EXCLUSIVES

Full Spectrum UltraLux 55W Floor Lamp
By Ric Getter

July 2004

When you spend a good part of your day staring into a glowing computer screen, it's easy to forget about the lighting in the rest of your work area. Quality lighting, however, is important. UltraLux, by Full Spectrum Lighting, provides a variety of attractive and well-built florescent task lamps that makes use of what has become known as "full spectrum" lighting technology. We had an opportunity to try out one of their newest 55-watt floor lamps.

The lighting fixture itself is attractively designed and appears to be extremely well built, head and shoulders above what you'll normally find in your local, big-box discount store. Because it required some assembly, we could see that the wiring throughout the interior is strong and well insulated. The assembly was reasonably simple, even though the brief instructions provided weren't exactly the epitome of clarity. However, you'll definitely need to follow them. For example, there is a specific way the excess interior wiring needs to be folded into the stand. Also, for the bulb to work correctly with the dimmer, you need to leave the lamp on at full power for two continuous hours. On the unit we tested, the lamp could be dimmed to about one-sixth its full brightness and the dimmer switch only seemed to take effect for the lower two-thirds of its rotation.

The lamp unit that provides the light is most unusual in appearance. It consists of four, thin florescent tubes about a foot in length attached to a wide base. Based on our measurements with a good incident light meter, the output of the 55-watt bulb is a little less than double the brightness of a conventional 60-watt light bulb. According to Full Spectrum, the lamp has a life span of about 10,000 hours. This is a good thing because a replacement bulb is nearly $30.

Part of the reason behind the cost is that the light the lamp puts out looks quite different than a typical florescent bulb. Rather than emitting light in a relatively narrow band of colors, it is designed to emit a more even spectrum of light that is closer to noon daylight. This is a definition that covers what most lighting manufacturers are describing as "full spectrum" bulbs. And, this is where things get a little challenging to talk about and an area where there is still some controversy.

If you ever tried using outdoor film for indoor pictures, you've learned that the concept of "white" is something that exists in your mind (quite literally), rather than reality. Different kinds of light render the colors that you see in vastly different ways. The color of "natural" outdoor light varies widely depending on the time of day, cloud cover, and even the kind of surface it's shining down on. Compared to the noonday sun, an incandescent light bulb produces an orange-toned light, normal florescent lights appear quite green, and your computer screen is rather blue. Now, to see what a "full-spectrum" bulb does, you can use it to light a photograph using outdoor film (or manually lock your digital camera on its outdoor setting). The resulting colors will be almost exactly as they appear outdoors at mid-day. We tried this very test and the UltraLux bulb performed exactly as predicted, with the fixture providing a soft and even light.

What remain controversial are the claimed health benefits (and even a consistent definition) of full spectrum lighting. According to our sampling of academic research, the jury is still out on this. With its higher level of brightness relative to conventional lighting, the UltraLux may offer some of the benefits of light therapy units. Unlike some other full spectrum bulbs, the UltraLux reportedly avoids the potentially harmful ultraviolet (UV) realm of the spectrum.

If you're used to working under incandescent light, it may take a while to get used to working under one of these lamps. However, they do represent a substantial improvement over conventional florescent lighting. With its solid construction and modern design, the UltraLux represents one of the better lights of this kind available. The price is a little high for a home lighting fixture, but the desk lamp (probably more practical for a computer workstation) is a bit less expensive.

UltraLux 55-watt Floor Lamp (model UL55FSFL) is $179.95 (55-wat Desk Lamp: $149.95 ). Full Spectrum Solutions. Web site: www.fullspectrumsolutions.com; Phone: (888) 574-7014www.laptoparmor.com.