Four years of weekly U.S. Google Trends data show that a six-term home-lighting search index typically begins a sustained seasonal rise around September 9, while searches for “warm lighting” increase about 56% from summer to fall.
Key Findings
- Americans start searching more for home lighting around September 9.
- Searches for warm lighting jump about 56% from summer to fall, with the seasonal rise typically beginning around the week of September 5.
- Porch-light searches rise most closely alongside shorter days, with their seasonal increase typically beginning around the week of September 20.
- Warm light bulbs are one of the first lighting searches to increase, starting in early August.
- Living room lighting starts rising around the week of September 27, more than a month before kitchen-light searches, which typically rise around November 4.
For much of the summer, natural light does a lot of the work inside American homes. Then the days begin getting shorter.
City Lights SF analyzed weekly Google Trends data for 10 home-lighting search terms across four complete seasonal periods from 2022 through 2025. Eight of those searches produced usable estimates for when seasonal interest typically begins rising, while six higher-volume terms were combined into a normalized Home Lighting Search Index to measure the broader seasonal shift.
Across that six-term index, search interest typically began a sustained increase around September 9. The normalized index averaged approximately 29.3% higher from September through November than from June through August.
Warm Lighting Shows the Biggest Reliable Fall Increase
Search interest for “warm lighting” increased approximately 55.7% from summer to fall, the largest reliable increase among the higher-volume lighting terms examined. Its median sustained-rise date was approximately September 5.
Learn how to use layered lighting in your living room.
“
When customers ask for warmer lighting, they’re usually looking for a softer, more comfortable glow rather than simply less light. We help them create that feeling by choosing warmer color temperatures and layering light from different sources, so the room still feels bright and functional without feeling harsh.
— Carolyn Babcock, Director of e-Comm, City Lights SF
For a practical starting point, see our guide to choosing warm light for a living room.
*“Cozy lighting” was treated as a supporting finding rather than a primary timing measure because its weekly Google Trends values were frequently very low, making exact-week comparisons less stable.
The results suggest that fall does not simply make Americans search for more lighting. The seasonal shift appears to be concentrated around particular lighting needs and preferences.
Eight Searches Reveal a Gradual Fall Lighting Timeline
Eight searches produced usable timing estimates:
Timeline runs from August 1 to November 15, the window used to identify a sustained rise. *“Lighting ideas” produced a less consistent seasonal signal than the primary lighting terms and should be interpreted as a supporting rather than headline finding.
Among these searches, warm light bulbs showed the earliest median seasonal increase, beginning in early August. Floor lamps followed later that month, while broader interest in warm lighting typically accelerated during the first week of September.
Search interest for living room lighting had a median sustained-rise date of approximately September 27. For kitchen lights, the corresponding median date was approximately November 4.
Porch-Light Searches Track Declining Daylight Most Closely
The analysis also tested whether lighting searches tended to increase as daylight decreased.
To create a standardized national daylight proxy, weekly daylight duration was calculated at the latitude of the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 mean center of population, approximately 37.42° N.
Among the searches studied, porch lights showed the strongest average relationship with declining daylight, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of approximately 0.85.
Strong (0.70+) Moderate (0.40 to 0.69) Weak (below 0.40). Bars show Pearson correlation on a 0 to 1 scale.
The six-term Home Lighting Search Index also showed a strong relationship with declining daylight, with an average correlation of approximately 0.83.
“
When evaluating an entrance after dark, homeowners should look beyond brightness and consider where the light is actually landing. Good placement should illuminate the door, steps, and approach without creating harsh glare. A fixture that’s too bright or positioned at eye level can make visibility worse, so the goal is balanced, comfortable light that helps people see clearly while still making the entrance feel welcoming.
— Carolyn Babcock, Director of e-Comm, City Lights SF
These relationships should not be interpreted as proof that shorter days caused people to conduct particular searches. Correlation shows that two measures tended to move together. Explore outdoor lighting ideas for your entrance to put those placement principles into practice.
Landscape Lighting Provides an Important Counterpoint
Search interest for landscape lighting declined approximately 4.1% from summer to fall. Its average relationship with declining daylight was also weak, at approximately 0.17.
This helps show that the results are not simply the product of every lighting-related search becoming more popular in the fall.
Fall Lighting Reset Guide
As evenings get darker, small lighting changes can make a home feel more comfortable and functional.
Methodology
City Lights analyzed weekly U.S. Google Trends data covering 10 home-lighting search terms across four complete seasonal periods in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The primary analysis used Google Trends “Interest over time” data for exact search terms with:
- Geography: United States
- Search type: Web Search
- Category: All Categories
Google Trends scores represent normalized relative search interest on a scale from 0 to 100. They do not represent absolute search volumes.
Summer-to-Fall Change
- Summer: June through August
- Fall: September through November
Fall search lift was calculated as:
(Average fall interest - average summer interest) / average summer interest
Determining When a Seasonal Rise Begins
A separate June-July baseline was used to identify when seasonal behavior first began changing.
For each search and year, a sustained rise was defined as the first week between August 1 and November 15 that:
- Reached at least 10% above the June-July baseline, and
- Had at least three of the following four weeks also remain at or above that threshold.
Home Lighting Search Index
Six higher-volume searches were combined to create the Home Lighting Search Index:
- Warm lighting
- Porch lights
- Living room lighting
- Warm light bulbs
- Floor lamps
- Under cabinet lighting
Each term was normalized against its own June-July baseline, with the baseline set to 100. The six normalized series were then averaged.
Daylight Analysis
Weekly daylight duration was calculated using the latitude of the 2020 U.S. mean center of population, published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Daylight lost relative to August 1 was compared with weekly Google Trends interest from August through November.
Correlation measures how closely two variables move together. It does not establish that declining daylight caused changes in search activity.
Secondary Validation
Historical monthly U.S. search-volume estimates from Ahrefs Keywords Explorer were analyzed as a secondary seasonality check.
All exact-week findings, sustained-rise dates and primary seasonal conclusions in this study come from weekly Google Trends data.
Data Sources
- Google Trends: weekly and monthly U.S. Interest Over Time data
- Google Trends documentation: normalization and interpretation of Trends scores
- U.S. Census Bureau Centers of Population: national latitude benchmark
- NOAA solar-position and daylight equations: daylight-duration calculations
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer: secondary historical search-volume validation
The primary analysis covers four complete fall seasons from 2022 through 2025.
2026 was excluded from the primary seasonal comparison because the 2026 fall season was incomplete at the time of analysis.
