Author Topic: Do those SAD lamps really work? (Read 3752 times)

Mrs Snoodles · « **on:** December 30, 2012, 08:04:01 pm »

Hi there,
Im having problems dealing with the lack of light,not helped by the fact that we live in an old house that is quite dark. Has anyone got one of those SAD lamps does it work? I'm thinking about buying one as March seems years away! Cheers for any pointers

Plantoid · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:07:03 pm »

Daylight LED bulbs are also looking good for SAD people .
Alison is self employed for home and does a lot of computer work facing an internal wall . since I've replaced all six G10 incandescent bulbs above the work stations multi arm light fitting with G10 bulbs containing 60 LED's daylight quality ones , she's even noticed how better she feels with just over 14 days use .. I have another 20 on order as of Christmas eve from the guy in Hongkong where I got my last lot from so we can fully change out all our house lights to G10 day light LED's .
At £40 inc p&p for 20 bulbs these bulbs seem a far better buy than a single sad lamp and the power consumption is far less I suspect ..

Brucklay · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:15:09 pm »

Plantoid - would it be possible to post how to get these - would love LED's but at a fiver a pop and too many to change over I've not even thought it was possible at the moment - thanks

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:47:07 pm »

I use a daylight bulb in my lamp over my chair. It makes reading, sewing, anything really, much easier. I love it and would happily change all our lights over to daylight rather than those stupis long life bulbs that gvie limited lighting.

Plantoid · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:58:42 pm »

Look on ebay put in 60 led gu10 bulbs and check out prices .
When I rewired our home four years or so ago ( I had to have it certified by an uptodate in compliance qualified sparky ) I chose to put in all light fittings as multiple heads using either 12 volt G4 pinned incandescent 10 or 20 watt light arrangements or multiple G10 fittings using G10 lamps as at the time I knew G10 LED's were going to come down from £18 each to around £3 each if purchased direct from China or Hongkong . Currently it's chaper for me to buy 20 x G10 60 LED bulbs than it is to go to any local supermarket or DIY ploaceand buy the incandescent ones
Another big plus is that the led bulbs will last 15,000 hrs at 2.5 hrs a day the incandescent ones were barely making 300 hrs at 2.5 hrs a day pro rata if on for 16 hrs a day so there is yet another massive saving in replacement costs. To me it is a no brainer as all bulbs & lamps are made in china so ther is no local shop loyalty case to he heard and answered for .
There are adapters for ES ( Eddison Screw ) & BC ( bayonet Cap ) within ebay to convert to G10 lamps but you will need several lamps to give the best levels of lighting .
EDITED .....
Here try this item 2511 1562 4355 in ebay 6 bulbs cost £8,99
explanation of terminology

GU10 type of prongs on the cap of the bulb that look like tiny bolt heads that positively loacte in the hoolder.
60 SMD quantity 60 surface mounted diodes there is no glass infront ot them and they run cold in any case unlike some earlier ones .

LED light emitting diodes latest one are very very bright and hold their capacity to give faithful colour levels through out the vast majority of the bulbs life .

Down or Spot ............ can be either in the form of a down light wash flood of the area or a concentrated spot about 1.4 mtrs across .

Temperature .. differnt colours have different temperature references akin to the colour that tungsten woukld give if used .
Soft light bulb is a lower colour number than day light numbers. Soft colours are similar to a 40 watt normal filament type standard incandescent light bulb .

Daylight bulb is a much whiter slightly blue colour and is more like natural day light on a slightly over cast day where you can still feel the sun through the cluds but without the heat associated with such days .

jaykay · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2012, 11:18:58 pm »

I struggle with depression generally and northern winters just used to finish me off. I've used one of those SAD lights and yes, they do work.

But I don't need it any more, I take high doses of vit D3 (10,000iu, which was found to be safe in a major piece of research, which I will hunt out) and 5-HTP in the winter. Can buy them both from Holland and Barratt.

Have stopped dreading winter as a result, I'm fine now. The vit D3 has the added bonus of helping you fight off colds etc and there's some suggestion it provides some protection from certain cancers.

Mrs Snoodles · « **Reply #6 on:** January 01, 2013, 07:51:19 pm »

huge thanks for your replies. We are definitely going to see if we can find some GU10 based lights although we need a iron black finish on them to make them suit the room, which may be difficult to find. we have some elsewhere and yes they are quite good. The only trouble is, is that we find that they go quite often.....it may be something to do with surges in our supply apparently.

jayKay - thanks for the supplement advice. An easy starting point

We had a beautiful sunny day here and I have spent the whole day outside gardening, soaking up the rays. Absolutely wonderful. I feel great

Backinwellies · « **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2013, 04:19:03 pm »

Can I suggest you do some further research on SAD on net. I am a sufferer have had a light box for 6+ years ... and yes it really works. I start using it in September for 30 mins per day and really feel the positive effects.
However SAD affects different people to different degrees ....I have found i also need anti depressents from the Dr from Nov to March to make me feel normal and stay awake after dark!

I am going to try the D3 tablets they sound worth a shot.

As for other lighting .... any bright light helps to improve mood ( I can't live with stupid low energy bulbs) but no room light hits the number of lumins needed to treat SAD... please check website of SAD orgs eg SADA . When I am sat in front of light box which to me is bright but Ok others come in and say 'how can you possibly sit by that light'... So SAD light is very different to bright room lights.

I have studied my winter blues or SAD for about 10 years now .... it is a real illness and quite debilitating .... I now know why as a young person I hated winter and couldn't understand why I put on so much weight in the winter months and why I never felt like going out in the evening like other people.

Please feel free to contact me if I can help further.

Linda