Monday, November 24, 2008

The shortened days of winter - pt 2

Since the days are getting shorter and there is less light for our senses to take in, we are more prone to feel it's effects emotionally. Some people feel it enough to be diagnosed with "seasonal affective disorder" (S.A.D.) or also known as the winter blues. We wanted to take a bit of an active approach to this phenomenon and decided to make a small investment on our interior lighting. Sounds good...

I know that I had asked you all out there about your thoughts and experiences with the energy saver light bulbs. We did not choose this option! The way we decided to go is with Enhanced Spectrum and Full Spectrum bulbs. This is the bulb of choice when it comes to marine fishtanks and plant-growing lights. Obviously, these bulbs better mimic the range of colors in natural sunlight which makes your brain think that it is light out longer. Still sounds good.....

Nothing out there is going to perfectly replace our closest cosmic star, and there are plenty of marketing geniuses who will attempt to persuade you otherwise. Some products will demand wads of cash for their latest man-made miracle light. I didn't want to fall into that sort of trap. The small investment we spent really wasn't that significant. I saw the light bulbs in Target and decided to give them a try. GE has their "Reveal" bulbs with both enhanced and full spectrum options. I think I had to fork over just under $20 and got a variety of both types. We decided to replace the bulbs that we have on the most and didn't bother with the ones in the bedroom or in the ceiling lights that were only used occasionally. Still sounding good.....

There is a noticeable difference when they light up a room. Gone are the yellowed hues from the 99-cents-for-a-four-pack bulbs. A crisp, clean, bright light shines out from our lamps now. I have to admit that I like them! We will see what we think of them in February and whether or not we are S.A.D.'ed. Sound good?

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