How important are light fixtures in schools

Anecdotal evidence still suggests that “warmer” light (associated with incandescent and fire-light) is easier on the eyes, and full-spectrum products can make black print easier to see on white paper.

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Comments: This article refers to a recent decision by a local school to invest in lighting that while more expensive in the short-term, has long-term energy savings and cost savings. The lights chosen are also rated by teachers as being “warmer” and better for reading. We applaud any organisation that is prepared to look after their people in this manner and trust that more schools start thinking in this manner.

Related posts:

1. Full-spectrum light in schools
2. New fluorescent lamps awakens sleepy students
3. Why is Melatonin so important?

Aiming for an employee-friendly office environment

To begin with try to go for an office with decent windows and light-coloured paint – as being stuck for hours in dark, drab surroundings will lower anyone’s morale. There is also the option of full-spectrum light bulbs, which effectively simulate the feel of natural light – ideal for brightening offices during the dreary winter months.

Read more.

Comments: When looking after our health, the time we spend in office work each day is often forgotten time. We applaud the writers of this article for thinking of the role that light plays in looking after workers health and well-being.

Related posts:

1. How important are light fixtures in schools

HEALTH – EYECARE
15 Routines to Enhance Visual Fitness
Make sure you have good lighting while reading or studying. Whenever possible use natural or full-spectrum lighting.

WORK BETTER
Darien’s Founding Father Lights the Way to the Future
Kelley is interested not just in energy savings but also the quality of lighting. He favors full-spectrum lighting for the natural colors and the clear definition of objects in that type of lighting. “I’m heavy on full-spectrum,” he said. “It’s beautiful light and, to me, it fits all the bills.”

REPTILECARE
How to Care for a Long Tail Lizard
The natural habitat of long tail lizards can be found in Southeastern Asia and would generally be a bamboo forest or grassy area. Owning a long tail lizard can be a very rewarding experience if the animal is cared for properly. Light the tank using a full-spectrum light. This is necessary for the lizards to survive and can be purchased at your local pet store.

HEALTH
Sunny outlook
At some point next month, the idea that winter is really and truly here will hit you like a big, sloppy snowball to the face. And even though it will seem as if a moment ago you were sharing drinks with your friends on the deck or watching your kids frolic through a sprinkler, you’ll soon find yourself hiding under a quilt, worrying about snow shovels, frozen pipes and four more months of gray skies. Rather than mope, try these techniques to keep the doldrums at bay and keep summer alive in your home

Feeling S.A.D.? Follow these Tips to Beat the Winter Blues
If your room is dark and that is what makes you less active at home, then you can install full-spectrum light bulbs in every room of your home in order to mimic the sunshine. Full-spectrum high-quality beaming light is vital when there is a short supply of natural sunlight. It will help you to get a better sleep, mental clarity, improved concentration, good mood, plus a stronger immune system.

Darkening Days
The early winter has a remarkable effect on me. I feel more tired, less excited by normal activities, and less likely to seek out or attend social activities. I often feel downright miserable.

Need a Boost of Energy?
Natural Energy Boosters: Use natural full spectrum light bulbs Replace your lights in your living room and bedroom with these bulbs to mimic the sun. Its as close as you’re going to get to the real thing when you’re at home. Not only will it give you a feeling of sunlight but it will help with eye strain and promote well being.

Don’t Be Such A Grinch: 10 Tips to Happier Holidays
Lots of people are affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder or the winter blues. Winter is rough– it’s gray, days are short, sunlight is weak and we are in a type of hibernation. To have to keep working and ‘producing’ during this time is challenging. Supplement with a B-complex, St. John’s Wort and/or SAM-e; install full spectrum light bulbs; get outside to let sunlight in your eyes and the top of your head– daily.

Related posts:

1. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 16)
2. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 21)
3. Full-spectrum lighting (issue 9)

HEALTH
(Health) News: 5 Natural Ways to Beat the Winter Blues
The days are getting shorter. Fall has arrived in all its resplendent beauty. While the changing colors are lovely, insufficient daylight may find you down in the dumps and more tired than usual. The Cleveland Clinic estimates that at least 10 to 20 percent of the population suffers from some sort of seasonal depression brought on by shorter days

Depression: Sunshine, Food, Exercise and Supplements Work Better Than Drugs
When the eyes are exposed to natural sunlight or full-spectrum light, the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, adrenal glands, ovaries, testes, pancreas, liver and kidneys all function better, according to the numerous studies presented in these two books. Full-spectrum light includes a balance of wavelengths from all colors of the visible spectrum plus ultraviolet and infrared. On the other hand, cool white fluorescent bulbs, which are now used for the great majority of interior commercial lighting, have strong yellow, but are very deficient in most of the other wavelengths, with no ultraviolet or infrared.

Someone Is Sleeping In My Bed
The shorter days are also a bit of a mess.  I get cranky (well, crankier) in the darker months, so I got myself a Varilux work light.  If you’re not familiar with them, they are very high-efficiency fluorescent lights that give the full spectrum. They say the free-standing lights aren’t bright enough to claim to fight seasonal affective disorder (SAD), but I think it helps a little.

WORK BETTER
Lighting plays an important role in workplace productivity
Besides the fact that injuries can cost quite a bit in terms of healthcare and disability costs, keeping workers healthy increases productivity in any kind of workplace. Human health is bound up in many factors, not the least of which is psychological. That is why this time of year, health and safety departments need to take into account the effect that lighting and weather have on workforces.

PLANTCARE
Indoor Gardening Part I
As someone who is relatively sure they suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) but has never actually been diagnosed, I have gone through many yearly obsessions in the winter at a desperate attempt of keeping my mind off how vitamin D deprived I am.

Propagation of a schefflera plant
The upper part of this plant is extremely healthy and constantly produces new buds, stems, etc. The lower part of the plant is starting to look a bit sad, and since the whole thing has begun to curve and loop around sharply, I have it on supports in a large pot under a full-spectrum light.

PHOTOGRAPHY
Agua Nueva Agate Designer Cut Cabochon
These photos were taken under full spectrum light, natural sunlight being the best way to view it, but the full spectrum light that I use does replicate that well.

BIRDCARE
African Grey Parrot
I brought home a Congo African Grey last month; he/she is now about 4 1/2 months old and seems to be doing very well. Is on a primarily pelleted diet (mix of Harrison’s and Zupreem) and absolutely loves fresh veggies and other foods such as scrambled egg. I have a full spectrum light on for part of the day and the bird has also had a vet visit (I work at an avian vet) and will be going back next week for some blood testing

MISCELLANEOUS
How To Look Glowing In Any Light Conditions
Light has another important role in beauty–the beauty that comes from feeling happy and healthy. Research on light has shown that the amount of light most of us experience from day to day is inadequate for keeping us healthy. 

Related posts:

1. Full-spectrum light (issue 31)
2. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 52)
3. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 40)

BIRDCARE
Pigeon Talk – Newbie questions about room light and feeding
Should I leave any light on at night?or Do I need to be sure to turn off the room light when it gets dark outside, or can I leave it on until 10 PM in the evening! I read some threads on full spectrum light and night lights and now I am confused as what is appropriate for an indoor pigeon.

Bring Pet Birds Outside
That said, there are many people who work full time an hour or more away from home and simply cannot fit time outdoors into their weekday schedule. In that case, the next best bet is to provide your bird with full-spectrum lighting. Interestingly, a bird’s vision includes the ultraviolet spectrum, so they can see the UV light that is invisible to humans.

WORK BETTER
4 Feng Shui Tips for Back-to-Work Blues
Fill your office with positive energy and symbols – Create an office that you look forward to “living in” for five days each week. Here are some feng shui suggestions. Bring in as much natural light as possible by opening your blinds on the window or use full-spectrum light bulbs that simulate sunlight.

Ryan’s Keys to a Better Office
Here is what I suggest to improve your office: Get a plant, Open windows when possible, Take breaks/lunches outside weather permitting, Host meetings outside weather permitting, Replace all your office light bulbs with full spectrum bulbs, Create a work station where you can stand at times, Invite your office neighbors outside with you, Don’t Facebook updates like “still stuck at work”

PLANTCARE
Heading Outside: One woman’s adventures out in nature
Today with the fabulous weather, I finished preparing the vegetable garden. Normally I buy seedlings as I have no sun indoors sufficient to start seeds, but this year I purchased a lamp and full spectrum bulbs so that I could be certain to have heirloom seed producing vegetables.

How to Care for a Water Sprite Plant
Provide full-spectrum light bulbs for the plants. The type of light bulb depends on the aquarium hood and what bulbs are compatible, but all aquariums accommodate full-spectrum bulbs. Full-spectrum lights mimic the sun, encouraging plant growth.

MISCELLANEOUS

Forums at Psych Central
I went to my support group and it was suggested that maybe I should try a full spectrum light. Has anyone tried it? Was it successful? I know everyone is different so I know I will have to try to find out for myself

Ways to Energize Your Chakras
The Sun: This is our most important energy source. Through light all the seven color energies flow from the sun’s rays to the earth. People, animals, plants, minerals, water and our chakras receive energy from the sun’s light. (If you are not able to enjoy the sun for a few hours daily, add a quality full spectrum light bulb to alight source in your work area or in a lamp at home.)

Related posts:

1. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 40)
2. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 36)
3. Full-spectrum lighting (issue 8)

WORK BETTER
A LED Strip Light Jewelry Display Can Wow Your Customers
Lighting should always be as close to full spectrum, natural light as possible. Studies show that it makes people feel happier and healthier, and these lights are actually used to help people who experience mood problems during the darker months. LED strip light jewelry display cases simply give your consumers a better feeling and a better view

HEALTH
The Unmedicated Fool
I’ve arranged for the replacement bulb to come posthaste so that I don’t have to deal with this sub-standard dark and yellow and non-daylight bulb. It’s God damn awful, darlings. I wouldn’t wish it on any of you, but you probably do use ones like that normally, anyway. But once you’ve had full spectrum, you don’t want to go back.

A Good Night’s Sleep: Essential for Health
Like with diet, there isn’t a “one size fits all”; however, if you are experiencing sleep difficulties, try a few of these easy inexpensive possibilities: 3 mg of the hormone melatonin about one half hour before bed; no television or computer work an hour before going to sleep; reading with a full spectrum light bulb; sleeping with eye shades if you can’t make your bedroom completely dark.

Do you suffer from the Winter Blues?
I think being outside did me the world of good. My house is rather dark and has terrible lighting so I will be buying some full spectrum light bulbs this afternoon which should also help with my mood.

Is the Lighting in Your Home Making You SAD?
So while having your home full of blue lights is not aesthetically pleasing, full spectrum bulbs are. The lighting industry has blown up with options over the years.

ART
Learning To Draw
Make sure you have excellent lighting. If you can’t see you can’t draw. If you do not have a well lit room with natural sunlight to work in, then check your local art supply store or search online for full spectrum lighting products that mimic natural sunlight.

PLANTCARE
Aquaponics System Diagram, version 1
There are 3 sets of lights, a high-intensity grow light over the lowest bed (for tomatoes), there is a 4′ long shoplight with 4 full-spectrum bulbs (for the salad greens), and a small bulb with 1 full spectrum grow bulb up top (over the flood tank with watercress and duckweed).

HOME DECORATING
Make Your Space Inspirational
A nurturing space is one filled with natural daylight during the day and enveloped by high quality artificial lighting at night. Lighting helps to set a creative stage and can lift your mood. Lighting that includes: task lighting (full-spectrum light is best to simulate natural light)

Related posts:

1. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 17)
2. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 23)
3. Full-spectrum lighting (issue 9)

HEALTH
Late blast of summer brings feelgood factor
The full spectrum light improves the immune system and generally makes people feel happier. Even if you don’t suffer from seasonal effective disorder most people go into a kind of psychological hibernation when the days begin to shorten. When the sun shines people have fewer inhibitions, spend more time outside and become more informal.

Organic Wellness Therapies and Cancer Part5
Full-Spectrum Light Therapy has revealed the ability to support with improving the all round wellness. Similar to exposure to sunlight, this treatment utilizes the entire range of light such as ultraviolet. A research at Johns Hopkins College Health care School demonstrated a beneficial romantic relationship amongst entire-spectrum light and the prevention of breast, colon, and rectal cancers.

Hidden Secrets of Vitamin D Finally Brought to Light With Full Spectrum Lighting
Supplementing natural sunlight by using full spectrum lights. Readers are cautioned that many lights purported to be full spectrum are not; true full spectrum lighting must contain the entire spectrum of color as well as infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.

PLANTCARE
Can Grass Seeds Grow Under a Black Light?
While most grass seeds need abundant amounts of light from natural sources or full-spectrum grow lights, these seeds will sprout and survive for a time under limited-spectrum lights, such as black lights.

EYECARE
Reading Aids for Low Vision
If you suffer from low vision, using the brightest light bulbs will help alleviate the strain caused from reading – so be sure to place high wattage light bulbs in the light fixtures in your favorite reading spaces. Full spectrum light bulbs emit light that closely mimics natural sunlight.

WORK BETTER
Stress-busting, natural touches for your office or workspace
Open the blinds on windows in your office or near your cubicle. Natural light gets a lot of credit for keeping busy workers more productive and in a better mood, while poor or harsh overhead lighting is blamed for everything from headaches and eyestrain to depression. For sunny summer days when it’s too hot to open the blinds, consider changing the bulbs in your desk lamps to those with full-spectrum light.

HOME DECORATING
Let there be light in your bedroom
Use soft white or pink-tinted bulbs in your lamps, or the full spectrum bulbs that replicate natural sunlight. They can make a huge difference in how you feel!

MISCELLANEOUS
Song of the Day 10/5
We should all take a cue from Stevie Wonder and find the sunshine of our lives, or make an attempt to catch a few of the real rays, especially in the fall/winter time.

Good morning sunshine!
So, my recent difficulty waking up early and refreshed with the changing of the seasons has prompted me to (re)apply a bit of modern technology to this biological problem. I had to bust out the sunrise alarm clock.

Related posts:

1. Full-spectrum light (issue 32)
2. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 21)
3. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 24)

HEALTH

I’ve Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day
So, this year I am testing out full spectrum light bulbs. They are supposed to provide light rays similar to those of the sun and are (supposedly) the best thing short of medication for treating seasonal depression. It’s like a little ball of sunshine in the corner of my office!

33 Tips for Better Sleep
Increase your melatonin. 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.

Controlling Sundowning/Agitation with Light Sources or Meds
Aim at doubling the “normal” light levels during the day, but use only yellow or amber night lights at bedtime. During the day, halogen or full-spectrum bulbs may be helpful, but the main thing is just the light levels.

Seasonal Affective Disorder in Teen Health
Increased exposure to light: Since the symptoms of this disorder are triggered due to lack of sunlight or light, people with mild SAD can be encouraged to spend more time outdoors during the day. Fixing of full spectrum light bulbs in lamps to bring more daylight in the house during winter can also do the trick.

WORK BETTER
Stress-busting, natural touches for your office or workspace
Natural light gets a lot of credit for keeping busy workers more productive and in a better mood, while poor or harsh overhead lighting is blamed for everything from headaches and eyestrain to depression. For sunny summer days when it’s too hot to open the blinds, consider changing the bulbs in your desk lamps to those with full-spectrum light.

HOME DECORATING
How would YOU renovate this small unit/bedsit to give the impression of more space?
Reflective surfaces, A few large, simple pieces of furniture rather than lots of small cluttered ones, Plain Upholostry, Install lights in cupboards, Use full spectrum light bulbs

FISHCARE
Do you want another Freshwater Aquarium fish?
For lighting, you should use a full spectrum light and leave it on from 4 to 8 hours a day, to maintain the color development of your Flowerhorn. Be aware if you have live plants, they will require no less than 8 hours of light a day.

MISCELLANEOUS
Good morning sunshine!
Personally, I use a full spectrum light bulb in a standing lamp on the other side of the bedroom. The full spectrum bulb mimics natural light and the lamp and alarm clock are too far away from the bed for me to hit the snooze button, so I don’t interfere with the system doing its job

Eastern Comma Butterfly Caterpillars – Aug 7
Of course a female monarch came laying eggs in the afternoon. I took in the leaves with the eggs. Fearing the leaves might not have been under the sun long enough, I kept the leaves under full-spectrum CFL light for hours. All caterpillars successfully became chrysalises as of today, August 23.

Related posts:

1. Full-Spectrum Lighting (issue 10)
2. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 12)
3. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 18)

HEALTH
Why are more women depressed
Other alternatives which show promise in small-scale trials include acupuncture and light therapy. A study of 27 depressed mothers-to-be in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in April found that after five weeks of full- spectrum light therapy, of the type given to people with seasonal affective disorder, 13 of the women had at least a 50 per cent improvement in their symptoms and 11 were no longer depressed.

Check List for Easy Health Action
Exercise daily outside. Use your lunch break to walk so you’ll get some sunshine for vitamin D and get endorphins activated. Use full-spectrum light bulbs.

Wellbeing is Consistently Colourful
Sunlight is an amazing gift to life here on our little world. It is our generator of full spectrum light. If we could sit in perfect sunlight for a length of time with our thoughts at peace, it would be a utopian existence potentially our wellbeing would be uncompromised. However given the pollution of the atmosphere, the angle of the sun, the stress in our lifestyle we cannot easily achieve this utopia, everyday.

Meh
Even though the weather is still in the 70’s it is dark in the morning and getting darker at night. I haven’t seen the sun since Saturday afternoon – that might not seem long in days but as I have SAD, I notice the sunlight missing. Last night I pulled up my full spectrum light from the basement and am sitting with it on.

Your Edge for Success Inc
Our mothers were right: We need daily fresh air and exercise, not to mention full-spectrum light, for best behavior and ability to learn.

HOME DECORATING
Color Choices and Feng Shui
Bring as much natural light as possible into a room. Mirrors can help reflect light into dark spaces. Always opt for full-spectrum lighting to bring out the true colors in a room. Use dimmer switches to change the mood.

BIRDCARE
How To Raise Chickens In Your Urban or Country Backyard
Q. Does it matter if the light is fluorescent, filament, heat lamp, full spectrum or LED? A.I have been told that full spectrum is the way to go. Supposed to be good for people too, to run off the winter blahs.

Cage Requirements for Finches
Place the finches’ cage at eye level on a sturdy surface in a room that receives plenty of natural light but away from direct sunlight or drafts. If there is not much natural light in the room, meet the birds’ light requirements with a full-spectrum light with a timer, recreating natural sunlight and darkness patterns.

PLANTCARE
How do I get a New Guinea Impatien to flower?
Although New Guinea impatiens can flower in the shade outside they do need to have full spectrum light if your co-worker cant provide a window for the plant maybe a grow light would help.

MISCELLANEOUS
Three wavelengths aren’t enough for realistic CG color
Everyone’s familiar with light sources having different spectra. This is why everything looks amazing in department store lights, and why your digital camera likely has different settings for light sources that are incandescent, fluorescent, sunny, cloudy, etc. We can easily see these effects, yet the standard RGB representation of color contains no hint that more than three wavelengths are involved.

Related posts:

1. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 48)
2. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 45)
3. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 38)

HEALTH
How To Cure The End-Of-Summer Blues
To try this out, get a lightbox or a lamp designed to mimic full-spectrum light. Expose yourself to the light early in the day to see the most effective results. Many people feel better within one week of light therapy.

WORK BETTER
5 Tools To Make Going Back To The Office Suck Less
If you work indoors all day, grab yourself a full spectrum light bulb for you desk lamp. They’re pretty cheap, and at the very least I’ve noticed they reduce eye-strain and in-office suicidal urges.

FISHCARE
Freshwater Tank
One of the easiest ways to get started setting up these fish tanks is to purchase a tank with a hood and light already included. You will want to make sure that the light is a full spectrum light. If it isn’t, you will want to go ahead and change it to one.

ART
Setting up a Still Life
Lighting is also important. If you want dramatic lighting, you can choose to set up near a window for natural light, or create your own dramatic lighting with the use of lamps and spotlights. Spotlights are especially good for glass or shiny objects as they will “twinkle” in bright light. Spotlights can also cast unwanted shadows, so be careful about placement. You will want to use full spectrum or “daylight” lamps for that purpose.

Architectural Color Specialist’s Blog
What is needed to perceive color, which is part of the visual-at least to us-spectrum? Light, an object that reflects it, and an instrument for perceiving it (in our case our eyes and brain). Above all, we need light. Light not only effects our perception of color.

CRAFT
Creative Needlepoint: Benefits of Full Spectrum Lighting
In addition to these benefits, full spectrum lights improve vision and create less glare and eye strain than other lighting. Also the light reduces fatigue as compared to incandescent light or fluorescent light which is a big advantage at work or at home

Headaches
Q: I had my eyes tested in May, but just reccently I’ve been getting headaches before I go to bed. I mentioned it to my brother and he said he wasn’t surprised as how dark and dingy the flat looked with the new lightbulbs I was using. A: Inadequate lighting may well be aproblem especially if you are trying to read or sew …worth trying a full spectrum bulb in the area you sit even if the rest of the flat is dark.

REPTILECARE
How to Raise Terrapin Turtles
Most light bulbs should have enough power to get the basking spot to the right temperature. A full-spectrum fluorescent light also needs to be attached to the aquarium. The fluorescent light source will provide the light needed for vitamin synthesis to take place.

PLANTCARE
Growing Verbena Imagination From Seeds
If you have a bright, sunny window, move the seedlings there. If not, you’ll need to screw hooks into the ceiling above a table, and suspend chains from the hooks. Clip-on light fixtures are available at most hardware stores. These can be clipped to the chain, plugged into an available outlet, and moved up the chain as needed. Full spectrum bulbs work best for indoor lighting.

Related posts:

1. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 38)
2. Full-Spectrum Light (issue 18)
3. Who’s talking about full-spectrum lighting – issue 3