Cheaper alternative to Golite, Litebook and other lightboxes

I would be wary of buying anything from a company who weren't affiliated with th Circadian Lighting Association or a similar body.

I would be wary of buying anything from a company who weren't affiliated with th Circadian Lighting Association or a similar body.

There are only five companies who are members of that association.

Apollo isn't a member.

The UK company Goldstaff Ltd, that makes the BriteBox lightbox, is not a member. Are you saying we should be wary of buying the BriteBox? It is an excellent light box, in my opinion, and I know a few people on this forum own it and are happy with it.

Hi dz1

I’ve been trying to find out more about this product since you first started this thread. Recently I had considered building my own LED device, but I’ve left it a bit late in the year now to do the safety calculations and other technical things. LED’s are probably the future for light therapy, because of their spectra, and many other advantages.

Unfortunately, there is currently nothing on the Dr LED website about this particular product; and I wonder whether it is just that their website hasn’t been updated, or whether ProfessorLED has tweaked the description of ordinary Dr LED spotlight bulbs to give them better sales potential. If you have any more product information that came with or on the packaging, it would be useful.

Technically it could be a safe light therapy product, and the only real danger might come from, as Siddy pointed out, staring into the direct beam, which if the LEDs have sufficient output could cause damage to the retina. Many high output LEDs are designed to be used for special applications, and as with laser pointers the eye is only ever supposed to be exposed to the direct beam for a very brief instant, or else damage can occur. If anyone knows, and can do the optical safety calculations, that would be helpful – I’ve got a pdf with the formulae somewhere…somewhere.

As for ProfessorLED being dodgy, well I would call anybody that sells street fighting knives and small arms optics a bit dodgy.

Take care, and thanks for bringing this interesting bulb to our attention.

Joel x

Sorry dz1 if you thought that I was having a go at you, because that is not the case. The real people who I intended to have a dig at should know who they are. For me there is a big grey area in linking to other websites. For instance there is a link to a face painting business, but that is such a specialist business that you would only ever make use of when organising an event, so to my mind it poses no real risk to exploit people. Then there is a possibly well intentioned link to a blogging business, however, it is promising you riches and you have to pay upfront. Very tempting to work from home in the winter, but if you can’t function that well like me, then you would be wasting your money - besides we should be outdoors more. In that instance I think that it would have been better to suggest starting up a blogging business and linking to relevant non-profit resources and advisory bodies, or just naming a book with more details that we could perhaps find in a library.

In this case your actions are justified, in my opinion, by bringing to our attention something claiming to be a more affordable SAD therapy device. I still have not verified whether Dr LED manufacture a specific LED bulb for light therapy or whether it is just the eBayer being economical with the truth – another eBayer (who consequently got banned from eBay) tried to pass off an ornamental lamp with 3 blue LEDs as an effective SAD treatment device. The only place that I can find anything out about this bulb is on eBay, so you had no alternative to link to it for us to see first hand what you were describing, without the hassle of hosting the relevant information somewhere else yourself.

A lux or exposure meter is no good in this instance, because the danger is mainly in from specific blue wavelengths. I think most of the relevant information, (peak wavelength etcetera) in order to calculate the blue light hazard, is in the product description. There are a couple of international bodies that produce guidelines for exposure to non-ionising radiation; I’ve forgotten their names, and don’t have time to find the information now. If you want to search for, and post the info, then I would be thankful, else I will have a look when I get some time – maybe I will find my elusive pdf as well.

Just one final word of caution: damage to the retina isn’t necessarily instant; it is a function of exposure intensity over time.

Joel x

Dr LED got back to me, and stated that the bulb is one of their genuine products; and they gave me some vague safety and effectiveness spiel too - as one would expect. If Apollo’s safety claims about their own products are true, then this product is probably safe as well; however, I will not personally endorse either until I have the exact information to verify the facts for myself.

I did manage to locate some of the main optical safety information in a pdf from the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection). Unfortunately, my own notes containing the formulae necessary to bridge the calculations from individual LED specifications to these kinds of devices is still missing – lost after a reinstall of M$ Windows.

Whilst the vast majority of single LED devices are deemed optically safe, there are no specific guidelines for multiple LED devices used for the specific application of light therapy. Additionally new types of LED devices with increasingly bright outputs are appearing all of the time. It is a shame that bodies like SADA (they were asking me to tell them about ‘blue light’ at the AGM) are so slow to investigate and pass on information about these issues to SAD sufferers. Instead we are left with marketing hype and biased opinions from people out to profit from us.

It is unlikely that any large company would run the risk of being sued for blinding its customers, but remember that there are many products already in circulation that if used incorrectly can cause blindness. As with ordinary light boxes, the main safety problems with LED devices are probably confined to: not following the manufacturer's safety instructions; and from self built devices. Due to the complex nature of some devices, it is probably best to use professionally calibrated test equipment on them, rather than relying on theoretical calculations, before deeming them safe.

Perhaps there should be a specific optical safety certification for light therapy devices?