The best lighting gifts

The best lighting gift under twenty dollars is a rechargeable clip-on book light, because anyone who reads in bed uses it every night. The best one over fifty is the Philips SmartSleep wake-up light, because dark mornings are a complaint people actually have and it is the only clock that handles both ends of the day.

Lighting is a good category to shop for gifts in and a very easy one to get wrong. The failure mode is always the same: an object that produces an effect, admired on the day, stored by February. Every pick here was chosen against one question - does it do something the recipient already needs doing?

Ignore the categories for a moment and ask what the person complains about. The whole of this page maps onto four complaints.

• "I can't read in bed without waking them up." A clip-on book light. Ten dollars, used every night, and the most reliably appreciated gift here - the best book lights.
• "Getting up in the dark is miserable." A sunrise alarm clock, or a therapy lamp if they have mentioned winter specifically - sunrise alarm clocks and light therapy lamps set out the difference.
• "The kids won't settle." A dimmable moon lamp, or a projector with a timer - sunset and moon lamps and star projectors.
• "The place is so bare." A neon sign with their name on it, which is wall art that glows - the best LED neon signs.

Gritin 19 LED clip-on book light - the one everyone should buy. Stepless dimming, three color temperatures, a memory function and a stated 90 hours of runtime, for ten dollars.
Who it is for: anyone who reads in bed, which is a large fraction of anyone. Who should skip it: someone who reads on a backlit tablet - they do not need one.

Mind-Glowing 3D moon lamp - the decorative one that is also useful. 5.9 inches, dimmable, with touch and remote control and an auto-off timer, so it works as a genuine night light rather than only as an object.
Who it is for: a child's room, or an adult who wants something soft on a shelf. Who should skip it: anyone who will only ever run it on the color cycle - at that point it is an ornament.

Verilux HappyLight Lucent - for someone who finds winter hard. 10,000 lux, UV-free, one touch. It is the simplest version of the product, which is exactly what you want in a gift.
Who it is for: someone who has said that winter gets to them. Who should skip it: anyone you would be surprising with it - this is a gift to give to someone who has raised the subject themselves, not a hint to deliver in wrapping paper.

Philips SmartSleep HF3520 - the big one. Sunrise and sunset simulation, five natural sounds, FM radio and a real adjustable reading lamp built in.
Who it is for: someone whose alarm goes off well before dawn all winter. Who should skip it: someone who already sleeps well and wakes easily - this solves a problem they do not have.

13-in-1 planetarium projector - the one for a child. Thirteen scene discs, a focus ring and a timer. The focus ring is what makes this a planetarium rather than colored cloud on a ceiling.
Who it is for: a child genuinely interested in space. Who should skip it: a nursery - a projector is not a night light, and a baby needs the warm dim one instead.

Custom LED neon sign - the personal one. A name or a phrase in LED neon, dimmable by remote, hung on adhesive hooks with nothing drilled.
Who it is for: a first apartment, a teenager's room, a milestone. Who should skip it: anyone ordering after about the third week of November - it is made to order.

There is a better gift hiding in this category and nobody gives it: a set of decent bulbs. Landlords and builders fit the cheapest bulbs available, and swapping a whole apartment to a high-CRI warm bulb changes every room for the price of one novelty lamp.

It makes a dull parcel and a genuinely good present for someone who has just moved. Pair it with a lamp that publishes a real lumen figure and you have fixed a dark room rather than decorated one - the best LED bulbs, floor lamps for dark rooms and a first apartment kit are the three pages for it.