Light bulb temperature..... Daylight, Bright White, Soft White....

[bedn0009]

Hello,

I am putting 24 LED bulbs in my wood shop (28 x 32). Given that the bulbs are expected to last at least a decade, I want to make sure I choose the bulb color/temperature wisely.

• Anybody have any good bulb deals/recommendations? I am leaning toward the Philips 100 W equivalent at HD.
• What's the feedback or consensus on color/temperature? I picked up a 5000k and a 2700k to look at tonight, 5000k seems too intense. Any feedback or suggestions based on experience?

Thanks

 

[JCVTrigger]

I installed 8 Cree 100w equivalent 5000k in the back half of my 28x28 garage where I have my table saw and work bench. I then saw the Phillips for half the price. I installed 6 of these. I spaced them equally across on every other ceiling joist, with the two additional ones near the back corner. I'm quite pleased with them. The garage was just built so there's no drywall yet. I have an attic above as well. I'll post a few pics soon.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[encantofred]

i have 5000K in my shop. i absolutely love them. great light. but, it is personal preference for sure

tom

 

[rharman]

i have 5000K in my shop. i absolutely love them. great light. but, it is personal preference for sure

tom

Exactly what I was going to post. The 5000k light is great. Everything else looks dingy yellow to me.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Are you going to be doing painting or staining in this area, I suggest buying 1 or 2 and doing some tests, especially comparing the lit items to direct daylight.

(Buying carpeting in a store with florescent lighting is absolutely STUPID !)

 

[Showkey]

Bulb temperature...........is a personal preference thing. I purchased a few 5000k bulbs by mistake.........can not wait until they burn out. Buy a couple of each and invite the wife to judge which is best....... Example this is what was wrong with the first LED bulbs .....many were too cool or gray for living areas. They fixed that issue with LED and now give many choices.

There is no right or wrong answer.........depends on what your doing and what you like.

 

[mark11]

For a shop I like 5K but if you put them in a room with 2700's they'll look nasty.

 

[stamanti]

I also prefer 5K in my shop. For inside the house I prefer 2700k.

 

[jkwilson]

5K in the shop. Closer to natural sunlight.

 

[yaidunno]

I went with 4100k in the shop, and would not have gone any higher. Bulb color is interpreted different by everyone eyes, but between 4-5000k seems to be the preference for working conditions.

 

[jhelrey]

4100-4300k

 

[CGT80]

I have 6500k in two of the garages and in some areas of the house. At first, daylight lamps seem harsh, but the color is much better and it is easier to see what you are doing. 6500k is great in the kitchen, baths, laundry room, and hobby areas. Warmer lamps are nicer in the bedrooms and living rooms, where color doesn't matter.

When I did lighting professionally, 4100k cool white was the most common for commercial buildings/offices. Sometimes we changed the lamp color or paint color in an office to make it look better. Paint colors, like stated above, really need to be verified in the type of lighting they will reside in, and that lighting changes throughout the day as the sun light changes.

Warmer light is more common on the outside of buildings. The store fronts of business suites were often 2700k. Parking lot lights were often HPS, which is very yellow/orange and a real pain to work by. MH is a bit blue and is much easier to work under, but still doesn't compare to fluorescent at 5500-6500k.

Most people like how our garage (used for business) looks and they comment on how nice it would be to work in there. Some people do really dislike natural or daylight lamps, but I don't get it.

 

[jomobco]

4100-4300k

Agree. Closest to natural sunlight IIRC.

 

[dfiler2]

I put 12 of these in an area of my shop about 15' feet up and am very impressed with them, they are better than I expected although I don't really have anything to compare them to.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RMK05Y2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Commendatore]

I try to stick with 4100k for serious work areas, but inside the house I prefer 2700k, just feels more homey to me, especially in winter. For exterior lighting I really like 5000k, seems to make my white house pop

 

[2Big2Ride]

I also prefer 5K in my shop. For inside the house I prefer 2700k.

Same answer.

 

[simpler=better]

Don't forget to check the CRI (color rendition index). Daylight is 100, good LEDs are 90ish. Cheap LEDs are in the 80s

 

[woodzy]

I used 3000K in the house and 4000K in the shop. Don't have the shop ones yet, they are in transit.

 

[bedn0009]

I used 3000K in the house and 4000K in the shop. Don't have the shop ones yet, they are in transit.

This is basically what I'm thinking. Where did you order the 4000k bulbs from?

 

[myredracer]

Interesting that so many like the higher temp. cool white/daylight colors. I hate them with a passion. I much prefer warm white 3000K lamps. As an EE I used to design lighting systems in commercial and institutional buildings and the vast majority had warm white lamps. Rarely used cool white and never the daylight ones.

However, color rendition of the cooler lamps can be better because there is more blue in them. Cool white is not very flattering with skin tones. Warm white lamps make it harder to distinguish different shades of blue. When working with tools and bare steel and aluminum, cool white lamps are probably a better choice. For a woodworking shop, warm white would be a better choice due to all the warm tones of wood and I think cool white would look awful. I have warm white lamps in my 900 sq. ft. workshop that I do mostly car stuff in...

 

[bedn0009]

Interesting that so many like the higher temp. cool white/daylight colors. I hate them with a passion. I much prefer warm white 3000K lamps. As an EE I used to design lighting systems in commercial and institutional buildings and the vast majority had warm white lamps. Rarely used cool white and never the daylight ones.

However, color rendition of the cooler lamps can be better because there is more blue in them. Warm white lamps make it harder to distinguish different shades of blue. When working with tools and bare steel and aluminum, cool white lamps are probably a better choice. For a woodworking shop, warm white is probably better due to warm tones of wood. I have warm white lamps in my 900 sq. ft. workshop that I do car stuff in...

I'm doing mostly woodworking as well. I'm not really sure why the hard press here on GJ (not this thread, but in general) for cool white/daylight. The only reason I'm trying to dig in as far as possible is so the substantial investment I make in 24 bulbs doesn't turn out to be a mistake.

 

[yaidunno]

I'm doing mostly woodworking as well. I'm not really sure why the hard press here on GJ (not this thread, but in general) for cool white/daylight. The only reason I'm trying to dig in as far as possible is so the substantial investment I make in 24 bulbs doesn't turn out to be a mistake.

Ever try painting something in a low "K" lighting, and then take it outside? More often than not, it ends up looking completely different in sun light. Just something to consider.

Personally, I went with 4100k because it makes colors look natural, without having any hint of blue (to my eyes, at least). It is a nice balance between the warm 2700k and daylight 5000-6500k lights. Lighting color is also selected based on what the room is to be used for. Warmer colors promote relaxation while whiter ones are supposed to aid in concentration and work levels. I am far from an expert on this, but there are people who devote copious amounts of time doing studies and research on the topic.

The bottom line is, this is your garage, put in what you feel will be the most applicable to your needs (and your eyes).

For the record, I too debated for a good deal of time on what color temperature to select. I'm very glad i chose the 4100k for my application. Doing it again, I can say for certain i would not have gone any higher, but would consider 3000k.

 

[woodzy]

This is basically what I'm thinking. Where did you order the 4000k bulbs from?

Well, I work with a Chinese supplier and when the send the next container the will included these. They are 4' LED 4000K that are 110Volt (actually 85-277 volt). You just remove the ballast and re-wire the light fixture. I currently have 49, 4 bulb T12.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

I have 6500K T8s in my shop, used for automotive paint inspection and correction. For me they are far better than a lower-Kelvin lamp for purposes of seeing color match, texture, etc.

 

[m.breen]

I own at least 6 different type off led's and find myself rotating them almost weekly. Sorry I can't help you out till I finish playing with mine. (It's been 6 years since I bought my first led light. (I think I own about 50 now).

 

[Platonic Solid]

Don't forget to check the CRI (color rendition index). Daylight is 100, good LEDs are 90ish. Cheap LEDs are in the 80s

Typical LEDs found in the vast majority of fixtures are >80 CRI. Reason being is that >90 CRI LEDs are ~25% less efficient (less lumens per watt) than 80 CRI.

 

[gtae07]

I prefer the 6500K in the shop. In the house we've been refitting all the bulbs to 5000K LEDs. It feels a lot cleaner and brighter in there now. Yellowish lighting just feels grimy now.

On the side, anyone else have a hard time with cool vs. warm because they keep thinking blackbody temperature (what the K number is) instead?

 

[Conniptor]

I recommend testing with a single bulb of each temp before committing. You could just try a screw-in bulb in a drop light to see the colorizing effect. We found anything above 3000K made our kitchen granite and tile look like plastic, 2700K and it looks beautiful. Same with pool table felt, hi kelvin bulbs made it look ridiculous! Although in a garage/ shop, the hi kelvin bulbs seem brighter and better.

 

[Platonic Solid]

I'll quote myself from a prior thread:

The CCT scale, measured in degrees Kelvin, is based on the visible colors of a block of carbon at different temperatures which goes from red-yellow-white-blue as temperature increases.

Just because a lamp has a specific CCT measurement does not mean that is the measurement you will get in the installed space. CCT of reflected light changes significantly based on the color of the objects that are reflecting it:
A truly white surface will reflect all colors and not change CCT.
A truly black surface will absorb all colors and not change CCT.
Red, Yellow, Tan and Brown absorb blue and lower CCT.
Blue absorbs Red and Yellow raising CCT.

There are several studies linking overexposure to the blue wavelength light spectrum at night to negative health effects. Here’s a link to a short article on the topic.

Taking current research into consideration, it seems logical to base your CCT choice on the time of day that you spend the most time in the garage with the lights ON, thus emulating outdoor conditions:
Higher CCTs for primarily daytime use; Lower CCTs for primarily nighttime use.

I 2nd CDs sentiment that CRI (Color Rendering Index) is important. I'll add CQS (Color Quality Scale), but that data is harder to find advertised. Odds are if your lighting does a good job rendering the RED color spectrum, you have achieved >80% CRI. If REDs looks more brown you're likely <80% CRI.

 

[TNToy]

As just mentioned above, there's more to it than this...

However, natural sunlight is approximately 4300-4500K. Higher numbers appear whitish blue and lower numbers more warm and yellow.

 

[cybrdyke]

Hello,

I am putting 24 LED bulbs in my wood shop (28 x 32). Given that the bulbs are expected to last at least a decade, I want to make sure I choose the bulb color/temperature wisely.

• Anybody have any good bulb deals/recommendations? I am leaning toward the Philips 100 W equivalent at HD.
• What's the feedback or consensus on color/temperature? I picked up a 5000k and a 2700k to look at tonight, 5000k seems too intense. Any feedback or suggestions based on experience?

Thanks

That's a good bulb. As many here have said, the color preference is strictly yours. There's no right answer.
It's encouraging to see all the responses here using the Kelvin figures in conversation, rather than the old lingo...cool white, soft white, daylight, etc. It's only been a few years since LED's have been out and the public is already learning the difference between warm and cool colors.

For what it's worth, there's a difference between "sunlight" and "daylight". The light being delivered thru space from the sun is "sunlight". Scientists will tell you that it's pretty consistent at right around 5000K, but it really doesn't matter very much what color sunlight is. When sunlight hits our atmosphere with all it's water vapor, dust, pollution, clouds and then reflects off the earth....this is "daylight". There is no consistent Kelvin number for daylight. Daylight varies greatly from 2200K to well over 20,000K.
CD

 

[NewShockerGuy]

I run 5000k full spectrum in my garage but now looking at C. Charles Hahn's pictures of his shop it's making me re-think and try out 6500k. That is by far such clean looking light. I thought 5000k was nice but his shows no hint of blue where mine almost seem white washed in comparison....hmmm

-Nigel

 

[Onewolf]

I have 6500K t8 bulbs in my garage/workshop/train room. I love the light they produce.

 

[Ironhorse74]

I just fired up my 6000k LED lights for the first time today. They look great in the shop.

Brad

 

[OCJohn]

I have 6500K T8s in my shop, used for automotive paint inspection and correction. For me they are far better than a lower-Kelvin lamp for purposes of seeing color match, texture, etc.

Not questioning your choice of Kevin temp, but the photo examples don't mean much without stating the white balance setting of the camera and if there was any color correction applied afterward.

If the photos were taken using Auto White Balance (default on most cameras) then they'd look roughly the same no matter which color LEDs you got...

 

[machine_punk]

As I get older and need more light to see details and need reading glasses, I prefer the 5K lights in the shop.

Kev

 

[Brad J.]

8000k Octron T-8's are my favorite bulbs for paint detail. Everything else looks yellow.

 

[bedn0009]

I ended up with 24 of these. 1100 lumens, 3000k, 25,000 hour rating. $6.00 on closeout

https://www.menards.com/main/electr...ulb/p-1444430384339-c-7482.htm?freeFormRowId=

 

[ExxWhy]

Not questioning your choice of Kevin temp, but the photo examples don't mean much without stating the white balance setting of the camera and if there was any color correction applied afterward.

If the photos were taken using Auto White Balance (default on most cameras) then they'd look roughly the same no matter which color LEDs you got...

This is a good example of a camera is not a truthful witness regarding color and relative brightness. This is 5 4ft T8's (4100K) which are the first of 36 I am installing. Seems reasonably bright and about the same color as higher temp bulbs shown in other pictures. Camera lies!

 

[QuickRick]

Go to Lowes or HD and look at the displays. There is a lot of good information there. I will say, I put a set of 5000k bulbs in our bath and my wife was pissed, it made her face look old and wrinkly she said.
If you want to look like a human under this light, shoot for warmer coolers.at least not more than 4100k.

QR