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Comment by diffraction | Hacker News Reader

If you have this problem in only winter, this gadget actually does a lot for me:

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-HF3520-Wake-Up-Colored-Simulat...

It simulates a sunrise and sunset with bright LEDs. I always wake up before the audio alarm starts. Before this I was very difficult morning riser. I may be more light sensitive than you, but it works for me, and has some medical research to back up the idea.

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In my bedroom I use knockoff RGBW LED lightbulbs (I found some on amazon for $30 that work with a semi-sketchy app called Magic Home). You can set timers for different colors on the app, so in the morning they go bright blue and before bed they all go red. They also have a brighter white LED for daytime usage that's only slightly dimmer than normal bulbs.

It's pretty nifty. They're controlled over some UDP protocol that some people have had some success reverse engineering as well.

Well that would be me, I have been looking at these for years but the cost always put me off.

Also, how is it different from this one? http://www.amazon.com/Philips-goLITE-BLU-Therapy-Device/dp/B...

The grandparents post is an alarm clock. The blue light things you use during early morning like with breakfast to prevent SAD. I found the alarm clock to be amazing for about a week and then not much different than other alarms after I adjusted to it. That said I still prefer it to other alarms.

The goLITE BLU is a serious and very useful mostly conventional light therapy device which helped me go from 7 to 8 hours of sleep, although recently I've found an even more conventional type like this makes an even bigger difference, enough to maybe get off a drug I've been taking for a decade (weasel word "maybe" because I'm off it but still seeing if I can get back to a regular 8 hours): http://www.amazon.com/Carex-Health-Brands-Day-Light-DL2000/d...

I have tried using this exact same model. It didn't make waking up any easier for me. I simulate it now also using hue bulbs but nothing can snap me out of my rhythms.

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