You wake at 5pm. It's already dark. Have a sunrise anyway.
Day sleepers get the worst of both worlds: blackout curtains so you can sleep — and a pitch-black box to wake up in. Your alarm goes off at 5pm and for one horrible minute you don't know if it's morning, evening or what day it is. Nobody makes anything for that. This does. Set your morning — 3pm, 5pm, whenever — and thirty minutes before it, a warm dawn rises inside your blackout cave. You wake to an actual morning, on your schedule, any month of the year. The curtains stay shut. Your morning happens anyway.
Made for the people who run the world while it sleeps. No pity, no wellness talk — just a morning that exists.
Why two? Because the person who covers your shift when you can't is another night worker waking up in the same black box. £69.00 for two is £9 less than buying twice.
Your wake-up is dark 365 days a year. Everyone else's problem ends in March. Yours doesn't — which is exactly why this was built.
Free UK delivery, tracked, 2–4 working days. VAT included, nothing added at checkout. If it doesn't do what this page says, send it back within 30 nights for a full refund.
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Your body never gets the one signal it uses to start the day.
Every body clock on earth runs on light. Day workers get a free sunrise through the curtains; you've had to block it out to sleep at all. So you wake at 5pm with zero light signal, and the fog rides with you to handover. It isn't the sleep. It's the missing morning.
Thirty minutes of rising light inside the blackout gives your body the 'it's morning now' signal the curtains block. Waking becomes 'oh, it's my morning' instead of 'where am I'.
Your morning, at teatime
16:30 — a faint amber glow inside the cave. Curtains shut.
16:50 — a soft dawn. You surface knowing what day it is.
17:00 — if you're still out, a natural sound rises from quiet.
Everyone else gets one sunrise a day, at a time they didn't choose. You get yours on demand.
How it works — three steps, no app
Night-shift edition. Same three steps, at whatever hour your morning is.
Honest note: light wakes most people about nine mornings out of ten. The sound is the safety net for the tenth.
Light timing is the lever. Researchers have said so for years.
Studies on shift workers keep landing on the same thing: the body clock doesn't listen to your rota, it listens to light. Bright light during your night, darkness after, and a proper 'morning' signal at your chosen wake time measurably help night workers adapt. Dawn-simulation studies in day workers show the same — people wake more alert and calmer when light precedes the alarm.
Designed to give your body the morning signal your curtains block. Not a treatment for anything; a light on a timer that your biology already understands.
Built for the cave
The details day-sleepers actually check — because an LED glow at 11am ruins more sleep than a lorry outside.
Why not a smart bulb, or just the phone?
Fair question. Here's where each one falls down for a day-sleeper.
| The Sunrise Alarm | A smart bulb in the ceiling light | Phone alarm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it wakes | The person next to it — a glow on the bedside, not the ceiling | The whole room, both of you | Both of you, unpleasantly |
| Backup if light isn't enough | Built in — a soft sound that rises, on your side | None. You still keep the phone alarm | It is the noise |
| Weekends and changing shifts | Saved wake-up times, changed on the device in seconds | Editing app schedules every Friday night | Fine |
| Set-up | Plug in, set the time, done | Hub, app, account, automations | — |
| Sleeping side | Sunset fade-out and calm sounds with a timer | No | Notifications at 11pm |
Honest verdict: if you sleep alone and enjoy setting up apps, a bulb can work. If someone shares your bed, or you want it to just work every morning, this is why dedicated sunrise clocks still exist.
Why the £15 ones die in three weeks — and this one doesn't
We bought the cheap clones before we chose this one. They fail the same way: a dawn that jumps from off to bright in three steps, a speaker that crackles at low volume, and a power socket that works loose by the end of the month. The light is the whole point, and theirs isn't a sunrise — it's a light switch with a delay.
This unit is built from ABS and polycarbonate, the same materials as a decent kettle, around LEDs rated for 10,000 hours — about fourteen years of half-hour sunrises. The dimming is smooth from the first glow to full, because that smoothness is the mechanism. And it carries a 12-month warranty: if it develops a fault, we replace it.
What it won't do
Read this before you buy. If any of it is a dealbreaker, it isn't the right thing for you — and we'd rather you knew now.
It won't fix a rotating rota. It gives whichever schedule you choose a proper morning. It can't choose for you.
It won't replace blackout curtains or sleep hours. Keep both. This is the third thing: the morning signal you've been missing.
It won't wake a heavy sleeper on light alone every day. Nine mornings out of ten, honestly; the rising sound handles the tenth.
It needs a plug socket by the bed. Mains-powered on purpose — a dead battery is the one wake-up that matters.
It's a light on a timer, not medicine. If your sleep is a health problem, talk to someone qualified. This just makes the morning exist.
The specifications, in plain words
Never a number without what it means for your morning.
The exact numbers, if you like details
Sunrise simulation: gradual light rise before the alarm, duration adjustable (30 minutes by default) · Sunset simulation: light and sound fade out on a timer · Wake-up sounds: natural sounds with rising volume, plus snooze · Sleep sounds: 30 · Alarm memories: more than one · Display: multi-step dimming down to off · Bluetooth speaker · Power: USB, mains adapter · Body: ABS + polycarbonate · LED life: about 10,000 hours · Warranty: 12 months · CE certified
What's in the box
The Sunrise Alarm · USB power cable and mains plug · a one-page guide you'll read once. Set-up is the time, your wake-up time, and the sunrise length. About two minutes, no app, no account.
Questions, answered honestly
Why not just a £10 smart bulb?
Some people make it work, and we say so plainly. Three honest differences: a bulb lights the whole ceiling, so it wakes everyone in the room; it has no backup sound, so you still keep the phone alarm; and it needs its schedule edited in an app every time your week changes. This is a bedside glow with a built-in rising sound and saved wake-up times, and it's set up once.
Isn't this expensive for an alarm clock?
It's the price of a takeaway for two, used about 200 mornings a year. People keep good sunrise clocks for ten years and more. The £99–£199 brands do the same job with a fancier logo; the £15 ones do a different, worse job and then stop doing it.
I'm a heavy sleeper. Light won't wake me.
Agreed — light alone doesn't wake everyone every day. In practice it does the job about nine mornings out of ten, and on the tenth the natural sound rises until you're up. We don't promise light-only. We promise the wake-up stops being an ambush.
Will it break in three weeks like the cheap ones?
That's exactly what we bought this to avoid. Smooth dimming, a proper speaker, a socket that stays tight, LEDs rated for 10,000 hours — and a 12-month warranty. If it develops a fault, we replace it.
Is it a gimmick?
It won't change your life. It changes the worst ten minutes of your day — the ten minutes between an alarm going off in a black room and you actually being upright. If that's not worth £39 to you, don't buy it.
I sleep at different times each week.
That's what the saved wake-up times are for: one for nights-on, one for days off, swapped on the device in a few seconds. Set the sunrise to start 30 minutes before whichever one is live.
Will it mess up my partner who sleeps at night?
It's a bedside glow aimed at your side, not a ceiling light, and it only runs for the half-hour before your wake time. If they sleep at night while you sleep in the day, it isn't even on when they're in bed.
Does it help me flip back on days off?
Honestly: it helps you anchor whichever schedule you pick. Flip or stay nocturnal, the thing that wrecks night workers is a body that never knows which day it's living. A hard 'morning' signal at your chosen time fixes that either way — the long answer is on the article page.
What if my wake-up time changes from day to day?
More than one wake-up time is saved on the device, and changing one takes a few seconds on the buttons — no app, no account. Set the sunrise to start 30 minutes before whatever time you pick.
Does the display glow all night?
No. The clock display steps down in brightness and goes fully off. The room is dark until your sunrise starts.
Where does it ship from, and is the price really all-in?
Free UK delivery, tracked, 2–4 working days. The price on this page includes VAT — nothing is added at checkout and nothing is owed at the door.
What if it doesn't work for me?
Send it back within 30 nights for a full refund. Email us with your order number and we'll send return instructions. We don't quibble about the box.
Who are you?
A small UK company that sells this one product. We chose it after testing the cheap clones and the £150 brands side by side, and a person — not a bot — answers support@thesunrisealarm.com. The Sunrise Alarm, 10 Charter Street, Leicester, LE1 3UD.
Try it for 30 nights. If the mornings aren't better, send it back.
Full refund within 30 nights, no quibbling about the box. 12-month warranty after that — if it develops a fault, email support@thesunrisealarm.com with your order number and we replace it. A person reads it and answers.
The Sunrise Alarm · 10 Charter Street, Leicester, LE1 3UD, United Kingdom
£39.00