Need specifications to build a sad lamp (season affective disorder)?

Hi 50smagoo,

According to the Cleveland Clinic Health Information Center
(http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/1400/1484.asp?index=6412),
you need a 10,000-lux light box containing fluorescent tubes (as many
as you need to get to 10,000 lux), with a clear plastic screen to
block UV rays.  Full-spectrum light (according to the Cleveland
Clinic) is not necessary.  I should think all the materials you need
would be available at the local hardware store - just be sure to get
plexiglass or something similar that blocks the UV radiation.

The link above from the Cleveland Clinic is a nice one for describing
the SAD condition and its treatment.  It also delineates some side
effects and the proper use of the light box, as well as gives some
US-based companies who sell boxes.

Here are some additional links with information and suchlike:

Mayo Clinic - Light therapy: Treatment for seasonal affective disorder
http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?objectid=37CC5029-1EA1-482C-8BF34FA4B37238A5&locID=
This page suggests that a range of brightness from 2,500-10,000 is
appropriate for a light box.

National Mental Health Association - Seasonal Affective Disorder
http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/27.cfm
This page suggests the back of the box be lined with a metal reflector.

I found these links by going to the MEDLINEplus consumer health
website from the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of
Health (US) at http://www.medlineplus.gov/ and typing in "seasonal
affective disorder" in the search box.

I hope this information helps you with this really hard illness (I
have it too).  Note that the NMHA suggests that walking outside for an
hour in the winter sun may get you as much benefit as sitting in front
of the box for 2.5 hours!  Also, most physicians suggest you have the
box on when you wake up in the morning, and spend up to 30 minutes in
front of it.  I strongly urge you to confer with your doctor before
building a box to get his/her recommendations not only on the
lux-level needed but also on how long to sit in front of it, etc.

- librariankt

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Request for Answer Clarification by 50smagoo-ga on 16 Dec 2003 19:53 PST

If I use Verilux tubes, how do I determine the length, wattage etc. to
obtain 10,000 lux? How about a uv diffuser?

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Clarification of Answer by librariankt-ga on 17 Dec 2003 05:40 PST

Hi there -

Sorry, I guess I assumed too much.  The total lux you want is about
10,000.  A lux is a metric unit of brightness (lumens) per square
meter.  Since you'll be sitting pretty close to the box, you can
probably estimate that the total number of lumens in your bulbs should
add up to no more than 10,000.

You can tell the number of lumens in a bulb from the packaging.  The
number of bulbs you get and the dimensions of them will depend on your
needs - do you want a long narrow box or a short wide one?  The longer
the bulb the more lumens it gives out, in general.  For instance,
Sylvania makes a 48 inch fluorescent bulb that gives out about 4100
lumens - so you'd need two.  They also make one that puts out 3000
lumens (also 48 inches long) - so you'd need three.  The 36 inch bulbs
seem to range from 1000 to about 3000 lumens - so again you'd have to
take into account the particular bulb you buy to determine how many
you need and the dimensions of your box.

As for the UV protectant screen, what I would do is get a simple pane
of plexiglass and coat it with a UV-A/B protectant film.  Again, you
can get these at Lowes, True Value, or Home Depot or most other large
hardware stores.  A glass panel will naturally protect you from most
UV radiation, but not all, so if you choose to go with a glass panel
you still probably want to put the clear film protector on it (it's
like contact paper).  You can get several kinds of this film - you may
have seen the kind that acts like a one-way mirror that people use in
their house windows.

Again, sorry to have left out some of what you felt was vital
information.  For future reference, it's courteous to ask for
clarification before rating an answer so that your researcher can do
his/her best to fully answer your question before getting evaluated on
the final product.

Happy holidays!

librariankt

10,000 lux at one foot of full spectrum light is a typical SAD
brightness, found by checking ratings of various commercial SAD lights
and by reading the medical studies found by doing a Google search for
"seasonal affective disorder lux" like this: http://tinyurl.com/yw26

Lux is defined here: http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux

Go to a True Value hardware store and buy two T12 full spectrum
Verilux brand tubes: http://www.verilux.net/products2.htm
 
Sylvania also makes a lower cost full spectrum bulb: http://tinyurl.com/yw1l

Mount them in a standard 48 inch diffuser from Home Depot or Lowes:
http://tinyurl.com/yw1f

Sorry about the rating prior to requesting our full feedback, At this
stage I would rate your answers at 4 stars but cannot find anywhere to
do this.

Not a problem - You can only leave feedback once, which is why it's
usually good to wait until the question is totally done.  But I just
wanted to make sure that you were happy - and four stars is a big
improvement over two!  :) Librariankt