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Is there any good info on this anywhere? I find it difficult to find useful info even among different search engines.

I am pretty sure the daylight type of LED light will be bad to use late into the night. (Just as you had pure sun light at that time, but the spectrum of LED light is more artificial.)

EDIT

6 hours in - I like all the comments so far, upboats for everyone!

So there are LEDs that do a more full spectrum. That has to be good progress and make them a good light source for homes. I agree that flickering may be 'bad' (don't know how or where or how to define, but steady light would be better I think) but gas-discharge (e.g. tube light) has been in use for many decades without problems that we know of (again, I think) - but they are mostly used in work environments. Gas-discharge in homes is now in use for many years also. One thing about them is, they flicker too, but at 100 or 120 Hz. And I think the only reason LEDs flicker is to have some control over their brightness (LED brightness is practically uncontrollable by current alone.)

I guess the main thing I meant to say is, would anyone go back to incandescent? Or has anyone gone back to incandescent, and found out that they feel better?

Is there any good info on this anywhere? I find it difficult to find useful info even among different search engines. I am pretty sure the daylight type of LED light will be bad to use late into the night. (Just as you had pure sun light at that time, but the spectrum of LED light is more artificial.) EDIT 6 hours in - I like all the comments so far, upboats for everyone! So there are LEDs that do a more full spectrum. That has to be good progress and make them a good light source for homes. I agree that flickering may be 'bad' (don't know how or where or how to define, but steady light would be better I think) but gas-discharge (e.g. tube light) has been in use for many decades without problems that we know of (again, I think) - but they are mostly used in work environments. Gas-discharge in homes is now in use for many years also. One thing about them is, they flicker too, but at 100 or 120 Hz. And I think the only reason LEDs flicker is to have some control over their brightness (LED brightness is practically uncontrollable by current alone.) I guess the main thing I meant to say is, would anyone go back to incandescent? Or has anyone gone back to incandescent, and found out that they feel better?

(post is archived)

[–] 2 pts

Most LEDs are driven by some sort of pulse wave modulation - PWM. Using a high speed camera on your phone, you can actually see the flicker.

Also many LEDs have poor spectral frequency to give their color. These are efficient in power as they don't have to produce a wide variety in photo frequency distribution.

There is more to lighting than brightness. I've notice it is easier to read with evening sun that is less bright as compared to full indoor lighting. One has a full range of visible photons at all frequencies, the other has narrow bands here and there to give it the tungsten equivalent kelvin rating.

There are simply a very wide distribution of photons at different frequencies with natural solar light.

LED bulbs that have a full wide frequency and no pulsing tend to draw more power and are more expensive. You can switch to halogen, but halogen bulbs still pulse but differently with the 60Hz AC input. It will cool slightly and dim slightly, but not as bad as the PWM driven LEDs that are everywhere. Still, Incandescent halogens may be a good choice.