2 words: dimmer switches

We're slowly putting them in every room and love it!

It depends on the time of day. I like a cooler halogen closer to sunlight during daylight hours, and slightly warmer at night. But I program all of my rooms to have the right color temperature depending on time and mood. I have about 200 programmable bulbs in my home.

I find the new led light bulbs so hard to figure out. Thank you for sharing your preference. We moved into a house with warm yekowish cream paint and lots of medium oak wood. It is a bit traditional for my taste, like we’re in the 90s. I want to try the slightly cooler lighting you suggest, or paint the walls a slightly brighter cream. We’re slowly updating the light fixtures to be more modern.

It's your house, who cares what anyone else thinks?

I do think it's hard to find the happy medium between sterile hospital white and orangey. I've been shopping too fast and bought one or the other a couple times.

3500k works well in our home with a very sunny exposure and deeper off-white paint color. I think it would be too chilly and “bright” in a home with cooler natural lighting and walls painted in a true white.

Anonymous wrote:3200-3500K is the spot. I also find anything below 3000k to be way too yellow.

OP here, this is where I’ve landed. I actually bought some smart bulbs that I can adjust with an app on my phone (warmth and brightness) and I find myself at 3200 at like 60% brightness as my default.

In looking at a chart like this one I’m so much more drawn to the area in between 3000-4000k. Below that looks very orange and unappealing to me. I don’t see how anyone could think ~3500k is cold/bright, but there is some subjectivity to it I guess.

https://www.alamy.com/light-color-temperature-scale-from-1000k-to-10000k-3d-image668940843.html

Get what you like.

My house uses different light colors in different contexts. I like a full-spectrum daylight bulb for my desk and in the kitchen. I use GE Reveal (tm) bulbs in some other places. GE Reveal bulbs have a different spectrum, so although the aggregate color temperature is lower the yellows are suppressed.

https://www.gelighting.com/led-hd-bulbs/reveal

American preference for 2700K is largely a habit from GE incandescent light bulbs sold here for a century before LED bulbs existed. In other parts of the world, the preferred color temperature is not 2700K.

Color Rendering Index (CRI) is another tool some use when selecting light bulbs.

blue light is awful. LED light is awful. But hey, whatever you think works for you...

You’re an outlier, but who cares? It’s just light bulbs. Get what you like.

If you’re talking about it DayLight lighting, the bright white like hospitals use, yuck. They give me a headache.

3200-3500K is the spot. I also find anything below 3000k to be way too yellow.

Bright, cold LED lights are tacky. I mean, if you are happy your house looks like a sterile medical office or a car dealership, there is not much reasoning with you.

Warmth is a color, not a power level.

It's all a matter of perception. I like my house in warm lighting at night. We have walls that are cream/blush. They read pale, but warm.

When I bought my first home a few years ago, I opted for warmer lighting based on everything I read online about it being recommended for homes. But I realized over time that I found this lighting dingy and somewhat depressing at night. I think it’s in large part because I already have warm white walls.

A few months ago I switched my main lighting to 3500k (and 3000k lamps for the evening) and think it looks so much better. I’m now working on string lights for my porch and originally put up the standard 2700k warm lights, which seems to be the most “popular” color. But again I find it so yellow/orangey and unflattering.

I just ordered some 4000k string lights and think they look great at 50% dimmed. To me it still looks calming but also keeps a crisp/clean feeling. But I’m second-guessing myself because the Google search consensus seems to be warmer is always better and that going over 3000k is too cold/harsh. Am I a weird outlier here? Can neutral lighting still look relaxing?