Go Blu!

 

Light...

So on Saturday February 9th I received my Philips GoLite Blu (For some reason I started writing this but never posted it!).  The Philips light is a therapy light to help people who deal with, suffer, whatever you want to call it with Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD, as so appropriately acronymed).  It's not FDA approved so that that for what it's worth.  However, various studies have been done showing positive effects.  Even if it's just a placebo effect, I still think that's better than feeling crappy all Winter!

Philips goLite Blu

 I wanted to start with a baseline and kind of update people as I go along in case any one else is wondering about how and if this works.

I chose the Philips goLite Blu because of it's features.  Due to the cost of these devices you probably won't be able to try different ones at will unless you can borrow someone else's. 

Features:

1) It's compact, and can run off a charged battery for a couple days. 

2) Adjustable light settings.  I feel like a majority of the SAD lights I looked at really only had one light intensity.  The goLite Blu has 4 making it versatile for finding out what intensity and time combo works best for you.

3) It had an alarm.  You can set an alarm for either a sound chime or the light to turn on.  Or both!

4) It has a timer!  When the time runs out, it automatically shuts off.

So upon receiving it (purchased off Amazon) I opened it up and stayed patient while I charged it the 8 hours recommended before turning it on.  When I turned the light on,  I was blinded.  Sort of, just be careful and LOOK AWAY as the light is on full capacity!  Anyway, I had some difficulty figuring out how to set the timer and alarm.  I didn't quite get the symbols at first either.  I felt the instructions could have been a little more clear but I made it through. 

For those interested here are the symbols and their meanings:

"Bell" - If this symbol is on, a chime will go off (and it's not quiet) at the time set on the alarm
"Sun" (or ball with spines) - The light will turn on at the time set on the alarm

*If you have a combo of the above two showing, both things will happen

"Clock" - This is the timer and will count down the minutes to the light turning off.

Once I figured the above out, the rest was easy as far as increasing and decreasing the light intensity.

I'll follow up once I've been using it for a while to report back!

Pace,
Megan