Hi guys
I am renovating my whole office and getting rid of the florescent lights above my desk. Can you give me your opinion and input on the best type of lights to put up that will not effect us migrainiers? I was thinking of yellow spot lights? Anyone else have any better ideas.
Good question Nabeel. I have no idea what sort of newer tech lights would be safe. There must be something out there that is ok to use. LED lighting? It doesn’t flicker right?
I’ve found that the positioning of the light is quite important- but only really found this out from trial and error.
You might find you don’t react well to a light directly above your head or a light directly shining on your screen.
You might find you are better working at a computer screen if you have natural day light coming in to the side of it too.
I would be a little wary of LED lighting. Theoretically it should be great because it doesn’t flicker, as long as you are using it binary on/off with no dimmer. If you are using variable brightness/dimming light however, you could end up with lighting that uses the same PWM circuits being put into computer monitors & TVs that make LED lighting an absolute nightmare for migrainers. Cheap PWM circuits turns the LED light into a strobe light just outside of the perceptable visual range, but right in the range to trigger migraines. Since LED light is pretty much instant-on-off (unlike incadescent which has a ramp up and down) it is much more like strobe light when you use PWM on it.
Ok so any idea what would b the best type of light to install? I have natural light coming through my window behind my desk which is fantastic for doing work io the computer. But Singapore weather is always cloudy so I need some form of artificial light for paper work. I don’t mind if the lights consume more electricity and I get a higher bill, I just need to know which light would be the best for me to install so that my vertigo is not triggerred by the migraine and in what position to install those lights meaning right on top of me, behind me facing the monitor or in front of me facing me?
I would get some desk lamps, some uplighters, and just place them in different posistions and experiment. Thats the only way you’re really going to know.
And also when you install your actual main lighting, make sure you get it on a dimmer switch so you can turn up and down depending on how you feel it affects you.
I find a warmer yellow light is better for me rather than a harsh white light, but I dont know how that would affect you.
missmoss
what are uplighters?
Here’s an introductory fact sheet on flicker, giving data on various light sources:
David, this is a GREAT article on new-tech light flicker! It’s about time someone started publishing information on this. With LED lightbulbs starting to become more widely available while also being one of the WORST flickering light sources ever due to the cheap PWM being employed in the drivers, we really need the goverment and or stanrdards bodies to step in and regulate the lighting/display industries and basically tell them they can’t produce lighting/displays that make people sick. Cheap LED-lighting has the potential to be far worse than fluorescent ever was.
Thanks for the paper!
is there any way to tell which led light flickers and which does not?
Outside of using an optical oscilloscope, the pencil/pen test illustrated in the upper-right hand corner of the above linked article is the best bet. If you take a pencil/pen in between your thumb and finger and rapidly wave it in front of the light, you can see whether it strobes or not. If you see a strobing effect, the light in question is using PWM flicker to control brightness.
You won’t be able to discern what the frequency of the flicker is with this method, as only an oscilloscope can do that. And if the frequency is high enough, it probably won’t bother you. It is the lower frequency flickers that are the problem. At higher frequencies even migraine sensitive people aren’t bothered. No one is sure what frequecy is the threshold (called the flicker fusion threshold) but with fluorescent lighting I’m wary of anything under 200Hz. With LED lighting it might be even higher due to the fact that LED lighting is practically instant on/off, so it is even more strobe-like than fluroescent.
— Begin quote from “JamieH”
I would be a little wary of LED lighting. Theoretically it should be great because it doesn’t flicker, as long as you are using it binary on/off with no dimmer. If you are using variable brightness/dimming light however, you could end up with lighting that uses the same PWM circuits being put into computer monitors & TVs that make LED lighting an absolute nightmare for migrainers. Cheap PWM circuits turns the LED light into a strobe light just outside of the perceptable visual range, but right in the range to trigger migraines. Since http://www.peimar.itled light is pretty much instant-on-off (unlike incadescent which has a ramp up and down) it is much more like strobe light when you use PWM on it.
— End quote
I need to learn how to install led lights … I wanna decorate my party house with small led lights. Need help from you guys…