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Best Light Therapy Lamps for 2024 [CNET]
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Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.
Best light therapy lamp for small spaces
Circadian Optics Lumos Therapy Lamp
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In recent times, sunlight exposure has become uncommon for most of us who lead busy lives. Sunlight, or natural light as some people call it, is essential for everyone, but not everybody gets enough of it. To help counter that, light therapy lamps work to mimic natural light to give you some mood and health benefits associated with light exposure. Light therapy is typically associated with depression during the dark winter months or for those with seasonal affective disorder. However, it may be beneficial for other types of depression or offer a mood boost during every time of year.
There are plenty of light therapy lights on the market, so it can be quite the chore to pick one for yourself. You can get them with varying intensities and some even offer extra features like adjustable brightness. To help make the choice easier for you, we put several popular models to the test. Since we’re not physicians or psychiatrists, we can’t comment on the effectiveness of these lamps in treating your depression, winter blues or SAD symptoms. However, if you want to give it a shot, investing in a SAD lamp is a relatively low-risk way to try to boost your mood.
Best light therapy lamps compared
| Price | Extra features | Size of light panel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verilux HappyLight Luxe VT43 | $70 | 4 brightness and 3 color temperature options, 1-hour timer with 5-minute intervals | 6 x 9 inches |
| Verilux HappyLight Lumi VT31 | $40 | 3 brightness options | 4.5 x 7 inches |
| Circadian Optics Lumos | $65 | 3 brightness options, adjustable stand | 1.37 x 6.25 inches |
| Northern Light Technologies Boxelite | $157 | Lightbulbs you can change | 12.25 x 15.25 inches |
| Verilux HappyLight Alba | $50 | 4 brightness and 3 color temperature options, 1-hour timer with 10-minute intervals | 5.5 x 6.5 inches |
| Theralite | $32 | Built-in cover/stand | 5 x 8 inches |
| Carex Day-Light Classic Plus | $135 | Adjustable stand and two brightness options | 13.5 x 15.5 inches |
Best overall light therapy lamp
At the time testing was done, we found the Verilux HappyLight Luxe to be the best overall light therapy lamp. It has a simple design, four brightness settings, three color temperature settings and — importantly — comes at a fair price point.
Best light therapy lamps for 2024
It offers four brightness settings and three color temperature settings, which allow you to make the light warm, neutral or mimic daylight. There’s also a built-in timer you can set at 5-minute intervals, for up to 1 hour. You can mount the light panel on the wall, or use the included stand, which tilts the lamp at an angle. You can also remove the stand and conveniently hook it to the back of the light panel for travel.
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Verilux is one of the biggest names in light therapy lamps. You’ll find them all over Amazon, and the company has a large catalog of models. The HappyLight Luxe has a simple design with a large light panel that takes up nearly the entire lamp. Simple is not meant as an insult here — the Luxe light therapy lamp has everything you need at a fair price.
Most experts recommend using a lamp with a large light panel — ideally 12 by 15 or 12 by 18 inches — to get the full benefits of light therapy. A smaller light therapy lamp can provide the same benefits, but you might need to move it closer to your eyes and leave it on for longer than you would with a large panel. At 6 by 9 inches, the Luxe’s light panel gets close to the recommended size without taking up too much space.
It offers four brightness settings and three color temperature settings, which allow you to make the light warm, neutral or mimic daylight. There’s also a built-in timer you can set at 5-minute intervals, for up to 1 hour. You can mount the light panel on the wall, or use the included stand, which tilts the lamp at an angle. You can also remove the stand and conveniently hook it to the back of the light panel for travel.
Photo Gallery 1/1
This bright light therapy lamp doesn’t get any accolades for style — it looks like a 2001 flat-screen TV. We could get past the dated design if the lamp felt sturdy, but the fit and finish are sloppy, with gaps between the plastic pieces and buttons to adjust the stand that are hard to press.
It comes with two light modes: Task (5,000 lux) and Therapy (10,000 lux). Like the Northern Light Boxelite, the Carex Day-light Classic Plus is better suited for someone who gets very little natural daylight, such as someone who works in a windowless office or lives in areas that get limited natural light in the winter. If you don’t mind the unwieldy size and dated design and want to save a few dollars from the Boxelite, this will serve you well.
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Table lamp on the left for scale.
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The Carex Day-light Classic Plus lamp is by far the largest lamp on this list, with a light panel that’s 13.5 by 15.5 inches. While that’s just barely bigger than the Boxelite, the lamp’s larger stand makes it take up far more space, measuring 31.1 inches tall, 15.75 inches wide and a full foot deep.
There’s an adjustable stand that positions the light panel at eye level or above with the light shining down, which, according to some sources, is important. Still, this lamp is a behemoth and something you’ll likely need to make room for in your home. Because it’s big and heavy, stashing it away when you’re done using it each day isn’t practical.
This bright light therapy lamp doesn’t get any accolades for style — it looks like a 2001 flat-screen TV. We could get past the dated design if the lamp felt sturdy, but the fit and finish are sloppy, with gaps between the plastic pieces and buttons to adjust the stand that are hard to press.
It comes with two light modes: Task (5,000 lux) and Therapy (10,000 lux). Like the Northern Light Boxelite, the Carex Day-light Classic Plus is better suited for someone who gets very little natural daylight, such as someone who works in a windowless office or lives in areas that get limited natural light in the winter. If you don’t mind the unwieldy size and dated design and want to save a few dollars from the Boxelite, this will serve you well.
The most important features you should be looking at when buying a light therapy lamp are the light intensity and the type of light that’s emitted. Research supports using a SAD lamp with up to 10,000 lux as a therapy for depression.
Another key is that you don’t want a sun lamp that emits UV rays, as they can cause damage to your eyes and skin. While you’re not supposed to stare directly into a light therapy lamp, you still don’t want to expose yourself to daily UV radiation while trying to treat your seasonal depression.
Size is important, to a point. A bigger light panel allows you to position the light farther away while you’re using it, so keep that in mind when shopping. A smaller lamp needs to be closer to your face and set so it’s at your eye level. You might need to spend up to an hour each day using a small SAD light, but just half that with a larger lamp.
As the Mayo Clinic notes, “The effectiveness of a light box depends on daily use, so buy one that’s convenient for you.”
People with seasonal affective disorder may opt for a light therapy lamp, as well as anyone else who notices shifts in their mood along with shorter days or less sunlight.
But it’s best to consult with your doctor or psychiatrist for guidance on light treatment. Light therapy isn’t suited for all kinds of mental health issues — many doctors recommend that people with bipolar disorder avoid it, for example. Light therapy can also irritate your eyes or skin if you have certain medical conditions or are taking some prescription medications.
There are some general guidelines you can follow:
- Position the light therapy lamp about 12 to 18 inches from your face.
- Use the lamp for 30 minutes in the early morning, ideally shortly after you wake up.
- Don’t stare directly at the light.
- Go about other activities while using it, as long as your eyes stay within 12 to 18 inches of the lamp.
Some people experience headaches, jitters or insomnia with light therapy, so be aware of those symptoms while using a light therapy lamp.
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