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I have replaced all the regular lightbulbs in my main living area with full spectrum lightbulbs. I really like the change. The light is "warmer" and on the wall looks like sunlight. Weak winter sunlight, but direct winter sunlight.
So, I have done this for two reasons.
One is that Suzi the Thunderbunny is also Suzi the Destroyer of Plants. She shows no mercy and great determination to exterminate and scatter every house plant ever. Hilarity ensues - not. And, while I have given up on most of my regular indoor plants and sacrificed them to the cold outdoors, well, of course, I have some plants that I wish to overwinter indoors.
I have a baytree (shrub) and a rosemary shrub and a hot pink geranium that I have brought in. Normally I put them in a window, which is almost enough light to tide them over, but putting them on one of the supports that are now cat platforms is inviting doom. I have put them away from the windows, covered the dirt with little decorator rocks, and Suzi the Destroyer has been only slightly naughty so far (more a Suzi I Could If I Wanted Demon). I think it is because all three have pungent rough foliage. However, there is no light to speak of. I now have a desk lamp with a full spectrum bulb over them, and I must say the shadows on the floor are very convincing regarding real sunlight shadow mimicry.
The other reason I have done it is because I get gloomy in the winter. By February I don't care about anything. This year I have reached Bah Humbug even before Canadian Thanksgiving, so that would be a long time to be completely and utterly bummed. I have in previous years thought of getting a SAD[1] light, but they are small, need desk space (hah - hahahaha), and cost a lot with weirdly shaped light bulbs, so you know that replacing the lightbulb will be costly and soon become impossible as they change models. Bah.
I bought seven bulbs, and paid an eco fee, and paid both PST and GST, and that all came to $41.02 Canadian. Waaaaaaay less than a SAD light, and I now have a whole room full of fake sunlight. :) I feel very smug.
I know that full spectrum lightbulbs used to lose parts of the spectrum fairly quickly, and I must say the reviews of these were mostly annoyed about how quickly they burnt out - but that's okay. Maybe I and the plants will reap enough benefits before they go kaput. And I can always buy more.
Smug. Smug. Smug.
[1] I think it is cute that the clinical name for winter sadness is an acronym of Seasonal Affective Disorder giving: SAD, but I object to the "disorder" part of it. I figure any rational being is going to be sad from endless grey skies, untidy heavy snow everywhere, and 15 minutes of daylight every day for years and years and years - ahem. That's why I have replaced it with "dreariness". I'm not disordered, I am rationally dreary. :)
So, I have done this for two reasons.
One is that Suzi the Thunderbunny is also Suzi the Destroyer of Plants. She shows no mercy and great determination to exterminate and scatter every house plant ever. Hilarity ensues - not. And, while I have given up on most of my regular indoor plants and sacrificed them to the cold outdoors, well, of course, I have some plants that I wish to overwinter indoors.
I have a baytree (shrub) and a rosemary shrub and a hot pink geranium that I have brought in. Normally I put them in a window, which is almost enough light to tide them over, but putting them on one of the supports that are now cat platforms is inviting doom. I have put them away from the windows, covered the dirt with little decorator rocks, and Suzi the Destroyer has been only slightly naughty so far (more a Suzi I Could If I Wanted Demon). I think it is because all three have pungent rough foliage. However, there is no light to speak of. I now have a desk lamp with a full spectrum bulb over them, and I must say the shadows on the floor are very convincing regarding real sunlight shadow mimicry.
The other reason I have done it is because I get gloomy in the winter. By February I don't care about anything. This year I have reached Bah Humbug even before Canadian Thanksgiving, so that would be a long time to be completely and utterly bummed. I have in previous years thought of getting a SAD[1] light, but they are small, need desk space (hah - hahahaha), and cost a lot with weirdly shaped light bulbs, so you know that replacing the lightbulb will be costly and soon become impossible as they change models. Bah.
I bought seven bulbs, and paid an eco fee, and paid both PST and GST, and that all came to $41.02 Canadian. Waaaaaaay less than a SAD light, and I now have a whole room full of fake sunlight. :) I feel very smug.
I know that full spectrum lightbulbs used to lose parts of the spectrum fairly quickly, and I must say the reviews of these were mostly annoyed about how quickly they burnt out - but that's okay. Maybe I and the plants will reap enough benefits before they go kaput. And I can always buy more.
Smug. Smug. Smug.
[1] I think it is cute that the clinical name for winter sadness is an acronym of Seasonal Affective Disorder giving: SAD, but I object to the "disorder" part of it. I figure any rational being is going to be sad from endless grey skies, untidy heavy snow everywhere, and 15 minutes of daylight every day for years and years and years - ahem. That's why I have replaced it with "dreariness". I'm not disordered, I am rationally dreary. :)
