We also preferred clocks with a companion app that allows you to set your alarms and customize sunrises and sunsets through your phone. We measured each sunrise alarm clock’s maximum brightness level with a light meter in a pitch black room. A timer switch for lights can fit over existing light swtiches, a simple and convenient method without the need for wires or complicated installs, allowing lighting to be turned on and off on a timed basis. Via the WiiM app, you can link your phone and wake up to your own favorite music or use any of the preprogrammed sleep sounds. We are joined by author and science journalist, Amy Arthur, who shares top tips for pacing yourself this January.

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Our expertly-developed Bodyclock lights offer a natural and gentle way to wake up in the morning, mimicking the rising sun and gradually brightening your room. Everything that I like about the cheaper Lumie Shine 300 below applies to this, but I’m giving this one top billing because it adds DAB radio, Bluetooth and USB connections, giving you the possibility of nodding off to a podcast or waking to gentle music from your own collection. It has only one shade of light, and while you can adjust the brightness, you can't make it warmer (yellower) or cooler (bluer). Like other budget alarms, it brightens in ten gradual stages over half an hour, but the Lumie Sunrise also offers coloured mood lighting, which I tend to put on as soon as I get home to make the bedroom feel cosier. If you decide not to receive newsletters at all, you’ll have to unsubscribe from all the mailing lists.

The gradual brightening effect is much more likely to coincide with one of your shallower sleep patterns. The HF 3670 also has a USB charging port, an on-demand nightlight, the ability to record your wake and sleep times in the app, an easier-to-maneuver donut shape, and an arguably more stylish look. Now you can set the light to turn on and off according to the sunrise and sunset time of your location*. For people like me, who have always hated seeing glowing numbers in an otherwise dark room, the latter is a great option. That may help to force you out of bed, but it feels very cheap compared to the Lumies at the top of this list whose nature sounds continue indefinitely like an ongoing field recording.To avoid triggering this response, many wake-up light alarms use gently increasing nature sounds, like birdsong, rain or waves. All this can be difficult and frustrating, especially in the dark or if you have dexterity issues, and it’s easy to accidentally knock the clock over while trying to find the right button. To comply with all UK building regulations any electrical work should be carried out by a UK certified electrician. My mother certainly seems happier since using the light, although it’s important to note that there are many possible causes of seasonal depression and what helps her may not help everyone in the winter months. The light quality is slightly ahead of the other premium alarms on this list, and you can select from four light profiles.

These days, since our electronic clocks make the switch for us, we spend less and less time thinking about Daylight Savings and how it might affect our daily routines. This clock is missing certain bells and whistles of our upgrade pick—a phone charger, an aux cable and port to play music from your phone over the alarm’s speaker, a midnight light, and extra sounds—but we think most people won’t miss them.Lumie Bodyclock wake-up lights, use a gradual increase in light intensity along with smooth colour changes from red, orange to warm-white to simulate a natural sunrise. We also disliked that each model’s control buttons are inconveniently located on the face of the device, requiring you to stabilize the machine with both hands before pressing any button (no small feat in the middle of the night). You can set your wake-up light to play an alarm sound, or nature-inspired melodies at the desired wake up time to ease the transition from sleep to wakefulness (or simply as a reassurance that you will indeed wake up on time! One small study that asked subjects to do math problems and go biking after waking up suggests that dawn simulation could be useful for reducing sleep inertia and getting your daytime on. Every morning I lurch out of bed like a crash-test dummy flying through an invisible windshield and run for coffee.

At it’s brightest, it’s slightly less convincing as ‘daylight’ than the new version, but it did wake me up in a good mood. Low Energy Supermarket accepts no responsibility for any electrical item purchased being installed and any item is fitted at owners risk.

Of course, you might not be into this sort of thing, or you could simply pair the sunset feature on our main pick with a white-noise machine, sleep-tracking app, or meditation app. The typical treatment for SAD is bright-light therapy, which requires a medical-grade device that shines 20 to 50 times brighter light than what these alarms provide. As the light dims gradually according to your set time interval, over the course of, say, 15 or 30 minutes, you can choose from seven “wind-down” programs to go with it, complete with breathing exercises and relaxation sounds. Wake-up lights on the other hand, emit a much less intense light, mimicking the changing nature of first and last light, aiming to bring you out of sleep gradually and much more effectively than a regular alarm, or help you nod off naturally with the sunset simulation. If you choose this option, the hour lost or gained will be reflected, and will always show the true amount of time left.