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Debunking Full-Spectrum Lighting Claims
GreenSwirl writes "Full-spectrum light sources
often are claimed to promote health, mood and
productivity in schools and offices.
The Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, has published an independent report evaluating full-spectrum light sources. Practically all health claims are debunked and many products are shown to have a less-than-full spectrum. The report was produced as part of the National Lighting Product Information Program, an objective third-party funded by government and utilities."
I can't say that I have even heard about any supposed health benefits derived from full-spectrum lighting, or any other purported or proved claims.
However, we use full-spectrum bulbs a few places around the house, anywhere we don't have flourescent bulbs. Why? It just looks nicer! My SO and I can't stand the yellowness of regular bulbs, and we prever the whiter light of the full-spectrum guys, especially for reading and similar activities.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
I have full-spectrum lighting, dude!
I can see light in 256 * 256 * 256 colors from my monitor, and that's the only light here in my mom's basement.
MyDoritos, Ding-Dongs, and Mountain Dew look great in this light.
Why would I need anything more?
I mean, except, I hope my mom will clean up down here in the basement soon.
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
That's why I use nothing but x.Spots to light my apartment. Nothing like a 1000w robotic light to fill the room.
-Peapod
Here in northern England, the winters get mighty dark. I've found that using a full spectrum light to illuminate a room definitely increases my energy level in the evening. But I've wondered if the effect occurs just because the light is so bright: if feels like it's still afternoon, so my body acts like it.
As a side note, the full spectrum light has the cool effect of giving the house a sort-of radioactive glow 8-)
I would expect "full-spectrum" lighting to include strong X-ray, ultra-violet and microwave radiation. Who'd have thought that would have a negative effect on one's health... :)
Full spectrum refers to fluorescents. Most cheap fluorescents have light that spectrally has a few peaks on visible wavelengths, and minimal or no light on others, though the light sill looks white to the eye. Full spectrum fluorescents have a mix of phosphors in them so that light from across the spectrum is emitted by the bulb to some degree - though there are still some peaks and lows nothing is skipped altogether.
Hyperbole is the worst thing ever.
Actually, there are incandescent bulbs (i.e., normal screw-in bulbs with filaments) that purport to offer "Full Spectrum" lighting. I think the issue isn't whether they're fluorescent or not; it has to do with the wavelenghts of light given off.
Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
They block cheap IR remotes. Took me a few days after I bought a FS light before I realised why my PSX remotes were acting as if broken.
Siiigh. Okay, let me put my theatrical lighting designer hat on.
Your brain has a sort of biological "automatic white balance". It gets 'used to' different lighting so you 'see' the same colors.
This is both exploited by, and an annoyance for, lighting designers- if you have a very 'cool' scene, the next that follows will appear much warmer than it would to someone, say, walking in off the street.
The problem here is that you're used to the flourescent bulbs(which have a very high color temperature, ie, they're "cool" light- yes, it's odd). When you walk into a room with a regular incandescent bulb, your brain is 'calibrated' for the floursecent bulb and the light seems very warm. In the theater industry, there are specifically designed correction 'gels'(filters that look like they're plastic, but they're not- plastic would melt) for flourescent, HID and incandescent bulbs to make them 'look' like other light sources, or at least get them to a common baseline to then further color them with another gel.
This effect works in other ways- headlights look yellowish during the day but bright white at night. People driving cars with HID lights see 'normal' headlights as looking very yellowy; we see the HID lights as looking very blue.
If you want to see the effect yourself, find some lightly colored plastic, preferably light blue or light orange. Hold it over one eye, with the other closed, and after a minute or two, remove the plastic and note how the room looks different lighting-wise...
Please help metamoderate.