Around the world different people are talking about how they use full-spectrum lighting in their day-to-day lives.  We feature some of the best here.

HEALTH
Vitamin D2 vs D3 Vs Sunlight | Health News and Tips
But full spectrum lamps may be much safer than UBV light alone because full spectrum light naturally limits the total amount of vitamin D3 the skin makes in the body. Research has not been done on common full spectrum CFS lightbulbs to …

Usman Imtiaz: Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep
If there is even the tiniest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland’s production of melatonin and seratonin. There also should be as little light in the bathroom as possible if you get up in the middle of the night. … Ideally it is best to increase levels naturally with exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and absolute complete darkness at night. …

HOME DECORATING
Feng Shui Your Cubicle | Tri-State Office Furniture …
Sitting under fluorescent lights is a challenge for any cubicle-dweller and you should try to eliminate any glare shining on your face. You can replace the fluorescent tubes with full-spectrum bulbs that offer a healthier, warmer light. …

Creating a Stress-Free Office
Dimmer switches, table lights, angled lamps, as well as overhead lighting can all be used. If your room is not lit naturally from large windows, avoid fluorescent lighting if at all possible and invest in full-spectrum lighting. …

I get tired working in my enclosed office with no outside window …
If you bought a lamp for your cubicle you may get a full spectrum lightbulb, like the kind that people shine into reptile aquariums that replicate sunlight………or do what i did Move to Florida:-). BevD. 26. Aug, 2010. Yup lack of light can cause depression and tiredness. Everyone needs light to help them throughout the day. There are special lamps you can buy that will give you that “light” that you need like what’s outside and not the fluorescent types. …

Bathroom Remodel Boulder County- Ideas, Construction, Residential …
Recessed lighting incorporated into a skylight well gives the illusion of daylight at night. Fluorescent lighting with the proper selection of tube can provide full-spectrum color and even illumination, while minimizing heat. …

Desk and Study Lamps: Which One Suits You? | Home Improvement Power
If you like a really bright light when you study but don’t like halogen bulbs, you can also try using a full spectrum of light bulb in your desk or study lamp. That way you get the brightness of daylight without the headaches that can …

PLANT CARE
Beautiful Orchids: Orchid Care Made Easy
You can substitute natural sunlight with full-spectrum “grow lights” placed about a foot above the orchid’s blooms to create a total of approximately 12 hours of sunlight per day. Temperature. Orchids thrive in temperatures between 55 …

Seed Starting For Beginning Gardeners – 5 Steps to Success …
… provided that they have access to a full day (at least 8 hours) of bright light, most gardeners will need to supplement their seedling lighting with special plant or grow lights that simulate the full spectrum of the sun. …

PHOTOGRAPHY
The Old Coffee Mill and a Call for Flickr & Facebook to increase …
This coffee mug and beans rested atop a full-spectrum light box (you know, the kind used for viewing film negatives), and flash was used to illuminate overhead. Vintage coffee pot collection. Image by H is for Home …

REPTILECARE
What can I feed my wild brown anole lizard?
You must also provide the right kind of lighting. Your lizard needs full-spectrum light that includes UVB. This helps them get the maximum nutritional value from their food. Without proper lighting, your brown anole will not be able to …

What do I need to know about bearded dragons? | Bearded Lizards
The brighter the light, the better. Dragons thrive under a good full spectrum UV source. We recommend active UV/heat or mercury vapor bulbs. These bulbs work double time to give your dragon quality UV and producing heat at the same time …

MISCELLANEOUS
How can I cover up my under eye circles?
Use a light reflecting concealer in a shade lighter than you would normally choose for the colour of your foundation. Apply after your foundation or else you will just rub it off and then finally lightly dust over some powder because this keeps ….. I also use a full-spectrum lamp. This way I could be sure that my makeup wouldn’t look totally different when I step out of the house! In case you decide to buy “Lemonaid” later on, don’t do it. The color effect is excellent, …

TERMINOLOGY
BulbAmerica Official Blog: Color Temperature: A Guide for the …
In lighting especially, you may come across the designation ‘full-spectrum’ light. Full-spectrum light refers to light with a color temperature of 5000K an up. More specifically, full-spectrum means that the light contains all of the …

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During the day, computer screens look good—they’re designed to look like the sun. But, at 9PM, 10PM, or 3AM, you probably shouldn’t be looking at the sun. This little software tool called “F.lux” is all you need to change it. It makes the color of your computer’s display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.

It’s even possible that you’re staying up too late because of your computer. You could use f.lux because it makes you sleep better, or you could just use it just because it makes your computer look better. f.lux makes your computer screen look like the room you’re in, all the time. When the sun sets, it makes your computer look like your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes things look like sunlight again.

Tell f.lux what kind of lighting you have, and where you live. Then forget about it. F.lux will do the rest, automatically.

You can download this software freely. It is available for Mac, Windows and Linux. Here is the homepage…

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2. Who’s talking about full-spectrum lighting – issue 3
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What does Wikipedia have to say about the CRI: “The color rendering index (CRI) (sometimes called color rendition index), is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reproduce the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source. Light sources with a high CRI are desirable in color-critical applications such as photography and cinematography. It is defined by the International Commission on Illumination as follows: ‘Color rendering: Effect of an illuminant on the color appearance of objects by conscious or subconscious comparison with their color appearance under a reference illuminant’.”

As this sounds a wee bit complicated, we’ve prepared an article which (hopefully) explains a bit mor simple what the CRI is and does. First of all, please note that the CRI is different from the light colour or colour temperature of the lamp. Even so-called “daylight” bulbs may have a comparatively low CRI (as per full-spectrum standards anything below 90 is seriously low) and it is the CRI rather than the colour temperature (measured in “K” for “Kelvin” by the way) which makes the real difference when it comes to the light spectrum and ultimately how good you’ll see and be able to do visual tasks under such lighting.

Researchers in Sweden found out that with the CRI being around or above 96 Ra, it is quite possible that we see up to 30% better when compared to lower quality light sources. So what light sources are those which are preferrable for a good CRI which are those who are not:

I light source with a CRI = 100 Ra would be perfect and balanced in terms of colour reproduction, shading, contrast etc. – therefore the lesser the difference from 100 Ra, the better will colours be reproduced under such light. The lower the Ra-value, the worse colours will reproduced and the more difficult it is to see and work under such light.

A last but important word on the note of colour reproduction:

When comparing different light sources, it is only recommendable to compare them in the same colour temperature. It makes therefore not much sense to compare an incandescent 2700K bulb with a 6500K daylight energy saving lamp. For a proper comparison – either the incandescent lamp should be also rated at 6500K colour temperature or the energy saving lamp should be in the 2700K range. Then – and then only – true colour reproduction comparison can take place.

We hope this helps to clear up some confusion around the terms colour reproduction and colour temperature. Thanks for reading

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