but probably everyone has noticed they’re more lethargic on cloudy days.

Not everyone; I can focus and think a lot more easily without bright light, and of course everyone who closes their eyes when in deep thought is doing that because they want the darkness. I suspect this could be related to how some people like to work early hours, while others prefer later hours.

I thought "cold" lights were weird and unnatural. One day I was walking to my bedroom and realized I left the sun lamp (which I classified as weird and unnatural) turned on, based on the glare coming from around the corner. And then I walked into the room and discovered that no, that was just the natural sunlight, and the lamp was turned off. Whoa. So that ugly light I hated was much closer to the real thing than I'd realized.

Whoever needs to hear this: starting next month already, days will get longer again (in the North).

LED lighting has gotten even better since 2019. My WFH desk is in a dark corner. I am currently in the process of speccing out a high-CRI, soffit-mounted LED strip to wash the wall behind my monitor: https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/dynawhite-dim-to...

This product has built-in “warm dim” support from 4000K to 3000K on a common PWM dimmer. No separate DMX module or 0-10V line required. The result will be an entire wall of broad-spectrum light brightening my work environment, balancing out the light from my monitor, and improving my mood by emulating morning or evening light.

For those who experience season depression, I recommend Alaska Northern Light Box and a pair of AYO light therapy glasses.

The AYO glasses made the biggest difference for me. Took about 2-3 weeks of consistent use for me to notice the effect.

Those coupled with the light box have made the winter months much more bearable.

So a 250W LED? Note: real wattage.

Wow, that's ridiculous.

I bought a bunch of 3000K LED strip lights over COVID. Definitely one of my highest benefit/cost ratio purchases ever. I much prefer the strip lights since it distributes light more evenly.

Another thing I'd highly recommend for people struggling with shorter days is the Philips SmartSleep Wake-up light [1]. The price is a bit insane for a light, but it's so much gentler than cheaper no-name options I've tried. It has a very dim starting brightness, the "steps" as it ramps up are imperceptible, and the color gradually shifts from very warm to less warm.

I don't think this will help at all in the way of SAD treatment (not bright enough), but it does make mornings more pleasant.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Simulation-Headspace-Subscrip...

extremely simple idea and very helpful -- I bought a big daylight LED light panel for less than $100 and it did seem to work for me! Obviously hard to distinguish from placebo since you can't be blinded (pun intended)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21660718

Would cost me almost 300€/year to run this in just one room. But as a German I am used to not seeing the sun for 8 months of the year.

I like the old version of first linked post, https://web.archive.org/web/20201225090015/https://meaningne...

A bunch of huge honking off-road led bars. Neat solution. That's stuck with me for a long time.

I've had 3x mid sized (~50w) corn bulbs for a while myself. Rarely am I blasting it though. The aluminum reflectors people build makes me think perhaps just getting something more directional would be better but the extra diffusion probably is worth losing some of tht light for.

The article here is missing recommendations on bulbs. I can soft recommend Aries series , have been fine for me: I have a mark 2 and a mark 3. There's a new mark 4. Many units have builtin adjustable dimming and now color control (warmth). Example, this 120w e39 bulb: https://www.ledlightexpert.com/120-watt-led-corn-bulb-5700k-...

just don't burn your house down

Another way to look at it is that US house design sucks, both in the type, size and placement of windows, and because the presence of a closet in an office is a very bad idea because it makes one of the walls unviable for setting a desk.