Philips GloLITE Blu Bzz report

[Kitten]

Hola chaps. I've recently written a review of the Philips GoLITE Blu energy lamp which I'm trialling as a bzz agent. I know a few of you guys suffer with SAD and find the darker days of Winter a struggle. I've got some money off vouchers if any of you are interested, just PM me.

Philips GoLITE BLU

[Mark]

Up late/bed late is me in spades! Usually takes me a couple of hours to 'function'. :/

Some questions, please:

• Got any pics besides the marketing ones please?
• How 'robust' does it feel to you? (I've avoided 'SAD' bedside lamps of the sort you had because I'm always scared of knocking over anything containing glass while in a comatose state). If I knocked this over, would it smash into tiny pieces?
• Will it function as an alarm clock, or is that not a recommended use?
• If it's usable as an alarm, is the backlight on the clock bright? (I've made the mistake of buying blue backlight alarm clocks before)

PS - It's now on sale for £99.99 at Amazon! If it works, at that price, it's a no-brainer. I'll even do a BD referral!

[Kitten]

I shall take some for you!

It's pretty sturdy - I knocked it off the table yesterday and though it made an almighty noise it's still functioning fine. It's absolutely tiny (6x6)

It does indeed function as an alarm clock with both 12 & 24hr displays.

I'm not sure on the last one, I've never used it as a clock so I'll have a play and come back to you

[Mark]

Much appreciated. My boss will love you even more.

[kaiowas]

Mark, check eBay. Many of the ones given out to Bzz agents have ended up on there at well below retail prices.

Vix had one too but found it gave off a constant high pitched whine which was annoying her overnight so it went on the bay. Personally I thought the whole device looked a bit mickey mouse, I'm no expert on SAD but I was under the impression that a proper SAD light was supposed to mimic actual sunlight as closely as possible whereas this just looked like a bunch of Blue LEDs in a case. Still if it works for people...

[Mark]

I'll have a look - ta. That's probably why Amazon are discounting so heavily.

Yes, daylight is best, but it seems blue light is effective in lower doses - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy#Light_boxes

I use red light already for the treatment of hay fever so I have no issue with the concept that coloured lighting can have medical effects. Most artificial lighting tends to be very lacking in blue components, which also points in this direction.

[Kitten]

Must have been defective - mine doesn't make any noise at all, not that I've noticed.

It's probably the tinnitus

As mentioned in the review, I have the white light too, and I've found it useless.

A more indepth explanation as to why blue > white

Why Blue Light?

Although the light emitted by the sun appears to be white it is actually made up of the full spectrum of colours. This becomes apparent when sunlight shines through rain and it is split into the full spectrum of colours creating a rainbow.

The theory behind conventional Full Spectrum (White Light) light boxes is that they effectively replicate sunshine. As a result they give the user a positive response when they are lacking sunshine (the root cause of SAD and the ‘Winter Blues’).

What scientists have recently discovered is that specific wavelengths of blue light, that are always within sunlight, promote a positive response in light deficient patients. As a result you only need a light box that produces the specific wavelengths of light to give a therapeutic light therapy.

Blue Light Research

By isolating different wavelengths of light researchers at leading US Medical Universities and the National Institute for Health (NIH) have found that a blue wavelength alone is all that is needed to produce a positive response from sufferers of SAD and other circadian rhythm related disorders.

As a result of this research, the goLITE range was developed, giving the following advantages over white light/full spectrum products:

• Lower intensity of light required for treatments as you are only being subjected to a small bandwidth of light rather the full spectrum of colours
  
• Quicker treatments times, despite being smaller products
  
• No reported side-effects
  
• LED technology allows for adjustable light output (most white light products are not dimmable)
  
• Considerably Smaller products – conventional product sizes are dictated by the bulb sizes
  
• Lighter products – weight of products are also dictated by the size of bulb and subsequent size of case
  
• The blue wavelengths of light are found in smaller quantities in the white light products (which usually emit the full spectrum of colours).

Blue v White Light - The science behind the facts

Melanopsin photoreceptors must be stimulated by some blue light In order for our brains to respond to light therapy. It turns out that very bright white light works because it contains some of the necessary blue light. However, scientists have discovered that blue alone is more effective than white light. When compared to both white 10,000 lux and white LED’s, blue light was twice as effective. Additionally, by using only 8 lux of blue light, researchers were able to demonstrate the same response compared to 12,000 lux of white light. Eliminating these unnecessary wavelengths increases effectiveness and also significantly reduces overall intensity.

Why isn’t white as effective?

Most 10,000 lux products contain much more blue light, so why aren’t they as effective as low-level blue light? Part of the answer may be that high-intensity white light may over-stimulate the eye’s photoreceptors, making it more difficult for melanopsin to respond.

So it would seem that blue light is the colour of choice for the professionals at the moment but a lot of people mistakenly believe that white light is the best to mimic the sun because you can't actually see the blue wavelengths within it. I find it all rather fascinating. Sorry if I'm boring anyone

Mark, Amazon are discounting as part of this bzz campaign. This was an amazon/philips campaign and the price was always planned to drop once the campaign ended (yesterday). That's why all the reviews were posted directly to amazon

[vix]

I thought it was my flippin tinnitus - I genuinely thought I was going crazy for about a week

Really didn't find it useful at all!

[Kitten]

oops! I meant mine not yours - I probably can't hear it because of the tinnitus!

I guess it won't work for everyone, I mean who knows if it's SAD, general depression or just feeling rubbish. It could also be completely placebo for me - I just know I felt different - but maybe that was because I was getting up earlier and so sleeping better. I'd be interested to see how Takhisis responded.

[vix]

Ha! Perhaps!

I don't think I do suffer from SAD anyway, so it probably was never going to be beneficial.