when people design these buildings, they forget they need to support life.
@@Stszelec01 Too well insulated and sealed to cut down heating and cooling costs. Older buildings leaked, which is how fresh air got in. You blame capitalism, but wouldn't the green movement encourage such an attempt as well? This is simply a case of unintended consequences.
@@Devin_Stromgren They make HVAC air exchangers designed for this circumstance, so you're both missing the boat. Also, unless businesses are running for the good of the planet, then yes, capitalism IS to blame. The "green movement" (wut?) isn't some mythical entity making engineering suggestions.
@@Devin_Stromgren is that "green movement" in the room with us now? Because capitalism is and has its slimy hands all over everything you touch and all over your brain
I’ve thought about this a lot - it’s another good reason to have indoor plants that need a healthy range of UV as a canary in the coal mine for your own access to light…
Technology Connections has an entire video about awnings that would be highly relevant to this discussion. Thermostat controlled operable awnings could make a huge impact. Other potential pieces of the puzzle are building with thermal mass, and district heating/cooling.
I can not say that I don't have SADs. However, there have been a few times when I was working in a building, in the winter, in Texas that we had not had any REAL sunshine in over a week. And I was beginning to feel it. Despite it being very cloudy, I went out and stood out of the wind and looked in the general direction of where it was lightest in the clouds. I was on break, so I did it for about 15 minutes. When I went inside I felt better. Not 100% but not like I was before. Now, on the whole, I'm not real fond of the sun, I burn quickly and for the last 25+ years of having fibromyalgia, the heat - and the cold - really bother me, but the heat is worse, probably because we have so much more of it than cold here...
I always thought that I didn't get any, but then we got a full-spectrum light in our living room (we wanted to give the plants a bit of a boost). I had SUCH an improvement in my mood that winter. Had never noticed that it got worse until it didn't.
I have been using heat lamps for a while during winter and have found that they greatly help with my seasonal affective disorder. I just leave them on in certain ares I want to be more cozy. I also have clear ones and ones with a red coating. At times I feel like I'm warming myself like a clutch of hatch lings but the ir-rich light always feels so great and cozy ( and better yet can be aimed, so I don't need to warm a whole room just the area I'm in) Also, I made a pillow that I filled with shredded space blankets, like the ones used for joggers and it's just the coziest damn pillow ever. I have to be careful sleeping with all my comforters and with it too close to my chest or my whole body will get really warm.
I've been using red heat lamp bulbs in metal reflectors/shields in strategic places the past few months to save on heating costs, too. I have one under my desk to keep my feet warm. 250W bulbs seem to be the sweet spot.
If you are going to be building something, it is far better to build it in a way that makes sense for the environment it’s in. We did this for hundreds of thousands of years. Only in the past 100~ did that change.
Yes! When I drive through rural areas I see 200 yr old farm houses that don’t face the road. It’s not because the road moved over time. It’s because the house was built in line with the sun’s path in the sky.
They built california designed school all over Canada. The flat roofs all leaked at some point and those schools now all have mold. There is a reason northern traditional construction had steep roofs!
Much less than 100 years. It's really only been since the advent of HVAC, and even then only in places where it's common are where energy is cheap (like in the US, where energy is basically free compared to places like the most of the EU).
Yeah, speaking of circadian rhythms, here's me watching a sci show video at 05:13am when there's not even any sun yet. Waiting for my employer to transfer me to evening shifts instead of these awful early morning shifts. I have AuDHD and despise being up this early.
Thanks Hank, I've been having some health problems the past twenty years. A lot of those problems alleviated four years ago when I became homeless & came back when I became housed again. But recently I got a job working a lot more outside &, again, they lessened. I attributed it to diet & exercise, but looking back it was being outside for a bit of the day & more at night!
We can specifically put a "natural sunlight room" in the floor plan. Or use ordinary glasses for the windows by the corridor, hallway, or pantry. Then people can receive natural light when they walk through those channels or have a cup of tea/coffee. Just have a nice mixture.
I think the real issue here is that people working in offices don't have adequate opportunities to take a break outside. The amount of daylight that people really need isn't really that much, but if you're spending most of your day in a building that filters out the wavelengths that you need, and then spending the rest of the day commuting, then you're going to have some issues. Around here we only get less than 9 total hours of sunlight this time of year, and if you're at work for 8 of those hours, getting even the half hour you need is tough. IMHO, it would make far more sense to just go back to how things used to be where people got an hour for lunch and ensured that there was some convenient place in the area where people could go outside during that time to get some daylight.
another study found that how much time kids spent outside was the biggest predictor of whether or not that would end up near sighted. with two hours being the agreed minimum of sunny outdoor time per day
It's because the eyes don't get adequate exercise. There may be some impact from the UV, but it's mostly because the eyes need to look at things that are both far away and nearby on a regular basis. I was sick a couple weeks ago and barely stepped outside for a week, and when I did, the stuff that was in the distance was visibly fuzzier than normal. The link has been known for quite some time between too much time working on computers and looking at things close and nearsightedness. It's why there's a general recommendation to spend at least 20 seconds looking at something 20+ feet away every 20 minutes. Taking up hobbies like bird watching where you're actively focusing on looking around you at things that are in the distance is also a good idea. Personally, I'm in my 40s and don't need glasses, some of that is genetics, but some of that is just how much time I've spent outside over the years looking at things both near and far.
@@SmallSpoonBrigadeit is a myth. As shown by recent studies, what causes near sightedness is the longer shape of the eye. And the eye needs to stop growing at a certain age. When kids don't get enough bright light (more than 20000 lux, you could only get that light levels outside), the hormone that is responsible for the stop in growing the eyeball, doesn't get produced enough in the body. So it is about the bright light.
here in the South, we used to have tall ceilings, little windows above the doors, and ceiling fans and (attic fans). we also got out more, and we had more trees. We also used to have Sundays off, for nearly everyone. Nowadays, there are more molds, lights, pollutants, and illnesses. {we used to get an hour for recess and lunch, the kids get 15 minutes now.}
the practice of recess in schools was developed due to children developing nearsightedness from being indoors all the time. I think its high time we had recess at work for adults as well. these 30 minute lunchbreaks and one, measly 15 minute break every 4 hours is not nearly enough time to get meaningful light, and thats all that is required in my state. i work indoors for pretty much ALL daylight hours in the winter. it takes 5-10 minutes to walk from where i work to the front door, meaning i physically cannot go outside on my break.
Instead, recess for kids is nearly gone. My kids only have about 20 minutes of scheduled recess time every day. In practice, they get far less than that because they only let kids out when the temperature is in a narrow range.
I'm going with the more probable: recess in schools was developed: to provide children with a structured break from classroom learning, allowing them to engage in physical activity, socialize with peers, and de-stress, ultimately improving their focus and cognitive abilities when they return to class. But I get what you're saying
@@cachecow Correct. Effects like near-sightedness are hard to see (pun intended) while antsy and bored kids who can't concentrate on the materials are very easy to see. Widespread use of "recess" started in the 1890s-early 20th century specifically to give lower-income students the benefits of unstructured play and social interaction their higher-income peers could enjoy outside of school, and was found to have a large impact on those students' (as well as higher-income students') academic success. I've never seen myopia given as a reason for recess (mentions in the literature are metaphorical, ex, calling the destruction of recess in the "No Child Left Behind" test-driven era as myopic at best).
Doesnt help if you love reading books at home at night with torches. And even then most of near-sightedness is hormone based due to body changes in puberty.
Having a book page is a great idea! There are so many books published and most of us can't afford to buy all of them. Even libraries only offer a selection of what's available. I hope the book page becomes popular enough to continue. Thanks for sharing.
I finally bought smart bulbs this year for the sole purpose of being able to have a 'sunrise' in my bedroom for the dark season. So far it has certainly paid dividends in terms of making it easier to get out of bed.
Interesting post. Something I've notice is we replaced the windows on our house with low-E ones a decade or so ago. We noticed an increase in the number of bird strikes. As others posters have mentioned always a good idea to spend time outside. But even that is not without risk as UV from the sun increases the speed cataracts develop so use sunglasses.
You could buy window clings and make a criss-cross or lattice pattern. My parents kept up snowflakes plastic window clings to help the bird “see” the window.
Germans can certainly tell you a thing or two about windows that are too efficient. Because we can expect such big temperature differences over the seasons we make sure to have well insulated houses, but now we are forced to open the windows and air out our homes regularly or we risk getting mold. That's always a nasty surprise for foreigners who don't know that.
@KellyClowers because opening a window is hard! I made my 1960's house very well insulated. We never close the bathroom window, we have lots of fish tanks with plants growing in them and piles of house plants dotted about. But I still like to get out as much as possible.
@@KellyClowerscentral ac is bad because not everyone is going to clean it and keep it dust free, after a few years it'll just spread disease and allergies or clog entirely and not have any airflow
@@TheWebstaffNice example of commenting without saying anything. So your solution is keeping the bathwindow at - 20 degree celsius open to fkup the idea of insulating a building? 😂
@@TheWebstaffno. Because even when people are conscious of a risk of mold, and try to air out their homes, the issue can still develop. Thus building techniques change.
Was just thinking about this last week. Theoratically, another way this could be solved is by internal lights emitting the specific missing violet and IR wavelengths. If they are time conrollable, we could even sync these additional wavelength emission with sunrise and sunset. It will take time, but there will be a day when myopia isn't an issue anymore for the next generations.
Hey Hank, I’m so glad you’re reporting on this kind of science I have seen for a while now, some related topics you may find interesting is Grounding for its anti-inflammatory effects and EZ (Exclusion Zone) water and the work of Dr. Gerald Pollack. Of note, the increased mitochondrial destiny and how that actually looks inside of the cell would be a really cool way to show people how IR can help boost cellular metabolism. Keep up the great work
this is something people have been noticing with highly airtight constructions: great for energy efficiency, all the way until the air gets humid and stagnant inside, then you open the doors and windows and waste all that energy because OOPS, turns out we need the fresh air!
2:24 I have a feeling that this is not because of windows, I think it's actually just because almost all of us sit and stare at screens too long. I'm doing it right now, and you probably are too if you're reading this
This is kind of a thought stopping way of seeing it tho. It's your, "feeling" that the phenomenon, "is not because of windows." Why can't both things be true at the same time?
I've got small windows at home anyway, I go outside to get some fresh air and sunlight for my own sanity. Also where I came from (Singapore), a lot of people wear glasses because we spend too much time indoors, but E coating is only a thing adopted very recently. Our homes tend to use old style slats for window covers.
I despise how my classroom doesn't have a window. Less than half of the classrooms in my hallway do, but we're the outlier. I definitely noticed it changed my mood and sleep when i was moved into that room.
День тому
In what kind of country are you? Putting people in a windowless room is not a normal thing to do.
At 0:50 during the opening music, there's a microscope on the screen. With the subject of something potentially harmful, for just a moment I "mis-saw" the 'scope and thought it was a grim reaper... and wondered, "Wouldn't it be funny if the title screen changed to say ScytheShow?"
After years behind modern windows and poor sleep, I moved to a 1943 built house with single pane clear glass windows. Within a week I was sleeping great! Now as I am replacing them, I am scrambling to replace the effect. So far, a grow light during my morning coffee seems to help, but is not the same.
Meanwhile, here I am, a chronically nocturnal agoraphobe, who sunburns within 15 minutes of leaving the house in a region that is known for its vitamin D deficiencies due to lack of sunlight, and I'm farsighted. lmao
Well that means you’re not a person of color and therefore it should be quick and easy for you to absorb vitamin d with light skin. So next time you move, just rent an apartment with a lil patio. Then you don’t actually have to leave the house or the sphere of comfort to go outside.
Not even kidding. Start a carnivore diet. You won't burn. You can look it up. The more off your omega 6 to omega 3 ratio is. The faster and easier you burn outside. Excessive omega 6 also doesn't help. Certain medications can also make it worse. If you're on a medication that causes sun sensitivity look at getting onto one that doesn't if you can. I used to be unable to go outside for more than 30 minutes without burning less than 6 years ago. Now with the diet change, which also made the medication I was on unnecessary. I can go outside all day without sunscreen and did so all summer without burning once. And I'm usually outside for minimum 7 hours a day.
Incandescent light bulbs give off infrared light of the beneficial wavelengths, so do radiant heaters and open fires, however we are rapidly banishing all of these from the indoor environment. A major rethink is urgently needed. I have bought an infrared heat lamp, which I use every morning.
This is a very interesting video. Maybe part of the answer is to install some form of lighting that mimics what our windows are keeping out. It shouldn't increase the internal temperature of the room or house but it may give us the needed UV and Infrared light to sync our circadian rhythms?
Concerned about unregistered cars and drivers, I decided to get insurance. We carried 800 horses and 59 barrels across the Atlantic. A 15-inch steel door is fitted to a red panel in the kitchen at the center. Empty drink. They fell, the car flipped, and everyone behind them died. He had to stay on the road. I thought about driving 18 mph, but I didn’t. After enjoying trains and buses, I realized that they are the kings of traffic in this country. Now, imagine a robot driving around town and a car driving itself. Let’s see what we can do. I live in a small coastal town. I want to join a fishing crew. Now I live in LE.
I live in El Paso Texas and it was drilled in to me pretty early on that every morning you need to go outside and soak up some sunlight . People always referred our city as being almost unnaturally safe and happy that I think the sun has a lot to do with it
I'd also like to add that building codes are now requiring Low-E coatings in my area. But I have 3000+ degree heating days, and 74 degree cooling days! I don't want Low-E windows! I want the IR to heat my house. I hate that they pushed this through at the state level and didn't bother with other climates.
I'm not sure how much of the ultraviolet and infrared ends of the spectrum daylight LEDS cover - that might be important. Also, you would need massive amounts of LEDS to approach the amount of daylight outside even on an overcast day. Even the brightest indoor spaces are nowhere near as bright as that.
@@RichardJackman-x3w UV not much, IR almost none. I was mostly referring to the circadian rhythm part of seeing more blue light. There are UV and IR LEDs (IR used in tv remotes and night security cameras), but I don't know how effective they'd be at affecting the things mentioned here.
@@kuntamdc ya they should put their name in lowerthird when the video starts . they put it at very end but at tht time i already clicked off or my extension has automatically skipped outro part
This is bringing up dim memories of some sort of system of fiber optics to 'pipe' in sunlight... I saw a sketch of this in the 90s...? We may want to look into that sort of thing.
‘39 house, so most windows (and there are several) face North and South. There is one bedroom that takes a beating on one side, and a hallway end on the other. We block that sunlight in summer so that those don’t become boiling points. The only other room with a direct sunlight hit is the living room and it’s so big that the heat doesn’t harm it, and the stack effect means it moves upstairs regardless.
Or just go out for a short walk during the day when it's sunny. During a lunch break, for example. One of the most underrated health advices that brings significant health benefits all across the board.
the issue there is that that's not universally accessible advice. Sometimes you can't go outside on your lunch break or are expected to work through your lunch, and the sun sets before you leave in winter. Or you work 3rd shift and are sleeping through most sunlight hours, like I do! Not to even bring up how really cold winter temperatures or disability could factor into it, or class!
@a-bird-lover yes disability. I am 75 and going outside in the winter when it is icy can be terrifying. I have spikes over my shoes but I have to take them off to drive or go into the maul. I avoid going out most of the winter.
Glad that I live in an old house, where the morning sun comes from the front, and the afternoon sun is blocked by trees behind the house. I barely turn on the ceiling fan, and the winter is never too could here anyway.
I'm already deficient in vitamin D, and that's primarily because the sun hates me... I don't just sunburn, I burst into flames; it's the Irish curse. 😂 I even managed to get 2nd-degree sun poisoning with Rx-strength sunblock from my dermatologist! After that, I decided that being in the sun just isn't worth it; and yes, I've tried every single brand and strength of sunblock... none of them work for me 😢😢 Therefore, I'm an indoor girl.
It's the redhead gene mutating melanine. It also affects our resistance to pain, our sensitivity to heat and prvent us from browning under the cursed light
I was working outdoors all last summer and found a solution. Long sleeves and a wide brimmed hat. Sun cannot burn me if sun cannot touch me. All my coworkers questioned how I could work in the heat with long sleeves, but i'd rather be sweating than burning.
@@reaganharder1480 This is honestly the best advice for anyone going to the beach period; nothing blocks the sun better than a long-sleeved t-shirt after all.
Aldi X factor sun cream for me. Not ginger though. Blond hair, blue eyed, pale as the snow unless I see the sun for 15 minutes. Then I'm a lobster unless I put that sun cream on. Then I'm good for a few hours. But I do wonder about all the chemicals on my skin. Which is why I tend to also wear long sleeve also over summer.
Most UK homes still have standard single or double glazing windows. It's our more expensive new apartments and most modern work places, that have these type of window. This is definitely something worth thinking about.
I have DSWPD and when he was talking about how our cells are aligned with the 24 hour cycle of light and dark, I was like, "I suppose being consistently delayed by 4-5 hours is technically a form of alignment..."
@@aliengeo wait is this an actual thing? If I don't force myself to bed I basically have a rythem of 30 hour days. I actually tried it once during summer by only going to bed when I was somewhat exhausted when I was still in college and I basically lived like there are 6 days in a week. By the time the next week happened my natural sleep schedule was a full 24 hours late, thus being normal again.
They talked about the following on science or health shows back in the late 1990s where they had those sun catcher thingies that put sunlight into fibreoptics that then runs to a ceiling corner in a room, putting some solar into offices, dark rooms, or internal rooms with no natural light. They don't seem to have come to fruition.
"begging the question refers to a fault in a dialectical argument in which the speaker assumes some premise that has not been demonstrated to be true. In modern usage, it has come to refer to an argument in which the premises assume the conclusion without supporting it."
I built a bedroom in my basement and installed glass block for the windows. The plants we put in the windows down there would thrive while the plant upstairs would die. I eventually figured out that it was the energy efficient windows we had installed upstairs. I never considered this when having them installed years back.
Pipe cleaners! (like the craft supply). My 2 youngest randomly found one in my craft supplies, were obsessed, and I’ve been making toys out of them ever since.
One thibg that oldish south american houses do really well that is being lost to moder standardization is passively cooling. Old houses had a platera of techniques that kept them fairly cool during summer, and those could be used with moder techniques to keep warm in winter. But now most houses here either are hot all year long or just have no concern for temperature at all.
Yes, quite so, as there's supposed to be high quantity of blue/violet light in the morning, which is very important for the circadian rythms as mentionned in the video, not all along the day or even worse, at night. It messes with the sleep badly, that's the whole reason of blue light screen filters. Artificial blue light also does nothing good for the eyes themselves, and too few natural light is linked to myopia.
My house is open most of the year. With a couple extraction fans running near 24hr/day. House isn't sealed either. Always fresh air coming through with that sweet sweet ozone. Keeps the house healthy as possible. Also open windows and doors most of the day and not all closed at night. I hate the 3 cold months where all windows have to be closed at night
It may also be that all of that reflected infrared light (heat) is contributing to or worsening the "heat sink" effect inherent to urban areas and causing premature wear/decay of asphalt streets, making more frequent resurfacing necessary.
@@pssurvivorTall buildings are much more likely to have this kind of windows than lower buildings - and awnings are a lot less practical on tall buildings. Awnings aren't that uncommon on shorter buildings (or the lower levels of tall buildings), but those buildings are also less likely to have these windows. Another contributing factor is that the US experiences significantly more extreme weather than Europe (both in frequency and intensity). Awnings can be easily damaged (or worse, become projectiles) during intense storms.
I buy full spectrum uv lights for my plants and I get the added benefit during our long dark winters. And now I know it helps With cell regeneration?! I’m so happy I invested in them. Maybe instead of fluorescent lights for offices we could do these? They come in led options as well. I. Bought my bulbs 3 years ago and not one has burnt out. I bought the 4pck.
One of my thoughts on the increase in myopia is the prevalence of unnatural lighting predominantly fluorescent lighting from the class room to the office.
There's also something to be said about windows becoming a disposable product. Older sash windows, where glass panes and wooden parts were replaceable, are not that much different in R value than modern double pane windows with a vapor barrier. Once the plastic/rubber seal between the panes goes out, and the gases escape, here's nothing that can be done except replace the entire window. Warranties are only 5 or 10 years, while the energy savings would take 30+ years to pay off the new windows. That's why Anderson and other companies got sued in the 2010's by the US federal gov't for false claims.
Thermal windows with low-e coatings are expensive and don’t stand the test of time. I had to replace 29 thermal windows after 13 years as the gas leaked out of all of them over a period of about one year and the subsequent fogging made looking outside more like peering into a fog bank. I’ve heard many similar stories…one website specializing in home maintenance and repair techniques said thermal windows have an average lifespan of 15 years. Never thought I’d have to replace my windows before the gas furnace!
I’ve had this thought for many years already. It makes sense those windows prevent fresh air from flowing in, thus they may well make you sick/the air unpleasant. Just a few ventilation slits won’t make the difference!
I was getting pretty nearsighted until I changed my desk to put the screen farther away. Then my vision improved quite a bit. I suspect it's not due to light, but just due to how much time people spend (or don't spend) looking at things farther away.
I think it's both. I got nearsighted too from looking at close screens for many hours a day but what fixed it for me was just going outside for 30 minutes a day if it's sunny and get a lot of direct sunlight into my eyes. Also to look at things in the distance to train the eye to look at far away things. And that alone fixed my eyes despite the fact that I still look at very close screens or books for the same amount of time.
I live in the high mountains of Colorado and get plenty of sun. I’m a house builder and architect. The disregard for designing for passive solar/environment is all too common. Building codes often do not help such as low e windows . For example my small personal house was designed to use solar gain in the winter.The large overhangs and deciduous trees provide shade in the summer (no A/C required). The code required glass severely limits the beneficial heat gain. Off topic- sick housing that do not ventilate properly is another problem in modern housing.
I love the idea of using windows to filter out certain wave lengths in order to save on energy and do right by the environment but then to buy a UV lamp that plugs in and uses energy to use during the day to get some benefit from those wave lengths.
AWNINGS!!!! You need to see Technology Connections' video about awnings. It's basically just a lil sunshade cap over windows that prevents direct sun (and rain) exposure. It's brilliant. It's the ancient technological solution to this exact issue that everyone just stopped using during the 20th century :(
I live in a mid century modern home that was built in 1955 in the cold north east. It had a flat roof, It’s shaped like a wedge with the smaller side facing the prevailing winds. It also has large overhangs that cover the huge floor to ceiling windows that face south. In the winter, the sun is low in the sky and I get so much sun in my home that the heat doesn’t even come on during the day. In the summer, the overhang shades my large windows and keeps my house cool. They knew all this back in 1955.
This! We need to actually think before building like everyone knew they had to do before we had indoor air controls.
But that takes skill and expertise and cuts into builders' profits cause they can't just knock out a billionth subdivision of identical row houses
I think the word your looking for is "awning" and they are wonderful things that are no longer fashionable, inspite of how useful they are.
@@AnUndivinethat’s basically it but on my house it’s a slanted flat roof with an overhang.
@ I think he's referring to the design of the structure itself, like a roof eave. I generally understand an "awning" to be like a canvas addition, not a part of the building per se. Regardless, I don't have either in my house because of the aesthetic sensibilities of busy body suburban HOA people and the industry that caters to their whims.
Retired architect here. Thanks for raising an important issue. The Low-E window issue is part of the larger problem of buildings not being designed with sensitivity to their climate, orientation and location. These used to be important considerations, but modernism and mechanical HVAC systems conspired to allow architects to ignore these factors. That's why you see all-glass buildings in every climate that look the same on the north and south sides, for example.
Passive solar design has been advancing for decades, but is still not quite mainstream. A small passive solar office building, for example, might have glass with no low-E film facing south (in the northern hemisphere), to maximize solar gain in winter, combined with an overhang or screen sized to block out direct light in the summer. Windows on other sides of the building would be smaller with low-E glass to reduce heat loss. A larger building on the same site might be quite different because higher internal heat loads would make the heat from solar gain undesirable even in winter.
Designing buildings that provide as much daylight as we would get outdoors would be quite a challenge, though. The glare alone would make a lot of the work we do difficult. Glass that adjusts its transparency at different wavelengths throughout the day could help, though I'm not aware of research on what the ideal configuration would be. And innovation in the construction industry is very, very slow. In the meantime, the only real solution is to get outside more, and soak up those rays whenever you can (as I keep telling myself). Maybe other technologies could help, but in my personal experience sitting in front of a blindingly bright "happy light" didn't make me happy, just irritable.
To open another can of worms, what effect do the glasses and contacts all us myopic people wear have on the wavelengths of light reaching our retinas and our circadian rhythms?
Unless you're using blue-light filter coats on your glasses, or wearing transition-lens goggles, it would be insignificant.
Yes!!!
I wear glasses, have done since I was 11. And your last comment has just sparked a realisation.
I always blamed school homework on my sudden insomnia problems. I started to do school homework at age 11.
I have awful sleep problems, Sleep Paralysis , restlessness, and lately I have been waking up even earlier than usual and not getting a wink of sleep for the rest of the long, long night.
I now view sleep as just boring rest laying down in the dark...perhaps this also answers the question as to why my night vision is so exceptional, way beyond that of an average person. Just used to staring around the room all night, my eyes have adapted.
The energy-efficient windows are also gas-tight, requiring properly designed ventilation. Old windows/doors/walls were just leaking everywhere, allowing houses to "breathe".
Very interesting! Thanks for contributing.
Moral: You still need to go touch grass regardless of what windows you have.
We need to touch grass rather than touch glass.
@@skybluskyblueify touch @SS tush grass
Medcram chanel says plants reflect IR. Anyone for Japanese 'forest bathing'?
Specially for those who have windows 11 and think it's good
Why not both? Greenhouses are lit.
The fact that you have to say that we should build windows that open is a good summary of the state of things
people forget about the existence of awnings and shutters which are on the outside of buildings blocking light from getting in (rather than curtains that just block the light from eyes while still heating the room with the sunlight that gets in). awnings allow for lower levels of heat when the sun is at a higher angle (during the hot parts of a day) and shutters allow you to block the light whenever you want manually. Also, just having trees outside your house allows for the blockage of light naturally
Technology Connections had a great video about awnings a couple of months ago. We gave up a lot of useful building techniques and considerations in favour of "style" because modern technology made it possible. Now that we learn more and more about the consequences, it might be time to reconsider some of them.
Trees. Enough said.
Trees are great. Trees are my friends. Once drove 16hrs out of my way to go look at trees. Love trees.
That being said, with the increasing strength and frequency of storms, I have to also think about protecting my shelter. It’s symbolic of the many clashes between public good and personal good
@@Lila-Blume-t8hmy forever home will have awnings and a bit of solar and heat pump everything
@@kleinerprinz99 Trees near buildings tend to cause a lot of damage, enough said.
I really thought this was going to be about how having windows that don't open can lead to indoor air quality problems...
That's an issue too!
You should not go in to science with presuppositions or opinions that could affect your observations
Same!
This problem is solved by forced ventilation paired with recuperators. Without forced ventilation windows should be openable.
@@TFASplbtttt you can make a hypothesis in science. You just have to be open to science proving your hypothesis wrong.
This is reminding me of all the "sick offices" built in the late 70s/early 80s, which are so well sealed they run out off oxygen in the afternoons. I worked in one years ago, and it was standard to go outside for a break in the mid-afternoon, just to breathe fresh air.
It's like when people design these buildings, they forget they need to support life.
They were designed for glory of capitalism
@@Stszelec01 Too well insulated and sealed to cut down heating and cooling costs. Older buildings leaked, which is how fresh air got in. You blame capitalism, but wouldn't the green movement encourage such an attempt as well? This is simply a case of unintended consequences.
@@Devin_Stromgren They make HVAC air exchangers designed for this circumstance, so you're both missing the boat. Also, unless businesses are running for the good of the planet, then yes, capitalism IS to blame. The "green movement" (wut?) isn't some mythical entity making engineering suggestions.
@@Devin_Stromgren is that "green movement" in the room with us now? Because capitalism is and has its slimy hands all over everything you touch and all over your brain
You couldn't open a window? That's dangerous.
I’ve thought about this a lot - it’s another good reason to have indoor plants that need a healthy range of UV as a canary in the coal mine for your own access to light…
Technology Connections has an entire video about awnings that would be highly relevant to this discussion. Thermostat controlled operable awnings could make a huge impact.
Other potential pieces of the puzzle are building with thermal mass, and district heating/cooling.
I can not say that I don't have SADs. However, there have been a few times when I was working in a building, in the winter, in Texas that we had not had any REAL sunshine in over a week. And I was beginning to feel it. Despite it being very cloudy, I went out and stood out of the wind and looked in the general direction of where it was lightest in the clouds. I was on break, so I did it for about 15 minutes. When I went inside I felt better. Not 100% but not like I was before. Now, on the whole, I'm not real fond of the sun, I burn quickly and for the last 25+ years of having fibromyalgia, the heat - and the cold - really bother me, but the heat is worse, probably because we have so much more of it than cold here...
Yes, my husband photosynthesizes just like this.
I always thought that I didn't get any, but then we got a full-spectrum light in our living room (we wanted to give the plants a bit of a boost). I had SUCH an improvement in my mood that winter. Had never noticed that it got worse until it didn't.
😂 Haha, try being Swedish 😢
I have been using heat lamps for a while during winter and have found that they greatly help with my seasonal affective disorder. I just leave them on in certain ares I want to be more cozy. I also have clear ones and ones with a red coating. At times I feel like I'm warming myself like a clutch of hatch lings but the ir-rich light always feels so great and cozy ( and better yet can be aimed, so I don't need to warm a whole room just the area I'm in)
Also, I made a pillow that I filled with shredded space blankets, like the ones used for joggers and it's just the coziest damn pillow ever. I have to be careful sleeping with all my comforters and with it too close to my chest or my whole body will get really warm.
whats a heat lamp? I have really bad seasonal depression and anything would be helpful 😢
@Jesterisim Just a high wattage bulb in a high watt socket. The bulb is usually a mercury bulb with an anti uv coating.
I've been using red heat lamp bulbs in metal reflectors/shields in strategic places the past few months to save on heating costs, too. I have one under my desk to keep my feet warm. 250W bulbs seem to be the sweet spot.
If you are going to be building something, it is far better to build it in a way that makes sense for the environment it’s in. We did this for hundreds of thousands of years. Only in the past 100~ did that change.
Yup! Just go outside for Vitamin D!
Yes! When I drive through rural areas I see 200 yr old farm houses that don’t face the road. It’s not because the road moved over time. It’s because the house was built in line with the sun’s path in the sky.
Capitalism goes brrrr
They built california designed school all over Canada. The flat roofs all leaked at some point and those schools now all have mold. There is a reason northern traditional construction had steep roofs!
Much less than 100 years. It's really only been since the advent of HVAC, and even then only in places where it's common are where energy is cheap (like in the US, where energy is basically free compared to places like the most of the EU).
Yeah, speaking of circadian rhythms, here's me watching a sci show video at 05:13am when there's not even any sun yet. Waiting for my employer to transfer me to evening shifts instead of these awful early morning shifts. I have AuDHD and despise being up this early.
Was midnight here when this video came out (1:15 am when I'm watching it).
and here I'm loving being awake in the early morning because is colder and quieter XD we really are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
And 2 hours later, me still being awake from not being able to sleep because of my AuD(H)D reads this and can only laugh about my despearity 😂
And me laying awake deciding if I should let my AuD(EIPS)H-PTSD make me stay home today or not
damn homie they're going to try to burn you out and make you feel bad for it
Thanks Hank, I've been having some health problems the past twenty years. A lot of those problems alleviated four years ago when I became homeless & came back when I became housed again. But recently I got a job working a lot more outside &, again, they lessened. I attributed it to diet & exercise, but looking back it was being outside for a bit of the day & more at night!
Wishing you a lot of happiness and good health 😊
We can specifically put a "natural sunlight room" in the floor plan. Or use ordinary glasses for the windows by the corridor, hallway, or pantry. Then people can receive natural light when they walk through those channels or have a cup of tea/coffee.
Just have a nice mixture.
you need more than just a few bursts of this light throughout the day, get a grip.
I think the real issue here is that people working in offices don't have adequate opportunities to take a break outside. The amount of daylight that people really need isn't really that much, but if you're spending most of your day in a building that filters out the wavelengths that you need, and then spending the rest of the day commuting, then you're going to have some issues. Around here we only get less than 9 total hours of sunlight this time of year, and if you're at work for 8 of those hours, getting even the half hour you need is tough.
IMHO, it would make far more sense to just go back to how things used to be where people got an hour for lunch and ensured that there was some convenient place in the area where people could go outside during that time to get some daylight.
or just live in real life and don't try to avoid any and all discomfort at any cost
another study found that how much time kids spent outside was the biggest predictor of whether or not that would end up near sighted. with two hours being the agreed minimum of sunny outdoor time per day
It's because the eyes don't get adequate exercise. There may be some impact from the UV, but it's mostly because the eyes need to look at things that are both far away and nearby on a regular basis. I was sick a couple weeks ago and barely stepped outside for a week, and when I did, the stuff that was in the distance was visibly fuzzier than normal. The link has been known for quite some time between too much time working on computers and looking at things close and nearsightedness. It's why there's a general recommendation to spend at least 20 seconds looking at something 20+ feet away every 20 minutes. Taking up hobbies like bird watching where you're actively focusing on looking around you at things that are in the distance is also a good idea.
Personally, I'm in my 40s and don't need glasses, some of that is genetics, but some of that is just how much time I've spent outside over the years looking at things both near and far.
@@SmallSpoonBrigadeit is a myth. As shown by recent studies, what causes near sightedness is the longer shape of the eye. And the eye needs to stop growing at a certain age. When kids don't get enough bright light (more than 20000 lux, you could only get that light levels outside), the hormone that is responsible for the stop in growing the eyeball, doesn't get produced enough in the body. So it is about the bright light.
I was saying it 10 years ago. Sound & light both haven't been explored enough in medicine.
Don't you wonder sometimes?
'Bout sound and vision?
D'accord donc pour reprendre votre logique on augmente les prix en magasins chez vous afin de diminuer les prix sur Paris ça vous va ?
In the past, a lot of homes were built with a solarium. This room allowed you to sunbathe during colder seasons.
What if its cloudy 95% of time during winter where you live sunlight ain't gonna keep me warm when its 15 degree weather outside combined with winds
here in the South, we used to have tall ceilings, little windows above the doors, and ceiling fans and (attic fans). we also got out more, and we had more trees. We also used to have Sundays off, for nearly everyone. Nowadays, there are more molds, lights, pollutants, and illnesses. {we used to get an hour for recess and lunch, the kids get 15 minutes now.}
Transom windows are key
Woo! Finally a reason to be happy about my 125 year-old home's drafty old windows! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go put on another sweater.
Lol I feel ya! My house is almost 100 years old.
the practice of recess in schools was developed due to children developing nearsightedness from being indoors all the time. I think its high time we had recess at work for adults as well.
these 30 minute lunchbreaks and one, measly 15 minute break every 4 hours is not nearly enough time to get meaningful light, and thats all that is required in my state. i work indoors for pretty much ALL daylight hours in the winter. it takes 5-10 minutes to walk from where i work to the front door, meaning i physically cannot go outside on my break.
Instead, recess for kids is nearly gone. My kids only have about 20 minutes of scheduled recess time every day. In practice, they get far less than that because they only let kids out when the temperature is in a narrow range.
I'm going with the more probable: recess in schools was developed: to provide children with a structured break from classroom learning, allowing them to engage in physical activity, socialize with peers, and de-stress, ultimately improving their focus and cognitive abilities when they return to class.
But I get what you're saying
@@cachecow Correct. Effects like near-sightedness are hard to see (pun intended) while antsy and bored kids who can't concentrate on the materials are very easy to see. Widespread use of "recess" started in the 1890s-early 20th century specifically to give lower-income students the benefits of unstructured play and social interaction their higher-income peers could enjoy outside of school, and was found to have a large impact on those students' (as well as higher-income students') academic success. I've never seen myopia given as a reason for recess (mentions in the literature are metaphorical, ex, calling the destruction of recess in the "No Child Left Behind" test-driven era as myopic at best).
Doesnt help if you love reading books at home at night with torches. And even then most of near-sightedness is hormone based due to body changes in puberty.
@@cachecow Look at inventor of the Kindergarten. His goal was the wellbeing of the children. Literally a garden of and for children.
Hank has no windows in his buildings. I hope that is because he lives in an underground science bunker. Also as a Linux user, I approve.
arch btw
i use arch btw
@@yeetthephone2341 I'd never use arch. Either go full Gentoo or stay with Debian. Kids these days...
he livest at 33 Thomas Street, NY
Or, as my cleaning person says, "I don't do Windows". 😊
Having a book page is a great idea! There are so many books published and most of us can't afford to buy all of them. Even libraries only offer a selection of what's available. I hope the book page becomes popular enough to continue. Thanks for sharing.
I finally bought smart bulbs this year for the sole purpose of being able to have a 'sunrise' in my bedroom for the dark season. So far it has certainly paid dividends in terms of making it easier to get out of bed.
Aside from the fact of cost, have you considered motorized shades on timer?
Ah yes, a video on how windows mess with sleeping as i stay up to watch this at 1am
Well, constantly clicking all those annoying notifications away does make sleep rather difficult...
Interesting post. Something I've notice is we replaced the windows on our house with low-E ones a decade or so ago. We noticed an increase in the number of bird strikes.
As others posters have mentioned always a good idea to spend time outside. But even that is not without risk as UV from the sun increases the speed cataracts develop so use sunglasses.
There are stickers shaped like birds of prey, they help against bird strikes.
You could buy window clings and make a criss-cross or lattice pattern. My parents kept up snowflakes plastic window clings to help the bird “see” the window.
Germans can certainly tell you a thing or two about windows that are too efficient.
Because we can expect such big temperature differences over the seasons we make sure to have well insulated houses, but now we are forced to open the windows and air out our homes regularly or we risk getting mold.
That's always a nasty surprise for foreigners who don't know that.
Modern well built buildings in the are now designed with that in mind with central air providing enough airflow and moisture control.
@KellyClowers because opening a window is hard!
I made my 1960's house very well insulated.
We never close the bathroom window, we have lots of fish tanks with plants growing in them and piles of house plants dotted about.
But I still like to get out as much as possible.
@@KellyClowerscentral ac is bad because not everyone is going to clean it and keep it dust free, after a few years it'll just spread disease and allergies or clog entirely and not have any airflow
@@TheWebstaffNice example of commenting without saying anything. So your solution is keeping the bathwindow at - 20 degree celsius open to fkup the idea of insulating a building? 😂
@@TheWebstaffno. Because even when people are conscious of a risk of mold, and try to air out their homes, the issue can still develop. Thus building techniques change.
Thanks!
Was just thinking about this last week. Theoratically, another way this could be solved is by internal lights emitting the specific missing violet and IR wavelengths. If they are time conrollable, we could even sync these additional wavelength emission with sunrise and sunset. It will take time, but there will be a day when myopia isn't an issue anymore for the next generations.
We might temporarily reduce the rates of myopia by fixing this issue but the genes for bad eyesight aren't going to stop existing because of this.
@@GamePlagueit's not only genetic, it can be caused by not seeing enough bright light.
Hey Hank, I’m so glad you’re reporting on this kind of science I have seen for a while now, some related topics you may find interesting is Grounding for its anti-inflammatory effects and EZ (Exclusion Zone) water and the work of Dr. Gerald Pollack. Of note, the increased mitochondrial destiny and how that actually looks inside of the cell would be a really cool way to show people how IR can help boost cellular metabolism. Keep up the great work
this is something people have been noticing with highly airtight constructions: great for energy efficiency, all the way until the air gets humid and stagnant inside, then you open the doors and windows and waste all that energy because OOPS, turns out we need the fresh air!
Love, love, love the bookshop page! Thank you for building that!
2:24 I have a feeling that this is not because of windows, I think it's actually just because almost all of us sit and stare at screens too long. I'm doing it right now, and you probably are too if you're reading this
This is kind of a thought stopping way of seeing it tho. It's your, "feeling" that the phenomenon, "is not because of windows." Why can't both things be true at the same time?
@@imcarlabeefr
That's what we've thought for decades, but research from the past few years suggests that natural light - by itself - wards off nearsightedness
I print out my UA-cam videos like mapquest directions to solve this exact issue.
I've got small windows at home anyway, I go outside to get some fresh air and sunlight for my own sanity. Also where I came from (Singapore), a lot of people wear glasses because we spend too much time indoors, but E coating is only a thing adopted very recently. Our homes tend to use old style slats for window covers.
Man your new hair is crazy, love it!
Love that you have a book shop page!!
I despise how my classroom doesn't have a window. Less than half of the classrooms in my hallway do, but we're the outlier. I definitely noticed it changed my mood and sleep when i was moved into that room.
In what kind of country are you? Putting people in a windowless room is not a normal thing to do.
My low-e, double pane windows still block about 50% of visible light. It makes a sunny day into dusk, so I have more indoor lights on longer.
At 0:50 during the opening music, there's a microscope on the screen. With the subject of something potentially harmful, for just a moment I "mis-saw" the 'scope and thought it was a grim reaper... and wondered, "Wouldn't it be funny if the title screen changed to say ScytheShow?"
Somebody on staff, please bookmark this for next October. It's too good.
Seems like coatings on south-facing (in the northern hemisphere) windows on not on the rest might help.
Sunglasses for buildings - I like that explanation 😄
After years behind modern windows and poor sleep, I moved to a 1943 built house with single pane clear glass windows. Within a week I was sleeping great! Now as I am replacing them, I am scrambling to replace the effect. So far, a grow light during my morning coffee seems to help, but is not the same.
This makes me even more glad that I live in Europe, where most windows are still simple and can be opened. I wouldn't want to live any other way.
Ah yes, Europe; the land of simple windows
@@Monaleenian Those windows aren't necessarily that simple. Have you seen anybody operating the ones they have in Germany?
Incredible video! Always great to see you Hank!
Meanwhile, here I am, a chronically nocturnal agoraphobe, who sunburns within 15 minutes of leaving the house in a region that is known for its vitamin D deficiencies due to lack of sunlight, and I'm farsighted. lmao
So you're a vampire?
Well that means you’re not a person of color and therefore it should be quick and easy for you to absorb vitamin d with light skin. So next time you move, just rent an apartment with a lil patio. Then you don’t actually have to leave the house or the sphere of comfort to go outside.
how u get vit d? supplements And beef liver question mark
Not even kidding. Start a carnivore diet. You won't burn. You can look it up.
The more off your omega 6 to omega 3 ratio is. The faster and easier you burn outside. Excessive omega 6 also doesn't help.
Certain medications can also make it worse. If you're on a medication that causes sun sensitivity look at getting onto one that doesn't if you can.
I used to be unable to go outside for more than 30 minutes without burning less than 6 years ago. Now with the diet change, which also made the medication I was on unnecessary. I can go outside all day without sunscreen and did so all summer without burning once. And I'm usually outside for minimum 7 hours a day.
Are you a redhead?
In Scotland our energy efficient windows have an IR reflective coating on the inside to keep the IR in. Don't have cooling issues here.
3:06 So many people never get to use rod only vision, e.g. moonlight or starlight. A basic flashlight is now 200 lumens.
Incandescent light bulbs give off infrared light of the beneficial wavelengths, so do radiant heaters and open fires, however we are rapidly banishing all of these from the indoor environment. A major rethink is urgently needed. I have bought an infrared heat lamp, which I use every morning.
A sealed house with efficient windows would naturally require a solution like Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) to maintain fresh air.
Unfortunately in the US you have to go a bit out of your way to make sure your new construction house is built well. Choose your contractors wisely
This is a very interesting video. Maybe part of the answer is to install some form of lighting that mimics what our windows are keeping out. It shouldn't increase the internal temperature of the room or house but it may give us the needed UV and Infrared light to sync our circadian rhythms?
yea could easily be added to lightbulbs. smartbulbs could add them to be turning on during the day and off at night
Full spectrum lighting fixtures: Not just for reptiles!
Concerned about unregistered cars and drivers, I decided to get insurance. We carried 800 horses and 59 barrels across the Atlantic. A 15-inch steel door is fitted to a red panel in the kitchen at the center. Empty drink. They fell, the car flipped, and everyone behind them died. He had to stay on the road. I thought about driving 18 mph, but I didn’t. After enjoying trains and buses, I realized that they are the kings of traffic in this country. Now, imagine a robot driving around town and a car driving itself. Let’s see what we can do. I live in a small coastal town. I want to join a fishing crew. Now I live in LE.
This makes me concerned about the blue light blocking coatings that are often put on glasses.
yeah, i was thinking about that, too
You have a blue light generator in your pocket
Glasses have gaps around the edges though which probably makes a big difference
Them blue light glasses are a scam and dont actually block enough to do anything useful, by a massive margin
^ that too
I live in El Paso Texas and it was drilled in to me pretty early on that every morning you need to go outside and soak up some sunlight . People always referred our city as being almost unnaturally safe and happy that I think the sun has a lot to do with it
Wait....so the "getting the light inside the body" was an actual treatment??????
Maybe, but not giving a uv stick a bj like he suggested 😂
Weirdly enough, yeah it seems to be
Oh, I hate that I know what you're talking about.
I'd also like to add that building codes are now requiring Low-E coatings in my area. But I have 3000+ degree heating days, and 74 degree cooling days! I don't want Low-E windows! I want the IR to heat my house. I hate that they pushed this through at the state level and didn't bother with other climates.
I was going to make a smug comment about how we shouldn't be indoors for most of the day anyway but then remembered i chose to become a radiologist.
Thank you for bringing this information to the general public!!!
Daylight LEDs during daylight and warm LEDs for night.
I'm a big believer in this.
@@seattlekarim964 Some dimmable non color changing LEDs do this already. As you dim them they become slightly more orange.
I'm not sure how much of the ultraviolet and infrared ends of the spectrum daylight LEDS cover - that might be important. Also, you would need massive amounts of LEDS to approach the amount of daylight outside even on an overcast day. Even the brightest indoor spaces are nowhere near as bright as that.
@@RichardJackman-x3w UV not much, IR almost none. I was mostly referring to the circadian rhythm part of seeing more blue light.
There are UV and IR LEDs (IR used in tv remotes and night security cameras), but I don't know how effective they'd be at affecting the things mentioned here.
You still need UV and parallel rays of light mimicking the sun, for the circadian rhythms to work as intended.
Yes, more of this please! Near infrared light is wildly important for human health, especially how it relates to mitochondrial function.
So you're telling me I need a new version of Windows?
Thank you for the reminder that I need to get out a bit more even during the winter.
6:20 i just love this host . him and tht other guy both are awesome
Me too I love the other guy, yet I refuse to learn their names. Who needs it?!
@@kuntamdc ya they should put their name in lowerthird when the video starts . they put it at very end but at tht time i already clicked off or my extension has automatically skipped outro part
the little, "and i hope i can do it" at the end too real XD
Great. Optometrists are pushing anti-blue lenses for those of us who already have nearsightedness.
Screw it, I don’t need no lousy eyesight.
This is bringing up dim memories of some sort of system of fiber optics to 'pipe' in sunlight... I saw a sketch of this in the 90s...?
We may want to look into that sort of thing.
I saw an ad for this the other day so it's still a thing.
You might want to look into tubular skylights then. Also seen names like Sun tunnel or sun tube. Havent looked into them much myself.
Hank says you need to take some sunlight.
You remember you live in the Nordics... It's December... 😂
And then you remember you haven't taken your vitamin D supplements yet. 😂
‘39 house, so most windows (and there are several) face North and South.
There is one bedroom that takes a beating on one side, and a hallway end on the other. We block that sunlight in summer so that those don’t become boiling points.
The only other room with a direct sunlight hit is the living room and it’s so big that the heat doesn’t harm it, and the stack effect means it moves upstairs regardless.
Or just go out for a short walk during the day when it's sunny. During a lunch break, for example. One of the most underrated health advices that brings significant health benefits all across the board.
It's the simplest most effective solution. Go outside for an hour during daylight each day, problem solved.
Great. But not when it is -30c . Not much skin exposed either.
the issue there is that that's not universally accessible advice. Sometimes you can't go outside on your lunch break or are expected to work through your lunch, and the sun sets before you leave in winter. Or you work 3rd shift and are sleeping through most sunlight hours, like I do! Not to even bring up how really cold winter temperatures or disability could factor into it, or class!
@a-bird-lover yes disability. I am 75 and going outside in the winter when it is icy can be terrifying. I have spikes over my shoes but I have to take them off to drive or go into the maul. I avoid going out most of the winter.
Glad that I live in an old house, where the morning sun comes from the front, and the afternoon sun is blocked by trees behind the house. I barely turn on the ceiling fan, and the winter is never too could here anyway.
I'm already deficient in vitamin D, and that's primarily because the sun hates me... I don't just sunburn, I burst into flames; it's the Irish curse. 😂 I even managed to get 2nd-degree sun poisoning with Rx-strength sunblock from my dermatologist! After that, I decided that being in the sun just isn't worth it; and yes, I've tried every single brand and strength of sunblock... none of them work for me 😢😢 Therefore, I'm an indoor girl.
It's the redhead gene mutating melanine. It also affects our resistance to pain, our sensitivity to heat and prvent us from browning under the cursed light
@@shorgoth it's true. The only tanning my skin does is more like the color of a boiled lobster.
I was working outdoors all last summer and found a solution. Long sleeves and a wide brimmed hat. Sun cannot burn me if sun cannot touch me. All my coworkers questioned how I could work in the heat with long sleeves, but i'd rather be sweating than burning.
@@reaganharder1480
This is honestly the best advice for anyone going to the beach period; nothing blocks the sun better than a long-sleeved t-shirt after all.
Aldi X factor sun cream for me.
Not ginger though.
Blond hair, blue eyed, pale as the snow unless I see the sun for 15 minutes.
Then I'm a lobster unless I put that sun cream on.
Then I'm good for a few hours.
But I do wonder about all the chemicals on my skin.
Which is why I tend to also wear long sleeve also over summer.
Most UK homes still have standard single or double glazing windows. It's our more expensive new apartments and most modern work places, that have these type of window.
This is definitely something worth thinking about.
1:30 not for folks with Non-24 Sleep-Wake Disorder
I have DSWPD and when he was talking about how our cells are aligned with the 24 hour cycle of light and dark, I was like, "I suppose being consistently delayed by 4-5 hours is technically a form of alignment..."
@@aliengeo wait is this an actual thing? If I don't force myself to bed I basically have a rythem of 30 hour days. I actually tried it once during summer by only going to bed when I was somewhat exhausted when I was still in college and I basically lived like there are 6 days in a week. By the time the next week happened my natural sleep schedule was a full 24 hours late, thus being normal again.
They talked about the following on science or health shows back in the late 1990s where they had those sun catcher thingies that put sunlight into fibreoptics that then runs to a ceiling corner in a room, putting some solar into offices, dark rooms, or internal rooms with no natural light. They don't seem to have come to fruition.
"begging the question refers to a fault in a dialectical argument in which the speaker assumes some premise that has not been demonstrated to be true. In modern usage, it has come to refer to an argument in which the premises assume the conclusion without supporting it."
I built a bedroom in my basement and installed glass block for the windows. The plants we put in the windows down there would thrive while the plant upstairs would die. I eventually figured out that it was the energy efficient windows we had installed upstairs. I never considered this when having them installed years back.
Architect here; pretty sure the 40% includes construction and materials embedded energy. Check the sources.
Pipe cleaners! (like the craft supply). My 2 youngest randomly found one in my craft supplies, were obsessed, and I’ve been making toys out of them ever since.
So locking everyone inside was the exact opposite of what is good for health
One thibg that oldish south american houses do really well that is being lost to moder standardization is passively cooling. Old houses had a platera of techniques that kept them fairly cool during summer, and those could be used with moder techniques to keep warm in winter. But now most houses here either are hot all year long or just have no concern for temperature at all.
With people spending all their time on computers indoors is a lack of natural blue light that much of a concern?
Yes, quite so, as there's supposed to be high quantity of blue/violet light in the morning, which is very important for the circadian rythms as mentionned in the video, not all along the day or even worse, at night. It messes with the sleep badly, that's the whole reason of blue light screen filters. Artificial blue light also does nothing good for the eyes themselves, and too few natural light is linked to myopia.
Omg that mouse with the tiny glasses made me so incredibly happy
You should do a video about the cases where reflective windows have caused outdoor fires and similar problems.
My house is open most of the year. With a couple extraction fans running near 24hr/day. House isn't sealed either. Always fresh air coming through with that sweet sweet ozone. Keeps the house healthy as possible. Also open windows and doors most of the day and not all closed at night. I hate the 3 cold months where all windows have to be closed at night
Back to inefficient windows it is
It may also be that all of that reflected infrared light (heat) is contributing to or worsening the "heat sink" effect inherent to urban areas and causing premature wear/decay of asphalt streets, making more frequent resurfacing necessary.
Awnings?
shutters?
Go outside?
Seems like the simplest problem ever.
awnings are still common in europe were i live, i watched a technology connections video that apparently awnings are rare in the US? Why?
@@pssurvivorTall buildings are much more likely to have this kind of windows than lower buildings - and awnings are a lot less practical on tall buildings. Awnings aren't that uncommon on shorter buildings (or the lower levels of tall buildings), but those buildings are also less likely to have these windows. Another contributing factor is that the US experiences significantly more extreme weather than Europe (both in frequency and intensity). Awnings can be easily damaged (or worse, become projectiles) during intense storms.
i actually didn't know that's how windows blocked heat! thanks for learning me something
Its midnight scishow, I feel youve made some mistake, though I'm not one to complain about free media
It's only 10 p.m. in Missoula...
I buy full spectrum uv lights for my plants and I get the added benefit during our long dark winters. And now I know it helps
With cell regeneration?! I’m so happy I invested in them. Maybe instead of fluorescent lights for offices we could do these? They come in led options as well. I. Bought my bulbs 3 years ago and not one has burnt out. I bought the 4pck.
One of my thoughts on the increase in myopia is the prevalence of unnatural lighting predominantly fluorescent lighting from the class room to the office.
There's also something to be said about windows becoming a disposable product.
Older sash windows, where glass panes and wooden parts were replaceable, are not that much different in R value than modern double pane windows with a vapor barrier. Once the plastic/rubber seal between the panes goes out, and the gases escape, here's nothing that can be done except replace the entire window.
Warranties are only 5 or 10 years, while the energy savings would take 30+ years to pay off the new windows. That's why Anderson and other companies got sued in the 2010's by the US federal gov't for false claims.
Thermal windows with low-e coatings are expensive and don’t stand the test of time. I had to replace 29 thermal windows after 13 years as the gas leaked out of all of them over a period of about one year and the subsequent fogging made looking outside more like peering into a fog bank. I’ve heard many similar stories…one website specializing in home maintenance and repair techniques said thermal windows have an average lifespan of 15 years. Never thought I’d have to replace my windows before the gas furnace!
I’ve had this thought for many years already. It makes sense those windows prevent fresh air from flowing in, thus they may well make you sick/the air unpleasant. Just a few ventilation slits won’t make the difference!
Thank you! Very important!
I was getting pretty nearsighted until I changed my desk to put the screen farther away. Then my vision improved quite a bit. I suspect it's not due to light, but just due to how much time people spend (or don't spend) looking at things farther away.
I think it's both. I got nearsighted too from looking at close screens for many hours a day but what fixed it for me was just going outside for 30 minutes a day if it's sunny and get a lot of direct sunlight into my eyes. Also to look at things in the distance to train the eye to look at far away things. And that alone fixed my eyes despite the fact that I still look at very close screens or books for the same amount of time.
I live in the high mountains of Colorado and get plenty of sun. I’m a house builder and architect. The disregard for designing for passive solar/environment is all too common. Building codes often do not help such as low e windows . For example my small personal house was designed to use solar gain in the winter.The large overhangs and deciduous trees provide shade in the summer (no A/C required). The code required glass severely limits the beneficial heat gain. Off topic- sick housing that do not ventilate properly is another problem in modern housing.
I love the idea of using windows to filter out certain wave lengths in order to save on energy and do right by the environment but then to buy a UV lamp that plugs in and uses energy to use during the day to get some benefit from those wave lengths.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation? Is that new? Pretty prestigious sponsor for our "little" show - grats!
AWNINGS!!!! You need to see Technology Connections' video about awnings. It's basically just a lil sunshade cap over windows that prevents direct sun (and rain) exposure. It's brilliant. It's the ancient technological solution to this exact issue that everyone just stopped using during the 20th century :(