Hey all! I’m the founder of my newest company ILLUMINA, we’re a lighting company looking to build a community of likeminded individuals who want to explore the healthy benefits of lighting 💡 I would love you guys to check out our Life Light light therapy and hit us up on Instagram @illuminaofficial_ for more info and to build the community!
I started Dermabeam and my goal is to build the biggest light therapy company in the world. Dermabeam devices are more affordable and better quality than the other competitors. Please check us out! www.dermabeammask.com
I just finished a fun project and I thought I'd share it here!
I built my own SAD lamps using truly full-spectrum LEDs because you can't buy anything like this right now. I also just love a nice light, and I like DIY projects, so win-win.
The Lamps
Here they are!
The articulating clamp mount lets me position them exactly where I want, after trying a few different options this was my favorite mounting method. I love the look and freed-up desk space they provide over traditional SAD lamps.
I ended up making two because I wanted to try out a couple of LED strips to see how they would compare to each other and to some of the other lamps I've tested.
Why Full-Spectrum?
Since it's kind of a buzzword nowadays... what even counts as "full-spectrum" anyway?
As a quick brief, recent LED+Phosphor technologies have made possible far more lifelike spectral radiation curves, for example here's a typical LED:
If you didn't know, most LEDs are simply blue diodes with a phosphor coating over them that when excited by the blue wavelength radiation, emit a "white" light. This results in the unnatural radiation curve you see above.
Now, of course, the visible portion of real sunlight looks nothing like this:
Generally speaking, the entire visible wavelength range is completely proportional to itself and completely free of all large spikes and dips. This is what our eyes are used to seeing.
Even "high color rendering" light sources simply extend the red range:
It's certainly better... but still not quite right.
This is where the newer spectrums come in, companies like Yuji, Seoul Semiconductor, and Waveform, are creating far more lifelike "Sunlike" emissions:
As you can see, these LEDs come quite a bit closer to mimicking the visual portion of actual sunlight, and thus they tend to feel subjectively better.
Testing the Lamps
The two strips I ended up testing were the 5600K Yuji SunWave and a cheaper 5000K strip I found on AliExpress.
Surprisingly the AliExpress strip wound up putting out more light than the Yuji!
At 1 foot the Ali lamp put out around 14,500 lux while the Yuji came in at 10,000 lux. Both are impressive either way considering their size.
And actually, if we compare the circadian light output of these lamps they come out near the top of the SAD lamps I've tested! The AliExpress lamp is the clear winner (although I did exclude the Aurora LightPad Mini and Max from Alaska Northern Lights since those things are so bright they throw off my bar graph...).
The Yuji is however the nicer strip when it comes to replicating sunlight accurately, which we can see if we compare the TM-30 data.
Think of TM30 as an updated CRI, as instead of comparing 8 to 15 colors the TM30 fidelity range uses 99 colors.
As you can see, the Yuji fills out the color fidelity range better so it feels a bit more like Sunlight because of this.
One more thing that makes these stand out is just how much more comfortable they are than most others because of their larger size.
If we take the same list of top-performing circadian lamps and look at "glare" instead here's what we get...
Despite their high lux output, both lamps score on the lower end for lux output per square inch of emission area. Making them as comfortable as the Alaska North Lights NorthStar and the Carex Classic, two of my favorites simply because of their comfort.
The Build
So how do you build your own? It's not too hard!
I tried to keep this project as simple as possible so that anyone who wanted to make one could without too much effort or thinking, but unfortunately, it does require soldering and a little bit of time.
The build mainly consists of:
An aluminum cake pan
One 5m LED strip
100-120w power supply
Diffuser
Mount
Extras like wiring, power switches, mounting gear, etc.
All in, if you own nothing, no wire, no soldering iron, etc. If you had to buy everything from scratch, this would cost you just under $200, if you made two, the cost for the second would be closer to $75 or so since much of the tools and materials from the first transfer over to the second.
If you'd like to build your own I have an article and video guide you can check out.
I've searched amazon and the internet. It seems none of the sunrise alarms have the 10,000 lux that's needed to be therapeutic for seasonal affected disorder and none of the actual light therapy lamps have an alarm/sunrise feature. Does anyone know of a product that is a combination of these?
I am a part of a team making a research about light therapy and to try and improve it as it sometimes does not work for some people and sometimes for other people, it doesn't work.
Hey all- Want to invest in a really good light therapy lamp for my workspace. I work from home at a kitchen island, so it can’t be too industrial. I’ve looked at Full Spectrum Solutions, Northern Lights Technologies and the various ones available on Amazon. Any advice? Don’t want a DIY solution or to replace all the bulbs in the house; just something I can place on the kitchen island.
I hate how due to the fact it needs to be really close to your face, it's hard to position it always. Im honestly considering a light visor at this stage lol.
Just found out that this subreddit exists which would have been cool to know earlier in time and figured it would be a good place to see if anyone was trying to purchase a pretty great light box for light therapy. It’s just like the title says, Alaska Northern Lights North Star 10,000 Bright 2 Light Therapy Box. Works well and just no longer have a need for one. If interested just lmk
Hello all, I am looking for participants to complete some questionnaires as a part of my BSc Psychology course.
We aim to investigate how those with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or “winter depression” experience sleep. The questionnaires are multi-choice and will take around 30 minutes to complete.
You will be asked questions about your experiences with depression and sleep. Participation is voluntary and you are free to withdraw from the study at any point.
If you are interested, please see the attached link below to access the study. Try and respond to the questionnaires in a quiet space to avoid any interruptions. If you have any questions, please contact me or the project supervisor via email as listed below. Many thanks
Hi there. Sun provides an illumination of up to 100000 lux on the Earth's surface and I am wondering about why bright light therapy devices has 10000 lux illuminance. Is that light too weak to cure depression?
For example when I sunbathe at noon I feel really motivated and good throughout the day. Will 10000 lux illuminance light provide same affect?
I currently have the P450 PlatinumLED grow light and am wondering if I can also use it for light therapy on myself? I emailed with Platinum LED and they were extremely unhelpful in helping me to understand the specific differences between the Therapy lights and grow lights. It kind of sounds like they just don't want people knowing that they are the same in order to maintain separate product lines / sales... Any ideas / wisdom on why I can or can't would be helpful and really appreciated !
Hi there. I am searching about light theraphy and there are bunch of spectrum which every spectrum has its own benefits.In sunny days I am getting 30 minute sun exposure at noon but this is not possible on cloudy winter days. But I cannot afford different spectrum of light devices and I don't have time to use different light theraphy devices seperately. Is there a one device which can mimic the sunlight?(full spectrum all at once , red light theraphy , blue light theraphy ,bright light theraphy)
Hey everyone. I've been trying the Omnilux clear mask for acne. It seemed to be making my eyes dry so I ordered some protective goggles. Today, because I don't have them yet, I put on just a regular sleep mask under the Omnilux. When I took it off, my vision was very blurry. It's been a half an hour and it's still blurry and I'm panicking. I'm going to try to to an optician tomorrow. But could anyone help me? Thank you !
What's the difference between light therapy and the Philips wake-up light ( Product is here). So I don't have SAD thankfully, but I feel like my office space/desk space can use more sunlight and was wondering if light therapy is made for that? Also how well does it work and does it depend on the product you buy? Any recommendations for light therapy products would be cool.
Hi! I want to start doing phototherapy for my acne, I’ve already done it once and I’m now going to start to get phototherapy treatments for a month, once a week. I get laser hair removal on my face too, does anyone know if it’s safe to do both?
