Differences In Incandescent Lights

[Lucy]

Aww that's nice, thanks Birdie :)

 

[j.]

I have almost 10 days of 200W light bulb exposure. While at the beginning it felt uncomfortable after a while, now I can stay all day next to it and it doesn't bother me. Should increase the number of light bulbs shortly.

 

[narouz]

I have almost 10 days of 200W light bulb exposure. While at the beginning it felt uncomfortable after a while, now I can stay all day next to it and it doesn't bother me. Should increase the number of light bulbs shortly.

j.,
What happens when you go out in the sun?

 

[j.]

What happens when you go out in the sun?

Haven't done so in the last few days. Today it drizzled all day.

 

[narouz]

What happens when you go out in the sun?

Haven't done so in the last few days. Today it drizzled all day.

j.,
I mean generally.
I've been following with interest your gradual working up
to being able to tolerate the light from a 250 watt light bulb.
I found myself trying to picture what has happened in the past
when you spend some time at the beach, say,
or just outdoors for a good spell when the sun is out.
Do you experience discomfort in those situations?

 

[j.]

No, I don't experience discomfort in the sun (as long as I don't burn, of course). My theory was that because incandescent light has a lot of red light and very little blue light, unlike the sun, which has more blue light, the incandescent light has some different effects from the sun, and at least at first I had to get used to the new thing.

 

[j.]

It's been about 1 month since I started using incandescent lights. I noticed I have been having more energy, despite sleeping poorly some days, and I attribute it to the light. I haven't even gone beyond 400W, and I typically use less.

 

[charlie]

Light is a critical piece to this puzzle.

 

[narouz]

Light is a critical piece to this puzzle.

I've just traded in my
2 x 500watt halogens filtered through red glass
for
3 x 300watt regular incandescents.

Too early to assess the difference.
One very cool feature is,
with the regular incandescents I can stare at them for a while every so often
to get that retina, SAD style light fix.

 

[charlie]

Yeh those halogens are intense.

 

[Dan W]

Narouz, first let me thank you for all the light spectrum research you did. Reading your analyses made me switch from the heat lamp bulbs to incandescent.

I was intending to eventually move to red-filtered halogens though. Why did you switch to incandescent?

 

[narouz]

Narouz, first let me thank you for all the light spectrum research you did. Reading your analyses made me switch from the heat lamp bulbs to incandescent.

I was intending to eventually move to red-filtered halogens though. Why did you switch to incandescent?

Dan-
It was a few things:
1. I kept looking at those halogens with the red glass filters and thinking:
that filter is blocking a lot of energy, maybe.
Plus, I wondered about the red filter; it would seem that it filters all wavelengths but red.
The regular incandescents have a lot of energy in the yellow, orange, red, and near infrared.
2. The halogens I bought from Lowe's kept on crashing.
I tried 3 and they all stopped working--and not just the bulb.
3. I had been thinking Peat also seems to like bright lights shining into the eyes, SAD style (if not spectrums).
The halogens are a little scary to contemplate doing that with. Should be okay with the red filters, but....
Now I can kill two light-therapy birds with one stone.
4. Superstition : Peat has never endorsed halogens, whereas he says regular incandescents are "good."
5. The system of red glass plates in front of (but not too close or they crack) halogens was pretty cumbersome.
Also, they put out quite a bit of heat.

I was able to return all the halogens to Lowe's, and the 300watt bulbs + reflectors were about the same price,
so I just decided to try another kind of light.

 

[Dan W]

Thanks Narouz, that all makes sense.

I have enjoyed working my way up to 600watts of clear incandescents, they seem to fight fatigue for me. The only "downside" I have noticed is the more frequent need for sugar, as you encountered, Charlie.

 

[Franz]

What kind of reflectors do you guys use for incandescent bulbs?

I currently use something like this: http://www.perdixwildlifesupplies.co.uk ... older.html

But what I have only supports up to 250W and some of you guys use more than that.

 

[narouz]

What kind of reflectors do you guys use for incandescent bulbs?

I currently use something like this: http://www.perdixwildlifesupplies.co.uk ... older.html

But what I have only supports up to 250W and some of you guys use more than that.

Franz-
That's exactly the kind of thing I use, and it is also rated for only 250 watts.
I have a 300watt bulb in it.
When I went online to the Lowe's site
they showed the reflector with the 300watt bulb in it,
so...Lowe's must not have worries--not that that is a reason to feel completely sanguine. :)

 

[Franz]

I guess thats still safe :). At least the heat from a regular 300W bulb wont be more than that of a 250W heat bulb.

 

[Dan W]

Franz, I found a Commercial Electric brand "10 1/2 inch Brooder Clamp Light with Porcelain Socket" at my local Home Depot that is rated for 300 watts. I can't find it on their web site, but my store had a ton of them, so they're probably somewhat common.

 

[narouz]

One angle I've been thinking about is
what is the optimal time to run the lights
considering energy consumption and cost.

If I'm using a total of 900watts, that is a lot of money on the ole electric bill.

Peat has said that short periods of intense exposure may be better than long periods of low-wattage exposure.

He has also said something to the effect that most of the benefits occur in under an hour.

I'm wondering whether--especially on a budget--one could do pretty well
dosing oneself intensely for, let's say, 3 or 4 x 1/2hour exposures...?

 

[j.]

One angle I've been thinking about is
what is the optimal time to run the lights
considering energy consumption and cost.

If I'm using a total of 900watts, that is a lot of money on the ole electric bill.

Peat has said that short periods of intense exposure may be better than long periods of low-wattage exposure.

He has also said something to the effect that most of the benefits occur in under an hour.

I'm wondering whether--especially on a budget--one could do pretty well
dosing oneself intensely for, let's say, 3 or 4 x 1/2hour exposures...?

I recall Peat saying brief exposures of high intensity every hour is good.

 

[j.]

He has also said something to the effect that most of the benefits occur in under an hour.

I think he was saying that exposing oneself to red light up to one hour after exposing oneself to radiation is more helpful than waiting more than an hour after being irradiated to expose yourself to red light.