If you tend to feel a little flat during winter, you are definitely not alone. Owing to dark mornings and drawn-out evenings, it’s really no surprise this time of year can negatively impact how we feel. After all, in the UK, we see less than eight hours of sunlight on the “shortest” day of the year.
Should you notice your mood being altered by the changing seasons, seasonal affective disorder (commonly known as SAD) could be to blame. If that’s the case, it may be well worth your while investing in one of the best SAD lamps, as these devices use the benefits of a bright light to help lift your mood during the darker, drearier months.
“If your feelings are interfering with your everyday life, it could be a sign that you have depression,” explains Stephen Buckley, head of information at Mind. “If [those feelings] keep coming back at the same time of year, doctors might call this seasonal affective disorder”.
Ring a bell? Well, SAD lamps are here to make life a little brighter again. Often called therapy lights, SAD lamps are very bright lamps that you sit in front of, ideally in the morning and around lunchtime. As the bright light hits you, your brain will be cajoled into slowing down the production of melatonin (the hormone responsible for sleep) and instead start pumping out serotonin (the hormone in charge of how you feel). This will improve your sense of wellbeing and help boost your energy levels.
You need a light that ideally blasts out around 10,000 lux (lux is the measurement of brightness) but even 2,500 lux still has some effect. You then want to sit in front of it for around 30 minutes a day. After a week of consistent use, you should start to feel the positive effects.
Although they have a slightly different function, there’s also evidence wake-up lights and alarm clocks can ease SAD. For that reason, we’ve included a selection in this review. Before you embark on your light therapy journey, it’s important to check in with your GP, as light therapy is not suitable for everyone, including those on antipsychotic medication and people with certain skin and eye conditions.
How we tested
We appraised the lamps based on how practical they were to use, as this directly impacted how likely we were to consistently use them. We also looked at brightness levels, how they looked in our home, and quality. As well as all of this, we considered value for money. Keep reading to find out which ones brightened up our days.
The best SAD lamps for 2024 are:
Lumie task light therapy desk lamp
Designed to sit on a desk, this lamp looks great at home and not at all like the traditional panel SAD lamps. We loved the sleek design, which is complemented by the slide touch control built into the base, which adjusts the brightness. So, once you’ve got your blast of rays for the day, you can use this model as a regular desk lamp.
The high-contrast lighting is CRI 95+, which is very high for a domestic lamp. This means you’ll be seeing true-to-life colours under it, which is useful for those who need to see pin-sharp detail or struggle to see in low-light conditions. We found that it boosted our lighting setup during video calls, meaning we could ditch our bulky ring light too.
The task lamp even comes in a range of colours, so you can find one to suit your home décor style.
Buy now £199.00, Amazon.co.uk
Beurer TL30 daylight therapy lamp
German appliance powerhouse Beurer makes a range of top-quality SAD lamps, and the TL30 is one of its smallest and most affordable offerings. This therapy light has a stand, enabling you to adjust it to portrait or landscape orientations. We liked this flexibility, which most other SAD lamps don’t offer. At slightly over 15cm x 23cm, it can fit in almost all spaces, on even the most cramped desk or side table.
It’s worth noting, for the best effect, you need to sit 10cm away from the lamp, which we found very close indeed. You might not find this practical while working. However, we loved that it comes with a storage bag and that it’s light and compact. If you’re a frequent traveller, or perhaps have a hybrid work schedule, this is perfect for taking with you on the go.
Buy now £29.99, Amazon.co.uk
Lumie mini light-therapy lamp
Small and easy to use, this no-frills SAD lamp still packs a punch. We loved it for its compact size – it’s just over 16cm wide and 22cm tall – as it could sit neatly on our small desk and not be too obtrusive. The light simply works with one button – on and off – so even technophobes are going to feel comfortable using it.
To get the optimal 10,000 lux to salve SAD, you need to sit 12cm away from it. We found this is actually pretty up close and personal, however, at arm’s length, it’s still 2,500 lux and should be making a difference. We felt we had a bit more zip in our step and willingness to face the rainy outdoors after using this lamp. We have put the price plus VAT on this product, but if you do suffer from SAD, you don’t have to pay VAT on it.
Buy now £44.99, Lumie.com
Beurer WL50 wake-up light
Perfect for busy night stands, this Beurer WL 50 wake-up light takes up very little space. Select a time you want to fall asleep or wake up, and the WL 50 mimics the sunset or sunrise at those times. This helps you fall asleep and wake up gently. The idea is to make those winter rises less brutal, so you don’t switch the light on and startle yourself. Mercifully, there is a snooze function included – just tap the top of the device.
As well as light, it can play you one of two wake-up melodies, and one soothing sleep melody if you require some auditory persuasion. Alternatively, you can use the traditional alarm noise, if that works for you, or the radio. You can even stream your music via Bluetooth. If all that’s not enough, there’s LED mood lighting, so you can set it to different colours. We found the red one is really soothing for young kids during the bedtime wind down.
Read more: Best sunrise alarm clocks
Buy now £63.97, Amazon.co.uk
Philips SmartSleep wake-up light
According to Philips, this is the only “clinically proven” wake-up light to actually work when it comes to waking you up naturally and boosting your energy. Did we find this discernible from other wake-up lights? No. But that’s not to say the Philips SmartSleep isn’t good – it is. It offers a 30-minute wake light, starting at a glowing red before awakening you gradually until it becomes bright.
We found we needed to adjust the wake-up time until we found the exact brightness we woke up at, but that was easy enough, and something you’ll go through with all wake-up lights. We liked that it offered five wake-up sounds to start the day with – we went for “Nepal bowls”, but there are natural as well as man-made sounds to choose from. It also offers FM radio.
One thing we really liked with the SmartSleep is that you can snooze it with a fumbling tap – no button to locate it while barely awake. The light then resets and starts again in nine minutes. As we find the winter mornings almost insurmountably difficult when it comes to waking up, we liked the “insurance” of having a snooze button.
Buy now £107.99, Philips.co.uk
Beurer TL 45 perfect day daylight
Not just a SAD light, this lamp also has active, relax and therapy settings, which are easy to toggle between using the sensitive buttons at the bottom of the box. Looking first at the therapy mode, which is what we’re really here for, the brightness is a cool white light that is about 6,500 kelvins (k) – kelvins relate to the temperature of the light if you’re interested. This mimics midday light, and the lamp is meant to be placed about 20cm from you, for best results. It felt very brilliant and made us feel, well, sunnier after using it.
The active mode is a warmer 5,000k and is designed to help you concentrate. We were dubious about this, but we did find it made us feel a bit more alert and focused when we used it while working. However, it dominated our laptop screen’s brightness, which probably isn’t ideal. The last setting, relax, is a cosy 3,000k and is meant to mimic the light at sunset. Certainly, it wasn’t quite as blissful basking in this as, say, sitting on holiday with a sundowner watching the sunset, but it did feel calming.
The light isn’t alarmingly pretty, but it’s lightweight and comes with an integrated stand. We found it small enough to nestle on our desk while we worked, but it would work equally well at the breakfast table or on a coffee table.
Buy now £67.99, Amazon.co.uk
Osalis energy light box
This lamp does what many other higher-priced items do but for a fraction of the cost. It’s super lightweight and slim, so easy enough to slip into luggage or a laptop bag. The box has touch controls along the bottom, where you can alter the brightness and set a timer function. We found this particularly useful to monitor how long we were using it, so we didn’t OD on light and end up awake all night in some weird jetlagged haze. You can also cycle between warm white, cool white and natural light, to give you more tailored therapy, depending on what time of day you’re using it.
Buy now £47.99, Amazon.co.uk
Lumie vitamin L SAD light
Great if you travel a lot or want to take a SAD lamp to work, this model is super slim and lightweight. It barely takes up any room, so great for a desk or perhaps even a kitchen worktop, while you make the packed lunches.
It’s super easy to use – just plug in, switch on and go. We really liked the versatility of this lamp – it can be used in portrait or landscape orientations, and fits in easily with daily life. Plus, it doesn’t look ugly.
Buy now £62.99, Amazon.co.uk
Lumie halo light-therapy lamp
We never thought we’d find ourselves saying this, but this is a gorgeous SAD lamp. The bowl-like lamp has been designed to look great in your home. The outer bowl is lined with a copper colour, which shines warmly when you turn on the backlight, by tapping it. However, we found this function was a bit annoying to get working, as it’s not quite sensitive enough to your touch. The inner light, which is where the magic (read: therapy) happens, is also operated by tapping it on the top. There’s also a touch slider at the top to adjust the colour temperature, and a button to toggle between day and evening modes.
The day mode uses warm-white and cool-white LEDs, to let you vary the colour temperature (3,000-5,000k) and brightness. At its brightest, the halo stimulates the same sort of light you’d get at midday during spring. The evening mode uses only the warm white LEDs, eliminating any blue light that’ll stop you from nodding off. This light is designed for reading, relaxing and just casting a warm glow in the room.
This light combines form and function brilliantly – it’s nice to look at and does the job well. It is fairly heavy, though, so you might not want to move it around your home too much. However, it’d work well on a desk or sideboard (it’s worth noting it should be 20cm from you for the full light-therapy effect).
We know this one is pretty pricey, but if you buy this lamp through Lumie, you can also use it on a trial basis for 45 days.
Buy now £166.39, Lumie.com
Lifemax SAD therapy lamp
This was certainly the most compact light we tried. The round design would work on a bedside table, in a nook of the kitchen or on a shelf. It still packs a punch, too – it offers 10,000 lux through its LED panel. The brightness is adjustable using simple buttons on the top, with a 10-stage dimmer.
There’s also a timer, with a progress light along the side, so you can see how long you’ve set yourself up for. We rated this lamp for being small but mighty. While it’s perhaps not as premium as others we tried, we think it’s great for those with small spaces.
Buy now £75.69, Amazon.co.uk
The verdict: SAD lamps
We loved Lumie’s task lamp. It looks great, did a great job of boosting our mood and has functions beyond just an SAD lamp. The controls are easy to use and it gave our video calls a much-needed boost. However, it’s quite pricey. If you’re after something a bit more purse-friendly, our first port of call would be the Lumie mini, which is small but mighty.
For more ways to brighten your days, read our review of the best sunrise alarm clocks
