Conscious Choice: Light Therapy Boxes

February 2001 | Sensible Home

Light Therapy Boxes

by James Dulley

Dear Jim: I see ads for home-use high-intensity light therapy box kits to help reduce the winter blues. Our local hospital uses them. Do these high-intensity lights use a lot of electricity and do they really work? — Al F.

Dear Al: My neighborhood hospital also has a light therapy room for which they charge a fee for a thirty-minute session. The "winter blues" are referred to as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) by physicians.

Some doctors claim that millions of people suffer from SAD-related problems. Typical reported symptoms include fatigue, a craving for sweets, weight gain, difficulty waking, irritability, and so on. Before attempting any form of self-cure, people should consult with their physician.

The brightness from SAD light kits is fairly intense to create the desired effect on the body. A brightness level of about 10,000 lux for fifteen to thirty minutes is often considered the threshold for beneficial results. Never use sun-tanning or infrared heat lamps for this purpose.

Most home-use SAD light kits use efficient fluorescent tubes. To produce 10,000 lux brightness, some models use less than 100 watts. Even at today’s high utility rates, it uses less than a penny’s worth of electricity per session. This is much cheaper than using the SAD lights at the hospital.

You do not have to stare at the SAD light box when you use it. Set it on your kitchen table while you have breakfast, read the newspaper, etc. You can often turn off other lights and save overall on your electricity bills. The lux level drops as you move further from the light source, so you should sit fairly close to the light. A kit that provides 10,000 lux at twenty-four inches is ideal.

A brightness of 10,000 lux may sound intense, but it really isn’t. At noon on a sunny day, the brightness outdoors is over 90,000 lux.

There are some other interesting light-related, low-electricity-usage devices designed to minimize SAD. Dawn simulator lights allow you to wake slowly to the rising sun in the winter just as you do in the summer.

These lights gradually brighten over fifteen to sixty minutes. There is also a built-in backup audible alarm. Digital models can be programmed with your area’s latitude and adjust themselves automatically. Others include natural alarms like the gently increasing sounds of morning birds or a babbling brook.

A light visor, with rechargeable batteries, is worn like a sun visor. It produces 2,500 lux and does not interfere with your activities. Although not as bright, realistic lighted window kits can be hung on a wall to cheer up a room. They include changeable scenes — beach, English garden, golf course, and so on.

Write for (or instantly download) Update Bulletin No. 768, buyer’s guide of twelve efficient light therapy kit, visor, window and dusk/dawn simulator manufacturers listing lux levels, sizes, warranties, features, and prices. Please include $3.00 and a business-size SASE. James Dulley, Conscious Choice, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244.

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