What Are the Health Benefits of Sunrooms?

A sunroom features sturdy, full-length windows that provide the positive effects of the sun from inside. Besides being a comfortable space for entertaining guests or relaxing after a long day at work, this home addition can improve your physical and mental health. Spending time in a sunny environment indoors can boost your mood and strengthen your immune system. A sunroom also blocks harsh ultraviolet (UV) light, giving you the benefits of the sunlight and keeping you safe from sunburn and heat exhaustion.

If you’ve been at home for a while and you’re ready for a change of scenery, a four-seasons room can give you a risk-free place to enjoy the outdoors. Consider some of the positive effects of the sun to find out why installing a sunroom can add value to your property and improve your well-being.

Health Benefits of Sunrooms

If you’d like to reduce your risk of illness and maintain a positive mood, check out the advantages a sunroom will offer to your home:

1. Best Source of Natural Sunlight Indoors

The average American spends less than 8% of their day outside. Since you probably spend a considerable amount of time working, cleaning and relaxing at home, you might not realize how much time you’re indoors throughout the day. If you’ve been trying to get adequate sunlight from a small window in your room, keep in mind that a sunroom maximizes the natural light in your living space. This home addition provides all the benefits of sunlight while protecting you from harmful UV rays.

A sunroom offers the following health benefits of the sun:

• Boosts energy and productivity: The sun enhances your health by stimulating serotonin production in your brain. This hormone gives you the power to focus, motivating you to accomplish your daily tasks and pay attention to your job. When the sun sets, melatonin helps you relax in time for bed at the end of the day.
• Improves your morale: One of the health benefits of sunshine is that it makes you happier. Natural light stimulates the hormones that give you a positive mood and improve your mental health, such as nitric oxide, serotonin and endorphins. Nitric oxide also acts as a natural antioxidant that reduces inflammation, lowering the chance of developing depression.
• Reduces the risk of seasonal affective disorder (SAD): SAD is a form of depression wherein you only exhibit symptoms during a specific season, especially in the winter. You might experience fatigue and a short temper because a lack of sunlight might trigger a chemical change in your brain, affecting your serotonin and melatonin levels. Sunlight can improve your mental health by helping treat SAD symptoms and regulate your energy hormones.
• Strengthens your immune system: Even spending a few minutes outside, including in your sunroom, can increase your vitamin D count. Vitamin D has many health benefits, including significantly reducing your risk of getting sick and developing infections. It also strengthens your bone health, enhances your lung function and relieves diabetes symptoms.
• Lowers blood pressure:Sunlight has the potential to reduce blood pressure, decreasing your chance of having a heart attack or stroke. The anti-stress qualities of spending time in the sun can also bring your blood pressure down to a healthy level.
• Promotes hair growth: There are many benefits of sunlight for hair, such as promoting the creation of new hair follicles and improving hair growth. Vitamin D stimulates hair production and prevents hair loss. Sunlight can also make your hair brighter.

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2. Protection Against Harmful Insects

With a durable sunroom, you can enjoy your outdoor living space without swatting flies or getting bit by mosquitoes. The sturdy walls of your enclosure will prevent pests from snacking on your picnic or barbecue food. Having a sunroom on your property can help reduce your risk of contracting insect-borne illnesses, such as Zika, West Nile Virus and Eastern equestrian encephalitis (EEE).

Since your sunroom keeps you safe from harmful pests, you’re less likely to use chemicals and pesticides to guard you and your property against insects and other critters. Outside, you may need to use spray with DEET to prevent bug bites. Bug spray poisoning from prolonged exposure to this product may cause skin irritation, seizures and an upset stomach. You can save yourself and your guests from using dangerous bug treatment by providing a safe place for gathering away from insects.

3. Potential for an Indoor Vegetable Garden

Convert your sunroom into a greenhouse to grow vegetables on your property. With a temperature-controlled environment, you can have fresh, homegrown produce any time of the year. You can be confident your food comes from a reliable source and is free from preservatives and unnecessary chemicals. Instead of getting pre-packaged food, you can season and flavor your fruits and vegetables how you want.

When you have a sunroom, you can control your food supply more instead of relying on a supermarket. Instead of putting yourself at risk of contracting viruses from surfaces by going to the grocery store, you can safely retrieve vegetables from your home. Fresh organic food typically has more nutrients than what you’ll find at the store. You’ll also be saving money by growing produce throughout the year.

4. Beautiful Scenery

Instead of sitting on your couch watching television, you can have a change of scenery by looking at the activity outside. Staring at screens is harmful to your eyes, but spending time outdoors can reduce your risk of eye problems. When you have a sunroom on your property, you can bring nature indoors. Watch the birds from your cozy couch as they fly over your fence, or admire the wind blowing through the leaves on the trees.

Consider investing in colorful plants that can also help create a stunning view as you walk into your sunroom. Small plants can improve your home’s indoor air quality by removing harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the atmosphere. The natural light coming into your home addition will give your vegetation the nutrients they need to thrive instead of drying out the leaves and roots.

5. Protection From the Elements

A sunroom allows you to use your outdoor living space all year long, regardless of the current weather conditions. In the summer, you can stay safe from sunburn and heat exhaustion as you swim in the pool, cook on the grill or play games with your loved ones in a sunroom. If you suffer from allergies, a sunroom helps you avoid coughing, sneezing and watery eyes while enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

When you install heating or window treatments in your sunroom, this part of your home can keep you warm in the winter as you watch the snowfall from your full-length windows. You can prevent getting frostbite and harming your joints by admiring the winter wonderland in your comfortable sunroom.

Healthiest Ways to Utilize a Sunroom

Have your sunroom installed in an area that brings in the most natural light and beauty through the large glass panes. Having this addition in your living space can help reduce the stress you experience each day. Consider some of the following sunroom uses that can help create a safe, relaxing environment.

1. Home Gym and Exercise Room

The sunlight coming in from your sunroom can help boost your energy during a workout, motivating you to keep up a routine. You can work out outside throughout the entire year, no matter whether it’s hot or cold. An exercise room in your sunroom provides the following benefits for your health:

• Helps you relax and sleep better at night
• Boosts your mood and relieves stress, depression and anxiety
• Enhances brain function and improves your thinking and memory skills
• Creates endorphins that decrease pain
• Provides antioxidant protection and encourages blood flow, delaying signs of aging
• Promotes weight loss by increasing your metabolism
• Reduces the chance of developing chronic disease
• Strengthens bones and muscles
• Increases insulin sensitivity
• Energizes the body
• Decreases blood pressure and blood fat
• Encourages cardiovascular fitness
• Maintains a healthy body composition

2. Yoga and Meditation Space

Instead of taking part in an intense strength training session, you may want to improve your physical health through a more relaxing routine. A sunroom gives you a Zen space to practice yoga or meditate. The morning sunlight filtering in through your large, full-length windows can energize you as you work on challenging poses.

With a bright, vitamin-rich place to read a meditative text or stretch your muscles, you can have a fresh, energizing start to your morning that’ll power you through the rest of your day. You could also practice yoga or meditate at the end of the day to relieve stress from your job or from doing challenging tasks around the house.

Here are some of the ways that creating a yoga and meditation room out of a sunroom can boost your health:

• Develops peace of mind and calm to center you during your yoga routine
• Lowers cortisol levels that cause stress
• Improves flexibility to correct posture and reduce pain
• Strengthens the brain to recall information, focus, learn and solve problems better
• Increases muscle strength and guards against joint and cartilage breakdown
• Lowers blood sugar and bad cholesterol
• Enhances bone health
• Promotes good cholesterol
• Boosts immunity and drains your lymph nodes
• Improves blood flow, bringing more oxygen to the cells and preventing blood clots
• Lowers your blood pressure and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease

3. Home Office Space

Working from home has several health benefits, especially since you don’t have to commute to your job site. You can reduce stress and avoid breathing in toxic fumes from public transportation by working in your living space. Making your sunroom into an office also helps create a healthier environment on your property. Instead of taking calls in the dining room or getting reports done in the living room, you can have a designated space for completing your daily tasks.

The natural light in your sunroom can help boost your mood and keep you motivated during the workday. The spacious windows that overlook your backyard can reduce your stress throughout the day by giving you a pleasant view to enjoy when you look up from your computer screen. To make your space more comfortable and healthy, consider an ergonomic chair and desk to help prevent muscle strain.

4. Vacation Spot

You may have had to put your vacation plans on hold this year. In that case, you can create a relaxing environment on your property by designing your sunroom with decorative elements from your ideal vacation spot. Whether you enjoy spending your days off at a tropical resort or in a cozy cottage, all you need is the right furniture and music to recreate your latest getaway.

When you design your sunroom to be a relaxing space, you can use up some vacation days by spending time in your outdoor living area. You could also clock out during lunch and decompress for an hour in your retreat.

5. Hobby Room

Indulging in your favorite hobby or craft activity is an excellent way to reduce stress and add pleasure to your life. You can make your sunroom a hobby room so you can keep all your craft materials in one area. The natural light also allows you to see better. You’re less likely to suffer from eye strain as you work. Unlike fluorescent bulbs, natural light won’t distort the colors of fabrics, markers, crayons or scrapbook pictures.

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6. Game Room

Consider making your sunroom into a game room to have a relaxing place to decompress and spend time with the family. Put in a pool table or a coffee table for playing cards or board games. While you’re spending more time at home, you can schedule game nights and encourage friendly competition with your loved ones. Besides reducing stress, playing games provides the following health benefits:

• Enhances your memory and strengthens brain activity
• Improves your peripheral vision
• Strengthens your coordination
• Helps you make better decisions
• Reduces symptoms of anxiety and clinical depression

7. Sitting Room

With your busy schedule, you need a place to decompress from all your daily activities. A sitting room sunroom gives you the perfect space to sit and do nothing. Enjoy the sunshine during the day or watch the stars at night. Whether you want to read, enjoy the landscape outside or watch the birds around your property, you can use this space to help you relax.

Enjoy all the benefits of being outside while staying safe from sunburn and resting in a noise-free environment. Set up some comfortable chairs and include a few indoor plants to establish a peaceful space on your property.

Stay Healthy With a Sunroom From Maryland Sunrooms

A sunroom provides many sunlight benefits that can enhance your lifestyle and boost your immune system against viruses and infections. With this unique home addition, you can enjoy all the benefits of being outside while staying safe from allergens, pests and harsh UV rays.

At Maryland Sunrooms, we offer various types of four-seasons sunrooms to help you find the ideal enclosure for your living space. You can use this unit as a vacation spot, office or extension of your backyard to improve your quality of life. If you’re ready to make your property healthier, schedule an appointment for a consultation today.