Hello,
what color temperature (in Kelvin) do your LEDs have in your home? Have you chosen a brighter light color for the kitchen and bathroom? I have read that you should use at least 4000K in the kitchen. Has anyone done this? What about exterior lighting—do you also prefer around 4000K there?
Best regards,
Sabine
what color temperature (in Kelvin) do your LEDs have in your home? Have you chosen a brighter light color for the kitchen and bathroom? I have read that you should use at least 4000K in the kitchen. Has anyone done this? What about exterior lighting—do you also prefer around 4000K there?
Best regards,
Sabine
We have "daylight" lamps at work, so I’m quite used to good lighting when working.
In my opinion, the closer the lighting is to "daylight," the more pleasant it is. In our kitchen, we have a 1,000 lumen LED. I don’t really remember the Kelvin value, but daylight is around 5,500 K if I’m not mistaken. We only used a simple, inexpensive LED lamp from the hardware store, not a full-spectrum one. That works perfectly fine for us. My husband is thrilled, and I’m also satisfied. You can definitely notice a difference compared to full-spectrum lighting if you’re familiar with it and regularly use both.
It’s quite bright; we live on the first floor and it even lights up about 400 cubic meters (14,130 cubic feet) of our garden fairly well at night. The buffet is now placed where most of the light falls, and we actually skipped adding garden lighting in that area :-o I mention this only in case you need to be considerate of neighbors; it’s really very bright and white, which can be a bit harsh on the eyes at first :-D ;-)
Since my husband also likes to work in dimmer light sometimes, we stuck a small LED strip under the kitchen cabinet. However, a dimmable lamp would be a simpler and quicker solution here. We installed a new power outlet on the cabinet and added a new light switch for it.
In my opinion, the closer the lighting is to "daylight," the more pleasant it is. In our kitchen, we have a 1,000 lumen LED. I don’t really remember the Kelvin value, but daylight is around 5,500 K if I’m not mistaken. We only used a simple, inexpensive LED lamp from the hardware store, not a full-spectrum one. That works perfectly fine for us. My husband is thrilled, and I’m also satisfied. You can definitely notice a difference compared to full-spectrum lighting if you’re familiar with it and regularly use both.
It’s quite bright; we live on the first floor and it even lights up about 400 cubic meters (14,130 cubic feet) of our garden fairly well at night. The buffet is now placed where most of the light falls, and we actually skipped adding garden lighting in that area :-o I mention this only in case you need to be considerate of neighbors; it’s really very bright and white, which can be a bit harsh on the eyes at first :-D ;-)
Since my husband also likes to work in dimmer light sometimes, we stuck a small LED strip under the kitchen cabinet. However, a dimmable lamp would be a simpler and quicker solution here. We installed a new power outlet on the cabinet and added a new light switch for it.
In residential environments, 2700K is recommended. In some areas, 3000K can still appear "white." Since the lighting fixtures also influence well-being (just search for HCL - Human Centric Lighting), it's worth taking a few minutes to consider where to install lighting with different color temperatures.
Here’s an example of 4000K in a bathroom (to make it appear very white, which I personally find unpleasant in this area): it also means that if you stumble into the bathroom at night, half asleep, just to use the toilet, you're confronted with a "full blast" of blue-tinted (thus activating) light. You have to like that. Some might say this is overrated, but such effects can indeed occur! In other words, this kind of lighting makes you more awake compared to lower Kelvin lighting.
HCL lighting usually covers a spectrum from 2700K to 6500K – so even 5500K doesn’t fully mimic daylight. These differences are noticeable, especially in workplaces where you are exposed to the light for longer periods.
Regarding the Color Rendering Index (CRI): anything above 80 is recommended. Below 80 is not acceptable. Higher than 80 is harder to find, usually more expensive, and in my opinion unnecessary for private use. The differences are extreme when compared directly, but without placing a fixture with a different CRI right next to another, it’s difficult to perceive.
These values are important and are usually given as RA (the German abbreviation for Color Rendering Index) or as CRI, especially in retail settings. For example, a red blouse illuminated by lights with CRI 80 will appear different than one lit by CRI 90. A fixture with a CRI close to 100 shows colors most like natural daylight.
So, you might consider using a light source with CRI 90 in a dressing room, for instance. That could make sense. For everything else, it’s not necessary.
A little excursion into lighting technology 🙂
Here’s an example of 4000K in a bathroom (to make it appear very white, which I personally find unpleasant in this area): it also means that if you stumble into the bathroom at night, half asleep, just to use the toilet, you're confronted with a "full blast" of blue-tinted (thus activating) light. You have to like that. Some might say this is overrated, but such effects can indeed occur! In other words, this kind of lighting makes you more awake compared to lower Kelvin lighting.
HCL lighting usually covers a spectrum from 2700K to 6500K – so even 5500K doesn’t fully mimic daylight. These differences are noticeable, especially in workplaces where you are exposed to the light for longer periods.
Regarding the Color Rendering Index (CRI): anything above 80 is recommended. Below 80 is not acceptable. Higher than 80 is harder to find, usually more expensive, and in my opinion unnecessary for private use. The differences are extreme when compared directly, but without placing a fixture with a different CRI right next to another, it’s difficult to perceive.
These values are important and are usually given as RA (the German abbreviation for Color Rendering Index) or as CRI, especially in retail settings. For example, a red blouse illuminated by lights with CRI 80 will appear different than one lit by CRI 90. A fixture with a CRI close to 100 shows colors most like natural daylight.
So, you might consider using a light source with CRI 90 in a dressing room, for instance. That could make sense. For everything else, it’s not necessary.
A little excursion into lighting technology 🙂
DNL schrieb:
@Wickie I like learning a lot about lighting technology. Please share more.
@CiJay Do you have a bulb with 1000 lumens, or how should I imagine it? If you search online, you will find a person who has spent much of his life researching LED bulbs; he has also published reports on this. From what I remember, Ledon is good and high-priced for E27 sockets. Ikea can be quite decent and is very good value for the price. Civililight is unbeatable in color rendering. Finished lamps from Blopp also have, in my opinion, a good CRI (color rendering index).
A long, narrow LED lamp (100x10cm (39x4 inches)) with white light. It somewhat looks like a typical office lamp in a nice housing :-D We didn’t do anything fancy in the kitchen. Visually, it almost disappears into the ceiling because it is only about 3cm (1¼ inches) high.
Our kitchen is narrow and the ceiling is suspended, so we chose this shape.
Our kitchen is narrow and the ceiling is suspended, so we chose this shape.
K
Knallkörper1 Oct 2017 10:44Most of the lamps in my house (about 80) are from Ledon. Because of the large number of our light fixtures, I ordered several different types of bulbs to try out. Especially in the kitchen... Actually, everywhere, a color rendering index (CRI) > 90 is a must for me. Food looks downright unappetizing when cheap LEDs are used for kitchen lighting.
Similar topics