June 14, 2008

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I was chatting with a friend who was sitting under the   chandelier in my living room the other day, thinking:  “My, she is looking much older.  I wonder if she is ill?” However, careful questioning revealed her to be in great good health.  Later I was browsing a magazine when I came across an article on this very subject, entitled:  “Getting Older and Changing Light”, in a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication called “Lighting”.  This explains my friend’s apparent change in look.

 It says that frequently people change eyeglasses as they age, but that light needs changing to as the people it lights up get older.

Aging causes our eyes to deteriorate and the lenses to yellow, because of exposure to ultra-violet light.  So when we add the warm light of incandescent bulbs (remember my article on the colour of light?) to the tendency of our own lenses to yellow, we get far less visual acuity, according to lighting designer Randall Whitehead.

 So the answer is to change your light sources to ones with a cooler temperature (lumen) which would be halogens or flourescents  “which can have a 5,000 degree Kelvin, closest to daylight and the coolest”.  He also recomends adding a light source at the centre of the room, to achieve higher levels of light, to supplement the other light sources in the room. 

In other words, folks, as we mature we need even more and cooler light for good sight, which is a really cool idea…check my website for help.


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