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The Drift Light LED Recreates a Sunset For Better Sleep

06.03.14 | By
The Drift Light LED Recreates a Sunset For Better Sleep

Since the advent of the age of electricity we’ve thought of light as something just always there, an illuminating companion at our beckon call once the sun sets. But modern times create their own modern problems, and it has come to the attention of researchers having lights in our face all of the time – from our house lights, street lamps, computer screens, smartphones, televisions, and the array of small lights dotting nearly every appliance – may not be a healthy habit. We find ourselves bathed in too much light for too long every day, knocking our internal Circadian rhythm off kilter and creating a chronic case of photosensitivity manifesting in poor sleep. It seems in regards to light, we’re just too turned on all of the time.

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The Saffron Drift Light looks like many new 40W-equivalent LED bulbs, but the $29 light was designed to aid, rather than hinder sleep utilizing an internal microprocessor to control how much and when the Drift Light illuminates. The Drift Light turns on and off just like any other LED, but with a few flicks of the light switch, the warm spectrum bulb goes into a Midnight Mode, gradually dimming down, then eventually turning off completely 37 minutes later. The simulated slow sunset helps sleepers ease into sleep instead of being thrown into darkness, mimicking the gradual disappearance of the sun.

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With three flicks the Drift Light dims down to a Moonlight setting, casting a low light level which can be used for ambience, a night light, or for after-hours security lighting. In all three states – Daytime, Midnight, Moonlight – the LED bulb casts a warm temperature light, addressing the issue of blue spectrum light characteristic of LEDs affecting snooze-inducing melatonin levels negatively.

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The Drift Light is available now for order in single, 4-pack, or 10-pack options.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.