The truth about full spectrum lights

I touched briefly on full-spectrum lights in my article on UV light myths.

So what does full spectrum mean? Well, it means something different when it comes to light and to light bulbs.

For light:

Full-spectrum light is light that covers the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared to near-ultraviolet

Full-spectrum light—Wikipedia

For light bulbs:

“Full-spectrum” is not a technical term when applied to an electrical light bulb. Rather, it implies that the product emulates some important quality of natural light.

Full-spectrum light—Wikipedia

There is no agreement and there are no standards for what constitutes a full-spectrum bulb. This may come as a shock if you’ve bought bulbs labelled as full spectrum, which typically are priced higher.

It’s not to say that every manufacturer is lying, but rather than trust the labeling, it’s better to understand the qualities of natural light and try to buy bulbs that have many of those qualities. There is no such thing as a bulb that perfectly emulates natu…