I think this could work for me (I definitely get SAD) but whenever I find myself in the presence of any artificial light that isn’t explicitly “warm”, I find it gruellingly depressing in its (to me) bleak institutional greyness. Just awful. Does this effect go away with very high levels of lighting? Maybe impossible to say unless you share my aversion at lower levels…
Yes, I can't say! I have heard other people say they find LED light unpleasantly harsh.
Some people report that "high CRI" LED light, even at relatively low levels, is effective against their SAD. It is much closer to a daylight spectrum, and is supposed to make colors more vivid. I wrote about that in the "color quality" section here: https://meaningness.com/sad-light-lumens#LED-CRI
I haven't tried this, because bright high CRI LEDs are expensive. I keep meaning to try not-very-bright ones, which are affordable, but my current approach works for me, so I keep not getting around to it.
If you try this, I'd love to hear how it goes for you!
I tried getting those industrial corn bulbs 2 years ago, and there were a few problems with them:
- They're extremely bright, so having them anywhere at or below eye level in the room is quite unpleasant and maybe even dangerous. You really don't want to be looking directly at the source of light.
- If you're going with them, having some kind of light diffuser around them is a good idea so you don't accidentally look directly at the extremely brightly concentrated dots of light from the LED.
The set-up I had was unsafe because I placed them at the top of a bookshelf since they had to be high up, but the problem was the electrical cord ran all the way down the side of the bookshelf to be able to reach a socket at the bottom. All in all, the UFO lamps looks considerably more appealing if you can get them installed.
As for me, since then, I've found great purchase with getting full-spectrum lighting for my home. They're regular light bulbs, so they're relatively low lux (and they don't need to be any higher). The full-spectrum lighting simulates sunlight, and in combination with vitamin D should be able to get you dandily through the winter. Even at low lux, the full-spectrum lighting is a bit hard on the eyes too, so I only have it on for a few hours a day. You can buy these lightbulbs from Waveform at www.waveformlighting.com (I am not paid to advertise them).
> You really don't want to be looking directly at the source of light.
Yes, definitely not!
Corn bulbs were generally the best bet until recently. Torchieres worked nicely, but for some reason whoever was making them stopped. The various forms of panels now seem more likely to work well, and that was the basis for my overhaul of the "Seriously bright light vs. winter blahs" post. But, it depends on how a room is configured.
Thank you for the Waveform recommendation! Every year or two I think "I really ought to try this"...
Well... the general principles of video lighting would apply, I think. "Three point lighting" is the buzzword. That goes along well with the suggestion (in https://meaningness.com/sad-light-lumens) that it's better to have several medium-strength lights around the room than one gigantic one.
Well, I took vitamin D supplements all through the winter (100 micrograms/day). Results:
* This brought my vitamin D level within normal range (57.2 nmol/l, according to blood test)
* I felt much better than usual, so the vitamin D was doing something
* However, still felt slightly bad and the increased daylight in March is a welcome change. So there was probably some other effect of daylight deprivation, in addition to the D deficiency.
Glad to hear that! You live in the Arctic, if I recall correctly :) Vitamin D deficiency is a real thing up there. And, its symptoms are similar to those of SAD (fatigue and depression). My *guess*, fwiw, is that these are independent causes... and treating whichever, or both, would be valuable!
I think this could work for me (I definitely get SAD) but whenever I find myself in the presence of any artificial light that isn’t explicitly “warm”, I find it gruellingly depressing in its (to me) bleak institutional greyness. Just awful. Does this effect go away with very high levels of lighting? Maybe impossible to say unless you share my aversion at lower levels…
Yes, I can't say! I have heard other people say they find LED light unpleasantly harsh.
Some people report that "high CRI" LED light, even at relatively low levels, is effective against their SAD. It is much closer to a daylight spectrum, and is supposed to make colors more vivid. I wrote about that in the "color quality" section here: https://meaningness.com/sad-light-lumens#LED-CRI
I haven't tried this, because bright high CRI LEDs are expensive. I keep meaning to try not-very-bright ones, which are affordable, but my current approach works for me, so I keep not getting around to it.
If you try this, I'd love to hear how it goes for you!
I approve of the keyboard 😏
I tried getting those industrial corn bulbs 2 years ago, and there were a few problems with them:
- They're extremely bright, so having them anywhere at or below eye level in the room is quite unpleasant and maybe even dangerous. You really don't want to be looking directly at the source of light.
- If you're going with them, having some kind of light diffuser around them is a good idea so you don't accidentally look directly at the extremely brightly concentrated dots of light from the LED.
The set-up I had was unsafe because I placed them at the top of a bookshelf since they had to be high up, but the problem was the electrical cord ran all the way down the side of the bookshelf to be able to reach a socket at the bottom. All in all, the UFO lamps looks considerably more appealing if you can get them installed.
As for me, since then, I've found great purchase with getting full-spectrum lighting for my home. They're regular light bulbs, so they're relatively low lux (and they don't need to be any higher). The full-spectrum lighting simulates sunlight, and in combination with vitamin D should be able to get you dandily through the winter. Even at low lux, the full-spectrum lighting is a bit hard on the eyes too, so I only have it on for a few hours a day. You can buy these lightbulbs from Waveform at www.waveformlighting.com (I am not paid to advertise them).
> You really don't want to be looking directly at the source of light.
Yes, definitely not!
Corn bulbs were generally the best bet until recently. Torchieres worked nicely, but for some reason whoever was making them stopped. The various forms of panels now seem more likely to work well, and that was the basis for my overhaul of the "Seriously bright light vs. winter blahs" post. But, it depends on how a room is configured.
Thank you for the Waveform recommendation! Every year or two I think "I really ought to try this"...
How does this look when you are on a video call? Afraid I may look a little insane on my weekly team meeting.
Well... the general principles of video lighting would apply, I think. "Three point lighting" is the buzzword. That goes along well with the suggestion (in https://meaningness.com/sad-light-lumens) that it's better to have several medium-strength lights around the room than one gigantic one.
I'm working in a room lit by two 100w corn bulbs I bought last year thanks to your post as I'm reading this. They are amazing, thank you so much!
Incidentally I just subscribed because I loved Vividness, funny discovering you were also the author of Seriously Bright Lights.
Well, I took vitamin D supplements all through the winter (100 micrograms/day). Results:
* This brought my vitamin D level within normal range (57.2 nmol/l, according to blood test)
* I felt much better than usual, so the vitamin D was doing something
* However, still felt slightly bad and the increased daylight in March is a welcome change. So there was probably some other effect of daylight deprivation, in addition to the D deficiency.
I am once again taking vitamin D for the winter light. It _seems _ to work.
(Though, I have a thyroid condition and they’ve increased my carbimazole dose, so it can be hard to identify which effect is down to which drug).
Glad to hear that! You live in the Arctic, if I recall correctly :) Vitamin D deficiency is a real thing up there. And, its symptoms are similar to those of SAD (fatigue and depression). My *guess*, fwiw, is that these are independent causes... and treating whichever, or both, would be valuable!
*s* While the UK isn’t above the Artic Circle, we’ve been described as its nearest neighbour, and at this time of year, it looks like it.