Sun Lamp Review

 

Last winter was really bad for me in turns of experiencing SAD (seasonal affective disorder). I was even giving serious thought to moving down south to where the sunshine is. Of course, there is also heat down south and I'm not sure I could handle that, but when you're in the throes of SAD, reason doesn't play much of a part in decision making. Thankfully, talking with various people, I decided to try a sun lamp, one that mimics the wave length of sunlight.

I bought it in February of '25 and by March had noticed absolutely zero difference. I was still grumpy and depressed and just plain unhappy. But Spring had sprung and I did begin feeling better but chalked it up to the change in season. I continued to use the sun lamp as a regular floor lamp all year. By the time Winter had arrived this year, I was just used to the sun lamp being my regular light source and didn't give it much thought. Winter brought more snow and clouds than usual and by the end of January I suddenly realized that I wasn't feeling like killing other people or desiring to stay in bed and ignore life. That was a remarkable change from last year.

My lamp has several settings of brightness and I keep it at its brightest all the time. There is also a setting to go from white to yellow light and I always keep it at the yellowest setting. While it might just be in my head, it feels more like sunlight that way. So I've been using this for a solid year now and there is a noticeable difference. If you suffer from SAD, even if just a mild case, I'd highly recommend getting a floor sun lamp like this. My recommendation would be to get one in the spring or summer and begin using it then. It probably won't help a lot if you buy it in December ;-)

I like feeling normal during the winter again. While the model I bought on Amazon last year is no longer being sold, the closest similar one is here:
Amazon Floor Sun Lamp

That at least gives you an idea of what it looks like. Assembly was very easy, getting the settings to brightest/yellowest was also easy and once set, things just stayed the same and I only had to deal with turning it on and off.

Once again, if you suffer from SAD, I highly recommend a floor model sun lamp. I can't guarantee that you'll experience the same results as me, but if it helps you even a little bit, that will be good.