What should I know about Ott lights before buying

just set up my scrapbooking spot and decided that i need better lighting. What do i need to know before investing in these rather expensive lights.

Buy them with coupon in j's or m's

Depends on your needs but I got a small one, a clip-on lamp that I can clip on the desk and take off and store in a cabinet when not in use. I got it at TM.s for just $14! If you want a bigger one then yes be sure to coupon.

I bought 2 a few years ago at J's and they were super cheap (which is why I bought 2)- I got them at some markdown sale they were having and got them for $20 each.

I like them but found the light kinda irritates me- that being said I get weird headaches so that may be why they bugged me.
But I think I figured out that I had the light setting up on a shelf and it was the wrong placement, once I set the light on my desk, over my project, I seemed to do better with it. I still like natural lighting better, even tho they say the ott is similar to that.

Oh absolutely. I have good natural light in my area and that's way preferred for anything and over any artificial light. That's one reason I like the clip on, I can hide it away unless I need it at night time.

There is a scientific reason that natural light makes your brain work better and that is that it has the full spectrum of colors in it. I almost can't function after a long time under tube florescent light....not to mention it's hideous.

I have a lot of natural light in my scrap room, but sometimes wish to scrap at night. I like my ott lamp. It helps a lot since my regular lamp is not strong enough.

TM has a planet Life floor lamp on sale tomorrow for 40. Says it is natural light. Anyone have the lowdown on this brand?

yes, I'd suggest not getting one that is a flip up style. The range of flipping up is limited. I have five ott lights in our home here in the Pac. NW where we deal with a looooot of gray days.

thanks for all the advice. I appreciate everyone's input.

My husband just brought home a floor model that he found at the goodwill for ......$7!!! He bought it for a reading light. Now I just have to figure out how to sneak it in to my scraproom without him noticing.

I was going to add that we have bought two large one for $5 each - one at Goodwill and one at a yard sale. They seem to get quite a few in Goodwill stores.

I think OttLite makes a bulb that fits in regular lamps ... The 15W HD Natural Light Fluorescent Bulb looks like it has the same base as a regular light bulb.

I haven't tried it, but it might be something to look into since buying a bulb is a lot cheaper than a new lamp.

I buy the bulbs & put them in my regular light fixtures. Works perfect.

I have a desktop OTT light and I love it. I have made many color mistakes in the past because I relied on regular incandescent bulb lights while working at night. Bad idea.

Recently, I decided that I wanted to start replacing my regular incandescent bulbs with natural spectrum light bulbs when they burn out. We had two out in our bathroom, then two more went out, so we started there. The difference is amazing! We have one in the living room also and looking between that one and the other old incandescent bulb makes it look practically orange.

So, having said that, if you have lamps that you like and that work for you, maybe you could try putting these natural spectrum bulbs in. It has made a huge difference for us.

Is an OTT light and a natural spectrum light the same?

I really don't like my OTT light bulbs - they turn everything too blue for me and nothing I match with them matches in natural sunlight.

If natural spectrum is different I need to check them out.

I had two of the big flip-up style OTT lamps but I donated them. They just weren't right for me.

sshhhh it's a secret... the bulbs don't have to be OTT to give natural daylight.. any home hardware store (home depot etc) has a lot of bulbs on display described as "daylight" or "full spectrum" and with kelvin temp of around 5000 if I'm not mistaken.. so get your favorite floor lamp or desk lamp out and get the right bulb.

the other point to consider is that while its true and the pages done in yellow light will look different in daylight, the opposite is also true - the pages done under daylight white light will look different on your coffee table lighted by regular lamps.. just keep that in mind)

I like my flip up, desk sized, ott light. I also bought a replacement bulb at the time I purchased mine, just incase the model I have gets discontinued. The light bulb is kindof a U shaped, not something you find everywhere. I really like the flip up turn on - if I didn't have this I would have a "touch on" light.

Thanks Olesya - can't help it, not a fan of the OTT light but need to find something. I'll check out Home Depot and Lowe's.

No matter what I match with my OTT light, it doesn't match anymore later when the sun is out. I think I'm the only person in the world who didn't like my OTT lights and bulbs.

Wilbur - for $10-$20 you can get a thing at Home Depot or Lowe's - plug it into the wall and plug your lamp into it. Turns any lamp into a touch lamp.

I got my husband one for the lamp on his nightstand. Now he just touches the lampshade or anywhere on the lamp to turn it off and on.

I don't know how you would work it with the flip up light though - don't know if that kind of light would turn off and on by touching but it might. Just don't know.

I bought my bulbs at Lowe's and got two different brands to compare them. Sylvania and another brand, UD I think? I like Sylvania generally speaking because all the bulbs from them have been very long lasting. Can't say the same about other brands. (GE, I'm looking at you)

Sylvania has an instant on bulb, which was a big selling point as well. We have a flood light from another brand and it takes a while to "warm up" before it comes on all the way. Annoying.

The Sylvania is also "bluer" than the UD brand. We have both side by side in our bathroom light fixture and it is easy to see. I don't think the bulb makes things look blue, but some others may not care for that.

I used to have a huge (7' high - 6' wide) bird avarium in my living room for raising exotic finches - I raised Lady Gouldians.

Anyway, they are extremely colorful and require a lot of natural sunlight. My avarium had a fixture like you would put a fluorescent bulb in but we had to have a long plant bulb for it. The birds would not thrive with a floursecent tube light. I used to get those at Home Depot.

But the tube was not florescent - only the fixture. The tube was a plant light.

They needed that all day to give them the benefits of natural sunlight and it worked - their color was brilliant - absolutely amazing.

It never had a blue tint that I get from the OTT bulbs in my ceiling fan. I need to check out the plant light bulbs. That may be the answer for me. And the problem could be that I just have too much OTT light in the room.

I always have the 4 OTT bulbs in my scrapbook which has a window which faces the street. The bulbs are in the ceiling fan.

When you drive by my house the lights are all yellowish/whitish like all the other lights into he neighborhood. Then my scrapbook room - it looks like a space ship has landed in there with that room all lit up in an odd shade of silvery-blue. Every car that goes by - you see them take a double take at my scrapbook room window.

I'm going to check out plant light bulbs and see if I like that better.

I know everyone else loves OTT except for me - I just can't match colors with it.

okay so I have the clip on one for crops. I was wondering if anyone out there has a hack for the light not to clipped on the table. I kinda want it to just stand there! so basically I can move it to where ever I want it to go.

As well I got some lights that move from ikea don't remember what they are called but I use natural light bulbs in them and they work just as good! just FYI!