You may know that exposure to different colors of light throughout the day has different effects on the human body: some good and some bad.
Light can stimulate the mind and body, leading to alertness or, at the wrong time, sleeplessness.
We must pay attention, especially with rising cases of insomnia and depression linked to lack of sleep, and the presence of digital devices and screens emitting light.
It is better to sleep with LED strip lights turned off. However, certain colors of light on the spectrum can have a positive effect on the body and affect the sleeping cycle. Red color strips can be relaxing and help us to fall asleep because they are closest to the natural sunset color.
In this article, I’m going to explore:
- The ways your sleep is impacted when you leave LED strip lights on
- Ways to reduce the impact LED strip lights have on your sleep
- The best colors to use if you must leave LED strip lights on at night
3 Ways Sleeping With LED Strip Lights On Affects Sleep Quality
There are three main ways that LED strip lights can impact your sleep quality if they’re left on:
- Reduction in the production of the sleep hormone melatonin from the pineal gland
- Increased alertness before you sleep
- Increased alertness as you wake up
Let’s have a look at each of them.
Melatonin Levels
The main concern is your melatonin levels, though, and this is all to do with our body’s natural internal clock, also known as the circadian rhythm.
Our body – specifically the pineal gland in the brain – reacts to the natural light cycle and produces that melatonin hormone to make us drowsy and help us sleep.
But more light means less melatonin, which means you don’t get as drowsy. You can still fall asleep, but it won’t be as deep a sleep as it should be.
Alertness Prior To Sleep
The second issue is that you’ll naturally feel more alert with the lights on all night because you can see more.
Your brain is more alert and energized because it can process all the info you’re still receiving through your eyes.
This makes it harder to doze off.
Alertness Waking Up
The third issue is that you’re also more alert any time you wake up. Your brain ‘switches on’ faster and starts working harder, so you’ll become wide awake more quickly.
That might sound good, but many of us wake up a couple of times a night – and if you’re then fully awake at 3 am, it’s harder to get back to sleep.
It’s worth pointing out that this isn’t just an issue with LED strip lights. It’s the same with traditional incandescent light bulbs, any LED light bulb, fluorescent bulbs… all lights impact your sleep.
It’s also true with electronic devices. Your natural circadian rhythms are interrupted when you use a phone or tablet in bed – so aim to leave your devices alone for at least an hour before bedtime if you want a good night’s sleep.
Lack Of Sleep Consequences
Knowing how critical sleep is for the good functioning of the human body, you can understand how lack of it can lead to other long-term problems as well:
Depression: People with insomnia have greater depression and anxiety than those who can get a good night’s rest.
They are 10 times more likely to have clinical depression. Lack of sleep can wreak havoc on a person’s mood and outlook on life.
Obesity: A 16-year study shows that women who slept 5 hours or less had a 15% higher chance of becoming obese. Short sleepers had a 30 percent higher risk of gaining 30 pounds compared to women who got 7 hours of sleep.
Accidents: People who consistently had troubled sleep caused increased car accidents, and studies have shown that the lack of reaction time of sleep-deprived people is comparable to that of drunk drivers.
How To Reduce Impact Of LED Strip Lights On Sleep?
If you’re someone who has to sleep with a light on, due to anxiety or another related condition, it’s best to find a light that can turn off either automatically or with a timer. Smart LED light strips or a night light with motion detection are good options.
While LED strip lights affect sleep negatively, some people can’t get to sleep without a light on. For those, it’s best to use a warm color temperature light, and to make sure the light switches off once they’re asleep.
What Are The Best LED Strip Light Colors For Sleep?
If you’re going to sleep and leaving LED strip lights on, it’s best to use warm colors. Red LED strip lights are the best choice, though oranges are also good. However, any bright light will still reduce your chances of restful sleep.
Various colors of light have different degrees of effect, even within the spectrum of light. So let’s get the bad news out of the way first.
Sleeping With Purple LED Lights
Violet color has the most detrimental effect on the human circadian system, throwing off melatonin release and suppressing the sleep hormone the most. You should always avoid going to sleep with purple LED strip lights.
Violets, or light purple, is the closest color to the ultra-violet wavelength, followed by blue, with green in the middle, and red is the farthest away from ultra-violet, becoming infrared light as the wavelength increases.
The closer the color of your LED strips to UV lighting, the more your sleep wake cycle is interrupted.
So avoid purple light exposure at all costs after sundown if you love your sleep!
Is Blue A Good LED Color To Sleep With?
Blue light is another of the most detrimental light colors for our natural circadian rhythm – our biological sleep cycle. And unfortunately, we are surrounded by blue light through LED strip lights and bulbs, and also lit-up screens from TVs, phones, and monitors.
The reason for this unwavering effect is that the cells on the retina of our eyes are most sensitive to blue light.
So that blue LED light you thought was setting a nice ambiance with its cool color temperature is actually making you more alert.
Is Green Light Good For Sleeping?
Similar to blue lights, green light harms the natural release of melatonin, although it’s not as bad.
The effect of green light is similar when we are first exposed to it, but the effects die off more quickly over time.
While blue light can impact sleep and melatonin levels for about 3 hours, green light throws it off by only half that, for a maximum of 1.5 hours.
So not great, but not the worst color either.
Is Sleeping With Red LED Lights Bad?
If you’re going to sleep with a light on, then red lights are the best choice. It’s closest to the sunset color, and so can actually help you to fall asleep – though it’s best to set a timer to turn them off once you are asleep.
For the human body, red is a natural color that brings calm and a feeling of relaxation and drowsiness as the day ends, and melatonin slowly gets released, preparing us for a good night’s rest.
That is why it makes sense when we surround ourselves with warm-reddish hues of light in the evening and throughout the night. It is the closest color to nature’s way of putting us to sleep.
Some studies, in fact, proved the positive effects of red light therapy.
For example, sleeping in red light is known to have improved the quality of sleep, melatonin level, and the next day’s endurance of elite female basketball players.
But you’re wasting energy leaving the LED strip lights on all night, which is why a timer can be useful. LED strip lights cost a small amount to run compared to conventional light bulbs but you still don’t want to throw money away.
Final Words
Now you know a fair bit about how blue light helps make us feel naturally energized in the morning, while red light sends signals to our body to get it ready for calm and rest.
Throwing it off by turning on any colored light, especially violet or blue light, will interfere with your short-term sleeping lifestyle, and in the long term, bring about health problems and medical conditions.
If you have these problems, make sure you don’t leave LED strip lights on. But if you’re going to, use a red LED light to help calm your body, and avoid colors in the blue spectrum.
Try to use LED lighting with a timer so you can make sure it’s off once you’re asleep, so you use less energy.
Also, it’s not just us you need to worry about. Be sure to read how an LED strip light affects plants in your home too.