Book Light FAQs

1. What is a book light or reading light?

Book light is generally referred to as a reading light or book reading light. Specifically, it’s an electric light that sheds light on your reading material; for people who want to read at night, do some reading in a darker environment, or even do some knitting, a suitable book light may come in handy.

2. What are the different types of book lights?

There are 4 different kinds of book lights in general: neck light/ amber book light/ kids book light/clip-on lights.

Neck Light: Neck reading light distinguishes from those conventional book lights clipped on books. A neck light is designed in a U-shape with two lamp heads emitting the light. You can hang it around your neck to set your hands free when you are reading, knitting or repairing. The latest neck reading lights have new functions, such as CT adjustable, brightness levels adjustable, and even a timing function.

Amber Book Light: Amber reading light comes with a small clip and functions by clipping on your book when you are reading, which results in the lightweight feature of an amber book light. Otherwise, the clipped book pages will be wrinkled or even damaged. Plus, a light amber book light will not make your hand sore and tired, so it poses no physical impacts when you are reading, so you can read for a long time. 

Kids Book Light: Many children are fond of sleeping with reading storybooks in a soft lighting environment, so it is vital to choose a good book reading light for kids. There are 2 main aspects to consider when you need to buy a suitable book lamp for your kids: the children's safety design and CRI ( color rendering index). 

Clip-On Light: Clip-on book light is usually powered by household AC power, which causes a relatively large electric power consumption with brighter lighting, reaching more than 200 lumens. It can also be conveniently powered with your laptop or power bank. 

3. What are the main parameters when choosing a suitable book light?

There are 3 crucial parameters to consider when picking a book light: brightness levels/color temperatures / CRI ( color rendering index). These 3 parameters determine the light quality of a book light and offer a wide range of light settings for various reading environments to meet your needs.

4. What is color temperature?

Color temperature refers to a system using numerical values o measure the color characteristics of a light source on a spectrum ranging from warm to cool colors. The numerical values can be indicated as degrees Kelvin, noted by the symbol K. In layman's saying, color temperature signifies a way of describing a light source's warmth or coolness color features. The lower the color temperature, the yellower the light; the higher the color temperature, the whiter the light.

5. What is the difference between lumen and watt?

Lumen and watt measure different things for sure. Watts refers to how much energy the light bulb uses, while lumen indicates the light bulb's brightness or the light output of a light bulb. Watts do not tell you how bright the bulb is, but lumens do.

6. What is the suitable lumen for each type of book light?

Lumen measures the total quantity of visible light emitted by a source per unit of time. Lumens are now a new way of knowing how bright a lamp or a book reading light is. The brightness level of a book light associates closely with the lumen. You might need different book lights in various reading environments depending on your needs.

Neck Light: 60 lumens will be bright enough for the neck reading light. For instance, 60 lumens enable you to see the stitches and patterns clearly, even with brunet yarns; with 60 lumens, you can also read in bed before sleep.

Amber Book Light: As for the amber light, 20 lumens are commonly preferred. The soft and gentle amber light will stimulate your body to produce more melatonin naturally. It is widely used for reading in bed before sleep with the special amber mode.

Book Light for Kids: Children are commonly perceptive to strong lights when reading, especially using a book reading light due to some reading before sleep. Therefore, the light has to be soft, gentle, and eye-caring for kids. 15 lumens are preferable when choosing a book reading light for kids when reading before bed.

Clip-On Light: The clip-on book light requires more lumens.Because they generally have bigger sizes and heavier weights. Hence, consumers usually use clip-on book lights as fixed bed reading lamps or a reading light clipping on the bed headboard. For a well-designed clip-on book light, reaching more than 150 lumens is a common practice to light up the entire bedroom, not only for book reading. 

7. What is CRI (color rendering index)?

CRI is the acronym for color rendering index, and you can usually see it when browsing some lighting bulbs and fixtures. In general terms, CRI measures a light source's ability to show object colors "realistically" or "naturally" under an artificial white light source compared with sunlight. In other words, the higher the CRI, the more attractive and vibrant your lighting objects will be.

8. Why high CRI is important in book lights?

High CRI lighting can give you a much more natural and accurate light output while rendering attractive and vibrant tones across the full-color spectrum. In the current marketplace, LEDs can boast CRIs into the high 90 range; one of the primary considerations of light quality is that if you choose LED lighting with CRI 90+, you can get nearly perfectly natural color.

9. What book light do you need for reading in bed at night?

Your electronic device’s screen continuously emits harmful blue light at night, which is extremely bad for your eyes and sleep. You need amber book light or any reading light with a unique amber mode, which blocks 99% blue light for eye care. Make sure to choose a suitable amber book light if you are an avid bedtime reader.

10. Why do you need to choose a rechargeable book light instead of using battery-powered ones?

The primary reason should be environmental health. There are billions of people who carry electronics that consume electricity, and these electronics include cell phones, laptops, and digital cameras. The batteries should be safely disposed of, but consumers toss millions of batteries into the trash every year. While throwing away batteries may seem harmless, it can have dire environmental effects. Each battery contains hazardous, toxic, and corrosive materials like mercury, cadmium, lithium, and lead. Therefore, all of us are supposed to decrease battery use and protect our earth.

While some consumers are willing to replace the batteries in devices very often, some may find it very troublesome and prefer the more sustainable option of charging the rechargeable batteries regularly. Also, the rechargeable book lights allow you to travel around without worrying about losing power. You can recharge your book light with any power source, such as a power bank, laptop, or car charger.

11. Do book lights have blue light?

It depends on the color temperatures the book light has. Most book lights do not have 1800K amber light, which means your eyes and sleep quality will be influenced by the harmful blue light emitted by your electronic screens like your phone, iPad, or white-tone light. Therefore, if you are an avid nighttime reader, the book lights with amber mode emitting 1800K eye-caring light will be your best solution to nighttime reading.

Most Glocusent book lights have a special amber mode, as we are the book light expert and specialize in producing eye-caring, bright, and premium book lights for a private reading at night.

12. What color LED light is best for reading?

Typically, there are 3 color temperatures for you to choose from when reading with a book light. 

1800K: amber light, a dim glow of warm light in orange tone. Amber light is good for your eyes and can protect you from harmful blue light in dark surroundings. 

3000K-4500K: a bright amount of white light, suitable for leisure or relaxation reading.

6000K: similar natural sun daylight, commonly used in task lighting for better focus.

Depending on your preference and needs, you can have different light settings with various color temperatures and brightness levels. However, if you are used to reading in bed before sleep or at night, the amber book light (1800K) is best for nightly reading with perfect eye protection.

 

13. Apart from color temperature and brightness level, what are the other factors to consider when purchasing?

Power Source: Most book lights on the market are rechargeable or powered by AAA batteries. But the rechargeable book lights are handier since you don’t need to worry about running out of battery mid-page. All you need to do is recharge your book light as long as necessary. 

Portability: Unlike floor lamps or desk lamps, book lights or reading lights are smaller in size and more portable. Regarding book lights, they vary in size due to their functionality and user purpose. In other words, you can bright it anywhere, like traveling and camping. Before you make your shopping decision, do not forget to check the product information.

Ease of use: Book lights have to be easy to operate, as they serve different age groups, such as the young, seniors, or the eldest. So the power buttons, brightness level adjustment, color temperature adjustment, or any other additional features are all supposed to be easy to operate. All the operation buttons should be easily visible and operated.

Warranty: You should pay attention to the warranty, including the return window period. We all want to purchase products with a reasonable warranty period, as we may “luckily” receive some defective products. 

 

14. Is yellow light better than white light?

When it comes to late-night reading in bed, you should be aware of the advantages of amber light. The unique amber mode can prevent eye strain and fatigue, and there will be lower risks of retina damage from harmful blue light exposure. Moreover, reading in amber light will stimulate your body to produce more melatonin, resulting in better-quality sleep. So the amber light, yellow-toned light, is perfect and suitable to enhance your nightly reading joy.