[The Lizard of Oz]

(09-01-2014 05:09 PM)void Wrote:  

I read into the topic and instead of wasting money on a nice gimmick, I think I will install some light bulbs with sufficient power and color.
See http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtfarbe (google translator?) for the specific designation of light bulbs regarding, color temperature and color spectrum.
965 (6.500K full spectrum) only seems available as gas bulbs, 865 seems to be widely available as fluorescent bulbs.

If you have a device, what is the designation printed on the bulb(s)?

void, light boxes are not a "gimmick". There are reasons why this design is to be preferred to just installing some fluorescent bulbs.

Here is a decent explanation:

Quote:

WHAT IS AN APPROPRIATE LIGHT BOX?

The best lights for bright light therapy are fixtures containing white fluorescent light bulbs behind a diffuser, and tilted forward so that the light is angled downward, permitting more light to enter the eyes and decreasing the apparent brightness of the light, in turn creating less glare and improving user comfort. The diffuser performs two purposes: it spreads the light evenly over the surface of the unit, and it absorbs and filters out the potentially harmful UV rays. A variety of light boxes are available to meet individual needs, including large models on floor stands for use with exercise equipment, very compact models for frequent travel, and even models designed to fit into standard office decor.

While the critical factor in bright light treatment with a light box is the intensity of the light, full spectrum light with the UV-A and UV-B filtered out for eye and skin safety produces less glare than other types of lighting, resulting in greater user comfort.

In other words, you want to achieve a nice even glow (rather than the concentrated glow from a 5,000 lux bulb), you want the light to be coming at the right angle, and you want to filter out the UV component. All of this is achieved by the light box design.

Full spectrum light boxes are what has proven efficacy in research studies.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/491504

Quote:

Light therapy is as safe and effective as fluoxetine for the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), according to a Canadian randomized trial. Clinicians, therefore, should consider light therapy for patients who may prefer this modality, researchers report.

"It's always a struggle to bring nonpharmacological treatments into mainstream medicine," Raymond W. Lam, MD, FRCPC, FAPA, told Medscape. "...so, we try to stress that there's a very effective [nonpharmacologic] treatment out there for winter depression — light therapy, and it's a shame that more patients aren't getting access to it because physicians aren't aware of it."

Dr. Lam is a professor and head of the Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and director of the Mood Disorders Clinic at UBC Hospital in Vancouver, Canada. He presented the results of his latest trial on the use of light therapy in SAD here at the 54th annual meeting of the Canadian Psychiatric Association.

The currently accepted light therapy for this condition is use of a 10,000 lux white fluorescent lightbox 30 minutes daily in the early morning, usually between 7 and 8 am.