If you tend to experience a dip in mood and motivation during the autumn / winter months due to the lack of natural sunlight, you might want to consider investing in one of the best SAD lamps to help you feel more energetic, alert, and happier.
Medically recommended as a treatment for SAD, SAD lamps are light therapy devices that mimic natural sunlight to effectively combat the signs of SAD and help beat the winter blues. And now the clocks have gone back, there’s never been a better time to inject a little more light into your life with darker days ahead.
Of course, there are many SAD lamps out there to choose from, and while they all do the same job, some are more design-led and usable that others, such as the new Lumie Dash lamp which boasts a discreet, compact design that will fit in the smallest of spaces – including my tiny bedside table. Read on to find out if it might be the best fit for your life, too.
LUMIE DASH REVIEW: PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
The Lumie Dash is now available to buy for a recommended retail price of £179 from Lumie and selected third party retailers including John Lewis and Amazon.
If you have been diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder and you're buying the Lumie Dash for domestic and personal use, buying it directly from Lumie will allow you to claim VAT relief, so it will cost you £149.17 instead.
LUMIE DASH REVIEW: DESIGN AND FEATURES
Light therapy specialists Lumie offer a wide range of SAD lamps to suit different environments, including the oh-so-stylish and highly practical Lumie Task lamp I reviewed last year and still use daily as a desk lamp for work, crafting and reading.
So, why should you choose the new Lumie Dash over the Lumie Task? Well, for one thing, it’s incredibly compact, standing at just under 19cm high with a depth of 9cm, meaning it can comfortably fit on the smallest of bedside tables or cluttered desks.
Weighing a mere 415g, it’s also highly portable, so you can easily carry its mood-boosting powers around with you from room to room and take it with you on your travels because it’s around the same shape and size as a travel mirror.
The light itself measures approximately 16cm in diameter - almost identical to the pricier Lumie Task lamp – and stands on a base of 8.5 x 6.5cm. This space-saving base features a built-in touch panel marked with highly responsive minus and plus symbols you can tap or hold down to adjust the brightness or switch the light on and off.
Unlike the Lumie Task lamp which lets you angle the light source in almost any direction, the light on the Lumie Dash is permanently fixed to the base at an angle of around 65° so the light points upwards towards your eyes, the pros and cons of which I’ll discuss later.
Available in a choice of Terracotta Pink or Pistachio White, the latter of which we’re testing here, the Lumie Dash arrives in planet-friendly packaging with a 1.8m power cable, two mains power adapters for use in the UK and Europe, and an instruction manual. All you need to do to enjoy its benefits is plug it into a power source.
LUMIE DASH REVIEW: LIGHT
The Lumie Dash utilises high-end broad-spectrum LEDs that closely mimic the brightness and intensity of natural sunlight at an intensity of 10,000 lux at 15cm to enhance your mood and energy levels, increase daytime alertness, and help alleviate the symptoms of winter blues.
For anyone new to SAD lamp tech, 10,000 lux is typically the recommended brightness for a SAD lamp, while the distance lets you know how far your face should be from the lamp to receive the full health-boosting benefits when the lamp is at full power (read these tips on how to use a SAD lamp and get the most out of light therapy).
Lumie suggests users start their bright light therapy with 30 minutes a day by positioning the Dash at arm’s length and setting it to its full brightness to get the maximum benefit. Crucially, the lamp must be angled towards your face and the light must reach your eyes to have an effect, although you don’t need to stare at the light source.
If, however, you don’t notice much of an effect, you can increase your expose each day until you find a pattern that works for you, either getting your light therapy all in one go or using it on and off throughout the day for a cumulative effect.
Just remember that if the lamp is positioned further away, less light will reach your eyes so you’ll need to use it for longer (there’s no harm in using it for longer, but use should be avoided three hours before bedtime to avoid disrupting your sleep patterns, while using it first thing in the morning can leave you feeling more energised and improve your circadian rhythm).
Aside from working as a SAD lamp, the Lumie Dash provides high-contrast lighting with a colour rendering index (CRI) of 95+ to ensure crystal-clear illumination of colours, text and objects. Easy on the eyes, it also evenly distributes illumination to help reduce eye strain when you’re reading, working on your laptop, or crafting.
LUMIE DASH REVIEW: PERFORMANCE
While I haven’t been diagnosed with SAD, I am historically prone to experiencing low mood and energy levels during the winter months along with disrupted sleep patterns, but I’ve definitely noticed a difference in my general wellbeing since I started using the Lumie Task lamp last winter, and the Lumie Dash is no exception.
Placed on my bedside table, I use it first thing in the morning on full-blast for 30 minutes while having a coffee and setting my intentions so I can start my day feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and I’ll often use the lamp again later in the day when I need to fight fatigue and beat a mid-afternoon slump.
The adjustable brightness also helps to boost your focus and appearance during video calls, and it emits a far better light for reading and working than conventional lighting. Of course, the fact that you can’t adjust the angle or point the light downwards means it’s not as effective as the Lumie Task for shining a light on your crafting endeavors.
However, what the Dash lacks in versatility, it makes up for in style and usability. Being so petite, lightweight, and attractive – I’d go so far as to say it’s almost cute - you can carry it from room to room with ease and find a space for it without having to clear the decks.
Moreover, it won’t stick out like a sore thumb like some of the chunkier, less attractive SAD lamps on the market, and the angle of the light hits your eyes perfectly when it’s in front of you on a desk, making it easy to soak up the wellbeing benefits.
LUMIE DASH REVIEW: VERDICT
The Lumie Dash is one of the most stylish, compact SAD lamps on the market, closely mimicking the brightness and intensity of natural sunlight at an intensity of 10,000 lux at 15cm to enhance your mood and energy levels, increase daytime alertness, and help alleviate the symptoms of winter blues.
There’s no denying that the Lumie Dash is pricy, and it’s a shame you can’t adjust the angle of the light, but its lightweight design makes it highly portable and easy to move from room to room or take away with you on your travels. You can also adjust the brightness to make it more suitable for reading and work, helping to reduce eye strain.
