One of the most important–and most commonly overlooked–places to use dimmers is your bedroom. During the day, having the lights on at full blast works fine. But in the evenings, the lower level of lighting not only creates a more calm and relaxed environment, but it actually gets your body ready to sleep. I start with my lights dimmed to about one-half, and as I go through the bedtime routine I keep bumping the lights lower and lower. By the time I’m ready to actually get in bed the lights are around 10-20% of full.
This can be especially useful to help children fall asleep. If the bedtime routine with your kids is tough, try to make sure that they stay out of rooms fully lit. This is especially true if they get out of bed and run into a fully lit hallway. The bright light jolts the body into a waking state. If you start lowering the lighting before the bedtime routine begins, and keep lowering it throughout, they will be physically synced into a nighttime rhythm. It won’t solve the issue completely, but it will help make other methods more effective.
