hackertube.io

Building a realistic artificial sun (for dark winter days)

DIY Perks · demo · Watch on YouTube

Home, DIY & practical skills3D printing, CNC & maker projectsEveryday physics & science demos

What it is

DIY Perks builds a realistic artificial sun for dark winters, using a powerful water-cooled LED, a satellite dish reflector for near-parallel rays, and a scattering layer to mimic the blue sky. The video explains the optics behind why most lamps do not look like sunlight and shows the build and its results.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Whenever HN discusses seasonal affective disorder, myopia, or bright home lighting, people point to this as the most convincing buildable example of sunlight-like illumination.

  • 9 people recommended it
  • 8 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2020, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “Goes into the science of what it takes, and the results are really stunning.”

    Science of artificial sunlight with stunning results

    hackererror404, 2022-06 · Strong recommendation · in “Shortsightedness has become an epidemic”

  2. “The result is quite stunning. I've never seen anything like it.”

    Buildable artificial sun with stunning results

    deltasevennine, 2022-07 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: Why are there so few artificial sunlight or artificial window products?”

  3. “here is a detailed video of an incredible artificial sunlight rig build.”

    Detailed build of an incredibly realistic artificial sunlight rig

    Wistar, 2025-03 · Strong recommendation · in “I tried making artificial sunlight at home”

  4. “how to get the "parallel light effect" that the sun has, so it doesn't look like a bulb, and diffuses properly”

    Shows how to get the parallel light effect of the sun

    UnpossibleJim, 2022-02 · Recommendation · in “Someone should probably start a bright home lighting company (2019)”

  5. “literally lights a room as if from a morning sun on a spring day”

    Water-cooled LED and satellite dish making realistic morning sun

    implements, 2022-03 · Recommendation · in “Quicker and easier ways to get more light”

  6. “that's proven very helpful to me in Oregon winters”

    Artificial sun that helped through Oregon winters

    snozolli, 2023-01 · Recommendation · in “DIY triple-screen laptop based on the framework”

  7. “does a good job of showing how to make your own, as well as illustrating how good the effect is”

    Shows making your own collimated sunlight and how good the effect is

    bmelton, 2025-01 · Recommendation · in “How to improve your WFH lighting to reduce eye strain”

  8. “This was a great watch”

    Artificial sunlight at home featuring Rayleigh scattering

    stephenpontes, 2025-03 · Recommendation · in “I tried making artificial sunlight at home”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: diy lighting, collimated light, rayleigh scattering, led, seasonal affective disorder

Also recommended by the same people