Lighting influences over the disposition of a space, it influences the disposition of the people in that room. Studies show that dark, poorly lit interiors make people depressed, lethargic and accident prone. Lamps that mimic daylight brighten both your space and your own prognosis. Discover the difference between them to save money while raising your mood.
Feeling Blue
Seasonal Affective Disorder often occurs during the short, dark days of winter. The state affects 6 percent of the population in the United States. Symptoms of SAD include decreased energy levels, weight gain, lack of concentration and withdrawal from family and friends. A lesser kind of mood shifts, known as the Winter Blues, afflicts another 14 percent of Americans. Sitting in the front of a light box for one hour per day, known as light therapy treatment, improves both conditions. Even in the event that you don’t respond as strongly to seasonal adjustments, or reside in a sunnier, warmer climate, badly lit interiors lead to many problems from depression to falls into unproductive working conditions.
See the Rainbow
Lighting interiors to mimic the sunlight requires over watts and volts. You want to look at kelvins and the Color Rendering Index. Kelvin refers to color temperature. The warm, yellow light of a single candle burns at 2000K, while the sunlight at noon ranges between 4000 and 6500K. CRI measures the capability of a light source to accurately render color. It runs on a scale of 1 to 100. Daylight has a CRI between 80 and 100. A 5000K lamp with a CRI between 80 and 90 simulates natural light. That light, considered full-spectrum or daylight, leaves shade very well but appears blue and cold.
Feel the Burn
Natural sunlight includes all of the visible white light along with invisible ultraviolet and infared light. Some remedial, full-spectrum light poles incorporate this invisible light, but be cautioned: UV light can damage the skin and eyes. To play it safe, start looking for a light box which filters out UV rays. Broad-spectrum light boxes only incorporate the visible white light. They usually have a CRI of 82 and a Kelvin temperature of 4200.
Sunspots
Apart from therapeutic light poles, many compact fluorescent and incandescent lamps are marketed as full-spectrum or daylight bulbs. All these come with a heavy price tag, often costing four to 12 times as far as similar lights. Incandescents also tend toward less energy efficacy. It is possible to find bulbs which have exactly the very same kelvins and CRI as full-spectrum bulbs but are not labeled full-spectrum and cost less. Daylight-mimicking Light Emitting Diode lamps, with 4000K along with a CRI of 85, also do the job well, while saving electricity costs.
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