How do you decide whether to go for warm or cool LED lights? Would you base it on the colour of your walls and floor for example?
What about in the kitchen? Task/overhead cupboard lighting? Cool or warm?
Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design 1 Aug 19, 2011 10:19 am How do you decide whether to go for warm or cool LED lights? Would you base it on the colour of your walls and floor for example? What about in the kitchen? Task/overhead cupboard lighting? Cool or warm? Re: Warm or cool LED lights 2Aug 19, 2011 12:37 pm It's a personal thing But I always like warm. Cool lighting is a bit sterile IMHO Re: Warm or cool LED lights 3Aug 19, 2011 2:02 pm can you get led in warm? I thought it was only in white/ cool. Re: Warm or cool LED lights 4Aug 19, 2011 4:09 pm I've been considering changing my halogen MR16 downlights to LED for a while now but deciding on warm white vs. cool white is not the problem! Based on my research I would definitely go for warm white since in general existing lighting in the home is warm, and even the LED lamps in "warm white" are still not as warm as the existing common halogen lamps. Re: Warm or cool LED lights 6Aug 19, 2011 8:29 pm kiwi can you get led in warm? I thought it was only in white/ cool. They come in both warm white and cool white Re: Warm or cool LED lights 7Aug 19, 2011 8:34 pm man, just bought one and assumed they were all cool. will go back and ask, thank you for letting me know...I didnt have a clue (I like warm better but didnt know they existed) cheers Re: Warm or cool LED lights 8Aug 19, 2011 9:14 pm I have cool as they produce a stronger light and it's closer to natural day light but it's horses for courses I always had the cool white CFL in d house also as I prefer that look. But in theatre room where the light is much dimmer and not needed to be bright I have used a warm LED and used a cheaper globe also (you can tell the difference in quality between the two different sorts I purchased one lot off eBay and one of a reputable wholesaler) There is also a true white in some place you look which is like a true daylight so depends on the look you are after. Hope this makes sense as I'm on the iPhone and it won't let me preview what I have written lol Cheers Janet Re: Warm or cool LED lights 9Aug 19, 2011 10:40 pm Office floors and indoor public places (e.g. libraries) usually have cool daylight flouro lightings, because they are easier to the eyes when reading is required. If you like your home feeling like you're in the office, then cool daylight is the go. Re: Warm or cool LED lights 10Aug 21, 2011 12:20 am the LED downlight kits we sell actually come in Warm White or Day Light. The Compact Fluro Downlight Kits come in Warm White, Cool White, and Day Light so many choices and yes i think most of the time it does come down to personal preference. IMO even though they do run hotter, and use more electricity, nothing beats the light of a halogen downlight. Re: Warm or cool LED lights 11Aug 22, 2011 12:24 pm If you go for cool white make sure that the LED has a fairly high CRI (80+) as this is the thing that makes places look sterile. With low CRI the 'white' color in the light carries onto the surface. Same goes for warm white but because there is more red in the warm its not as noticeable on your skin. I usually recommend warm white for bathrooms as putting on makeup under a white light can look different once you walk out Warm or cool LED lights 13Oct 07, 2011 3:38 pm Tizide theanonyuser kiwi can you get led in warm? I thought it was only in white/ cool. They come in both warm white and cool white They can be transformed by a switch I'm afraid that the colour temperature is determined by the chemistry of the LED in the fitting and is fixed. You can get bulbs with red, green and blue LEDs that allow you to control colour, but these are not generally used for everyday lighting. I personally prefer warm white as it is closer to the colour of incandescent bulbs Paul Re: Warm or cool LED lights 14Dec 23, 2011 12:47 am think_wise ..... I usually recommend warm white for bathrooms as putting on makeup under a white light can look different once you walk out There is a school of thought that you're better off with a more "daylight" balanced colour for the makeup area so that the light more accurately matches the colour of the outdoors light, so your makeup looks the same when you go outside as it did when you put it on................. P_D . Block settled 07 June 2011 Our little piece of the Interwebs on HomeOne....... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=48577&start=0 Re: Warm or cool LED lights 15Dec 23, 2011 12:48 am ^^^^ Of course, if you work in an office with "traditional office" fluorescent lighting then all bets are off !!! P_D . Block settled 07 June 2011 Our little piece of the Interwebs on HomeOne....... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=48577&start=0 Re: Warm or cool LED lights 16Dec 24, 2011 5:12 am An interesting idea that the electrical consultant promoted was understanding your colour scheme and how it will interact with the lights. He suggested that the colour palettes of many modern homes lend themselves more to cool white than the older home that have always been designed for incandescent. My house has a lot of blues and yellows, the addition of more yellow would not work as well. ( at least that is the working theory until the house is complete). Re: Warm or cool LED lights 17Dec 24, 2011 6:30 pm We have warm leds in our main open plan, lived with them for about a week now and love the look. Mind you we still havnt finished painting so the lights are still hanging. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Just a point about the colour temp re makup etc. Your eyes adjust to colour temp within minutes so it doesnt matter a rats what light you work in (we all know makeup application takes hours ). The only light that can affect you perception is fluro as it runs at a frequency that distorts your eyes perception of colour temp...evil changeroom lights lol. Re: Warm or cool LED lights 18Dec 24, 2011 7:12 pm sceen7 .....Just a point about the colour temp re makup etc. Your eyes adjust to colour temp within minutes so it doesnt matter a rats what light you work in (we all know makeup application takes hours )......l. I take photographs of people (models / portraits) and the standard studio flash strobes have a (an approximate) colour temperature of 5,600K. Having the make-up lights "daylight balanced" to around 5,600K ensures that the models make-up in the finished photograph looks the same as when her make-up artist put it on !! If the make-up lights are "too red" the MUA may not put enough blush / colour on the models face / cheek bones leading to a "pale" looking model in the photograph. I don't know, but maybe the same applies in real life, if the bathroom lights are "too warm" the girls may not put "enough" colour on ?? Cheers, P_D EDIT: Most "Daylight balanced" fluoros are actually pretty darn good at giving a reasonably accurate rendition of daylight....OTOH, some cheaper "generic" tubes give an awful green in photographs . Block settled 07 June 2011 Our little piece of the Interwebs on HomeOne....... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=48577&start=0 Re: Warm or cool LED lights 19Dec 25, 2011 9:19 am With 30 years under my belt as a cinematographer I have a handle on colour temp as well, but we are not talking about a cameras interpretation of light, it’s the human eye that is at play here. Or more to the point our brain and how amazing it is at adapting. The example I’ll give is, remember those horrible blue or green marquees? You walk in and everything is either blue or green, but after a few moments everything seems to be the right colour again. Your eyes, actually your brain does its own colour correction. Same thing with some ski goggles, the list goes on. In a bathroom where the lighting is the only source of light it doesn’t matter what temp the lights are. Re: Warm or cool LED lights 20Dec 25, 2011 9:12 pm Due to metamerism, it's usually a good idea to get the colour temperature and CRI correct. So far, colour corrected fluro seems to be better at accurate colour rendering, although I've seen some LEDs have good neutral white; not sure how long they will stay neutral as I gather some phosphors in LED decay faster than others. So I'm just reading up on this ecosystem of lights. I'm planning on putting deck lights along the outside edge of a large deck. Will need about 3 packs (18 lights) plus… 0 23019 |