Dawn simulators
I’ve never been much of a morning person, and in my current house, where my bedroom is tiny and has only a small window facing out into an ineffectual lightwell, it’s even harder to drag myself from my slumber and get out of bed. Yesterday, when San Francisco was being just about drowned by its first real downpour of the season, it was nigh impossible.
So I’m thinking of getting one of those alarm clock/lights that wakes you up by gradually turning up the brightness to simulate dawn. After a few misguided google attempts, I learnt that that class of gadgets are called dawn simulators. A little time hunting round Amazon and reading reviews, and I found two models that look pretty good: the BlueMax Sunrise System Model 320, and the Phillips HF3480 Wake-Up Light.
Both are LED-based and low-power. The BlueMax has user-configurable duration for the dawn simulator, while the Philips has user-configurable brightness. The BlueMax comes with power cords for US/EU/UK which means I could probably keep using it if I took it back to Australia, while the Philips doesn’t specify. The Philips has built-in “nice” alarm sounds and radio, if you want something more than just light to wake you, but as far as I can tell, the BlueMax just beeps. The Philips appears to be usable as a bedside lamp for reading, while the BlueMax doesn’t specify. Both are priced at $169, though the Philips will be available for $134.99 on October 30th.
Help me out, internets. Which should I get? Or should I get something else entirely?
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I know a few people (while living in Denmark) who bought and used the Philips one. All those people raved about it and loved waking up to the light (not so much the beeping – so maybe the Blue Max one would be ok although my friend did like the birds chirping). They said it really help them through the long, dark Danish winters. And energised them enough to get out of bed. In hindsight I always regretted not getting one.
Interesting… that suggests that the Philips one works on 220/240V as well as the US’s 110V. Quite often low-powered gadgets do, especially those that have a wall-wart, so that’s heartening.
I ended up with the SOLEIL Sun Alarm Ultima, or some identical looking variant. It was a gift, so I don’t know the price paid.
I love the basic functionality a lot; having light come on makes it much easier to get up. Now that I’m used to it, I rarely use the audible alarm, and only occasionally have the radio come on.
This particular model, however, was too dim for my tastes, and I eventually bought their external outlet switch and plugged in a real lamp. Note that if you do that, you’re probably going to have to use an incandescent bulb; most CFLs shouldn’t be used with dimmers, and apparently all the dimmable CFLs suck. Also, the UI is absolutely terrible, like something Don Norman would use to scare young designers into doing proper research. So net, a mixed recommendation.
Not having tried either of the two you mention, I’d go with whichever proved to be brighter. Or if they were equal, with the Phillips, for the radio and lamp functionality, both of which I use a lot on mine.
Good luck!
Mmm, I’d rather not use an incandescent, I think; the idea of LEDs makes me happy. The other thing is that my bedroom is *tiny* (about 7′ x 8′ — only just enough room for my bed against one wall and a dresser against the other) and my bedside table is commensurately small, so I don’t really have room for two lamps if I ended up having to plug something into the external whatsit. The Philips is starting to speak to me, to be honest.
I’ve been using a BioBrite Sunrise alarm for years and I love it. LOVE. I didn’t think I would care about the Sunset function, but I find it is incredibly useful for winding down and getting to sleep while reading in bed. I accidentally broke my first one during a move a few years ago ordered a new one within a couple of days because I missed it so much.
It is an incandescent bulb, but when I was purchasing mine the LED options were not on the market. This thing puts out a serious amount of heat and is kind of cheap looking, but it does what it says it will and while it doesn’t make me leap out of bed with joy in the morning, it does mean that I’m never shocked by the alarm either. It is a much more pleasant way to wake up.
If you buy one of the LED based ones please post your experience with them. I’d like to go that route when it’s time to replace this one if they are just as good.
I have a slightly older Philips one with an incandescent bulb.
The birds chirping, or frogs quaking, or waves breaking etc etc is awesome, but what I use is the radio.
It slowly brightens the light, and if that fails to wake me it fades in the radio.
Like magic, since I got it, my usual morning grumpyness has gone away. I used to be a Morning Monster, but now I’m almost human when I get out of bed.
I’d be concerned about LED brightness, but if you trust Philips to not fumble it I can heartily recomend it due to one simple fact: The build quality of mine is awesome!
I got one of these a couple of years ago:
http://www.sadbox.co.uk/lumie-bodyclock-sunray-p-99.html
It worked well but was perhaps a little too dim on full power (and is a regular lamp rather than LED). I think the most telling part was that it broke after about 6 months and I wasn’t bothered enough to get it replaced.
I rather wish I’d gone for the Philips HF3461 and I think I may go for the newer LED Philips for this winter as I’m really starting to struggle with the lack of sun in the mornings, and we’re barely into Autumn yet !
Roll on spring !
Simon.
Simon: yeah, I looked at a bunch that were kind of like that, and suspected they would be too dim, too.
Another idea: daylight spectrum compact fluoro bulbs. We have them all through our house and they’re fantastic.
Hibernate?
I’ve been thinking about getting a “real” dawn simulator for ages now, but I find that a relatively dim light on a (ludicrously cheap Ikea) timer set about 15 minutes ahead of my alarm works pretty well. It’s set up so I can still turn it on manually to use as a reading lamp in the evening. A cheap CFL bulb might actually be just the thing…one of those (usually annoying) ones that takes a while to warm up? :)
I just can’t believe I went so long without a timed light. It’s made waking up through the dark season — I’ve been waking up in the dark up north for weeks now — much more bearable.
You will love, love the experience of waking up with whatever device you get. I first purchased one because, like you, I was struggling to wake up in a dark SF apartment (maybe you’re in the same place?!).
My first setup was a SunRizr that plugged into an ordinary incandescent lamp. It seemed to be made of Radio Shack components. It worked okay for five years. I know you’re not considering this kind of device–other readers, I warn you away from it, since the product’s really not worth its price. Buy one of the other products mentioned in this post.
Currently I’m happy with the Apollo Daybreak, another incandescent lamp accessory. The “sunset” function is a little jerky when dimming the light–but I am never awake by the time it’s fully dark!
Both the sunrise and sunset features are wonderful to have. Look for them when choosing your device.
Happy rising!