One of the key aspects of contemporary architecture and modern design is creating a space that blends in well with the surrounding landscape and utilizes as much natural lighting as possible. In addition to reducing your light bill, natural sunlight exposure has a number of health benefits including increased energy levels, reduced anxiety/depression, and more!

Installing a set of exterior bi-fold doors on your porch is an excellent way to open up your space and allow tons of natural lighting inside. You’ll be able to effectively replace a smaller porch door or solid wall with an entire wall of moving glass panels.

In today’s post, we’re going to talk about how you can maximize your natural lighting with a set of folding doors and discuss some of the key advantages of increasing the natural lighting in your home.

How To Maximize Natural Lighting With Folding Doors

Folding doors are incredibly versatile and can be installed pretty much anywhere in your home. As long as you’re working with a contractor or builder who knows how to properly frame the doorway supports, you can install folding doors as a rear patio door, a front entrance, or in a bedroom leading out to a balcony. The choice is yours!

However, if you want to maximize the amount of natural lighting in your home, there are several design aspects that you’ll need to keep in mind. So, with that in mind, here’s how to ensure that your folding door installation lets the most light inside.

Install Doors In A Location That Receives Heavy Sunlight

The first tip we have for you is to make sure that your exterior bi-fold doors are installed on a side of your house that gets plenty of sunlight. A lot of people mess up in this key aspect of planning and end up installing their folding doors on a shady side of their house that receives minimal sunlight.

While the glass opening will still let some light in, it won’t have anywhere near as dramatic of an effect as you’re hoping for. So, before installing your doors, spend a full day at your home and take note of which sides of your house receive the most sunlight for the longest periods of time throughout the day.

Lay Off Of The Tint

It’s very common for homeowners to install an aftermarket tint to their porch folding doors after they’re installed. The advantage of installing tint is that the doors becoming slightly more energy efficient. However, applying tint can significantly reduce the amount of natural light that your home gets.

If you feel that applying tint is necessary, then try to go with a lighter tint that allows a great amount of sunlight inside. Trust us, it’ll pay off in the long run!

Make Sure There’s Not A Large Overhang Over Your Doorway

Even if you install your folding doors on a side of your house that gets plenty of sunlight, a large overhang (such as an upstairs patio) can shade the entire doorway. As we mentioned above, the more shaded your doorway is, the less lighting you’ll be able to take advantage of. If there is an overhang that you can’t get around, consider removing it.

Advantages Of Increased Natural Lighting In Your Home

So, now that we’ve given you some pointers on how to increase the natural light that your folding door system lets in, let’s talk about some of the advantages of having more natural light in your home!

Reduced Anxiety And Depression

One of the biggest causes of seasonal depression in people is that they receive less natural light during the Fall and Winter months. This can disrupt our natural circadian rhythm, causing us to feel depressed, anxious, and out of place.
Another study showed that those who received more natural light throughout the day were able to sleep better. If you know anything about sleep, then you’ll remember that the better you sleep, the less depressed and anxious you are.

Improved Immunity

Natural lighting also correlates with improved immunity in people. It also boosts the body’s production of T Cells, which fight bacterial infections within the body. Conversely, higher levels of unnatural fluorescent lighting are attributed to higher rates of inflammation in humans.

More Energy

Receiving healthy amounts of sunlight and natural lighting throughout the day increases your brain’s production of serotonin, which is your “happy chemical.” The more serotonin you have, the happier and more energized you are, which leads to a more productive day.

Lower Your Light Bill

Last but not least, the more natural lighting you let into your home, the less you’ll need to switch on those energy-consuming lightbulbs. While today’s modern LED lightbulbs don’t use anywhere near as much energy as the old-fashioned Edison bulbs, every little bit of energy that you save helps to reduce your light bill.

Conclusion

As long as you carefully plan your folding door installation, you’ll be able to ensure that your doors are installed in an area of your home that gets plenty of sunlight. The more sunlight you get in your home, the happier you’ll be, the more energy you’ll have, and the better your immune system will be (and who can’t use a better immune system these days?).