The Lumos Arc Lamp From Lighting Unlimited

Lighting Unlimited is a locally owned and nationally acclaimed lighting and fan showroom. Serving central/eastern North Carolina, the company provides customers with a wide selection of lighting and fans to choose from along with an expert team to help you get the best solutions for your home.

The Lumos is a portable light that claims to help with SAD (seasonal affective disorder). It’s lightweight, easy to set up and simple to use. The swivel feature is a nice touch and the lamp comes with a timer, which is important for people with SAD since 30 minutes of 10K lux first thing in the morning can help trigger chemical changes to increase serotonin levels. However, we didn’t love the design of this light. We felt that the switch was a little clunky, especially the construction and location of the slide switch which sticks out the side panel and can be easily jarred or knocked off the lamp when you reach for it. Plus, it only has three light brightness settings, which is a lot less than the competition we tested.

Another factor that keeps this light from being our top pick is its size and surface area. It has a much smaller light-surface area than the other arc lamps we tested and it feels like a more utilitarian sunlamp. We also found it to be a bit uncomfortable and overly bright for most of the spaces we tested it in.

It is a good choice for those who want to bring light with them on vacation or while travelling, as it’s compact and portable, but we wouldn’t recommend it as the sole source of light in a home. Its swivel feature is nice and it can be used as a desk lamp, but we don’t think it would provide the same level of comfort and functionality that our top picks offer.

Many of the lights we tested come with smart bulbs which allow them to be controlled by an app on a phone or tablet. The addition of a smart bulb can significantly improve the quality of the light output and add some extra functionality. Some of these smart bulbs have features that can create different colors, provide varying qualities of white light or even be dimmed.

Some of the best arc lamps for general purpose are the Brightech Trilage and Adesso Trinity 3, which have more surface area than their single-headed counterparts and easily fill rooms with bright, warm light. The LEPOWER Wood Tripod and Stone & Beam Deco are similarly versatile with cord lengths, wattage options and aesthetics that make them flexible enough to fit most spaces.