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As the founder of Brighter, I'm curious to see how #2 turns out ;)
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Haha I'll keep you updated! Like I mentioned in another comment, I don't have plans to commercialize it, I'm making it just not-janky enough to not pose a safety hazard/burn my house down.

In terms of design, I'm going a different route: Instead of a bunch of smaller LEDs, I'm doing 12x larger LEDs (6x 2700K, 6x 6500K). I'm using the Bridgelux V18 Thrives, so the CRI should be quite good (95+), as should the overall efficiency because I'm running them at pretty low amps relative to the spec sheet.

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For what it's worth (and probably not a ton, since it sounds like you're doing this for fun) a decent LED grow light is wonderful for this.

I use a 200w vivosun pointed at the wall during the short daylight months.

Costs a fraction of what you mentioned at roughly $150. Or $300 if you really want to go as high as 400w.

Makes the whole room feel like you've got bright sunlight pouring in.

My wife made fun of me at first, but now also has one for her office.

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I'm always amazed how everyone is here.
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Would be really interested in hearing how project 2 (DIY Lamp) works out. If you get it into a state that you are happy to share or go commercial.

I did see the Brighter and Rhythm lamps before but their way out of my price league.

In Edinburgh (Scotland at 56 deg N) during December, it's sunrise at 08:30 and sunset at 15:30. And there's plenty of folks at higher latitudes that may be interested as well.

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Some people use stadium lights for this, such as this[0]. They’re very cheap but they’re not specifically designed as SAD lamps so I’m not sure how well they fit that purpose.

0: https://a.co/d/0gq5loUS

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I definitely have no plans to go commercial (just started a new job, very demanding on my time), but I'll 100% open-source all the firmware/KiCAD/CAD/BOM/etc so folks can make their own.

My current "design" is basically just strapping all the pieces together, so it'll leave a lot to be desired in terms of aesthetics for folks who want it to be more nicely integrated into their living environment.

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