Best lighting colors?

[Endy0816]

Been working on smartening up my place and trying to get ideas on lighting. I feel using blue light for mornings has been helpful, not sure about other times though. Trying to be as scientific about it as possible.

[Phi for All]

You want the light to be more an effect on you, rather than your decor? I've read warmer, redder light is more relaxing, and the colder blue light is better for work.

[MigL]

Sunlight has a temperature around 5000 degK.
Bright, sunshiny days make me happy.
( especially this time of year )

[StringJunky]

 6000+K the feeling gets a bit cold, with white things taking on a distinct bluer cast; maximizes vision but rather harsh on tired eyes. Lower than 4000K is good for chilling out. 4500-5500K is pleasant for normal activities and reading.

[Phi for All]

7 hours ago, StringJunky said:

 6000+K the feeling gets a bit cold, with white things taking on a distinct bluer cast; maximizes vision but rather harsh on tired eyes.

I'm not a big fan of lights over 5500K. I understand why folks use them; as you say, they maximize vision for the person who put them in. But if they aren't properly shielded, they're harsh and distracting to everyone else. They aren't much good in the home; they'll make certain decor look sharper, but they accent any blemish on light skin. 

[StringJunky]

2 hours ago, Phi for All said:

I'm not a big fan of lights over 5500K. I understand why folks use them; as you say, they maximize vision for the person who put them in. But if they aren't properly shielded, they're harsh and distracting to everyone else. They aren't much good in the home; they'll make certain decor look sharper, but they accent any blemish on light skin. 

Yeah, high temperature lights are not flattering.

[Phi for All]

1 minute ago, StringJunky said:

Yeah, high temperature lights are not flattering.

Hair salons are stuck when it comes to modern lighting. High temp lights give the best light for the stylist, but make the customers look like crap. Iirc, the more blue in the light, the more it makes red blemishes show up purple, giving them more contrast against light skin. 

[StringJunky]

5 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

Hair salons are stuck when it comes to modern lighting. High temp lights give the best light for the stylist, but make the customers look like crap. Iirc, the more blue in the light, the more it makes red blemishes show up purple, giving them more contrast against light skin. 

If you look on the bright side ( ), they are getting the stylist's best effort. I've got torches from 3000K to 6500K and I use the latter when i want to maximise my eyes acuity.

Edited November 24, 2018 by StringJunky

[MigL]

didn't take you for a guy that uses hair salons, Phi.

[Phi for All]

2 hours ago, MigL said:

didn't take you for a guy that uses hair salons, Phi.

I made the mistake of trying to include salons in my clientele for LED conversions. I saved them lots of money on utilities, but they were the fussiest, hardest to please clients EVER. Very fine line between good work light and light that flatters the customers (who are watching themselves constantly in the mirrors you have everywhere). 

[Endy0816]

Thanks guys. With these bulbs I can cycle colors/saturation or switch them to a dim-able white. Not sure how all that would factor into color temperature.

Besides reds and blues, do the others offer any benefits?

Like the idea of mixing in the cyberpunk aesthetic but for interiors you only ever see blue lighting (used liberally of course).

 

On 11/24/2018 at 3:20 PM, Phi for All said:

I made the mistake of trying to include salons in my clientele for LED conversions. I saved them lots of money on utilities, but they were the fussiest, hardest to please clients EVER. Very fine line between good work light and light that flatters the customers (who are watching themselves constantly in the mirrors you have everywhere). 

lol, must have been an interesting balancing act.

[Klaynos]

Warmer colour temperature (actually cooler in terms of the number, think below 5000 K) tend to give better colour rendition to the human eye. There is also some evidence that they are less straining on the eye. 

In the torch (flashlight).community cool white (above about 6000 K) are normally met with derision. 4000 K is pretty comme and gives a good mid-afternoon mid latitudes kind of light. 

If you're really interested in colour rendering you need to look at colour rendering index (CRI). It goes from 0 to 100 with 100 being close to sunlight colour rendering. Most decent LEDs will give you 70, it's not too hard to get up around 95. Nichia and Samsung make some good high cri LEDs. In my torches I can see a difference between 5000 K at 70 cri and at 95 cri. 

 

[StringJunky]

24 minutes ago, Klaynos said:

Warmer colour temperature (actually cooler in terms of the number, think below 5000 K) tend to give better colour rendition to the human eye. There is also some evidence that they are less straining on the eye. 

In the torch (flashlight).community cool white (above about 6000 K) are normally met with derision. 4000 K is pretty comme and gives a good mid-afternoon mid latitudes kind of light. 

If you're really interested in colour rendering you need to look at colour rendering index (CRI). It goes from 0 to 100 with 100 being close to sunlight colour rendering. Most decent LEDs will give you 70, it's not too hard to get up around 95. Nichia and Samsung make some good high cri LEDs. In my torches I can see a difference between 5000 K at 70 cri and at 95 cri. 

 

I have an Astrolux with 3x Nichia 219c's in and I think they are 90 or so cri.  I'm not enough of a geek to notice the difference though with my Cree XPL versions other than brightness, of which the Cree's are much brighter. I think the tinting to get that level of CRI sacrifices brightness.

[Klaynos]

On 26/11/2018 at 11:59 AM, StringJunky said:

I have an Astrolux with 3x Nichia 219c's in and I think they are 90 or so cri.  I'm not enough of a geek to notice the difference though with my Cree XPL versions other than brightness, of which the Cree's are much brighter. I think the tinting to get that level of CRI sacrifices brightness.

Part of the reduction in brightness is due to how lumens are defined, humans are more sensitive to the bluer end of the spectrum and the scale is weighted. So the same energy coming out the front actually changes bassed on colour temperature of the light. There are other factors like the thickness and types of coatings used to on the LEDs to get a white spectrum out. They're getting better at that though (the Samsung options especially it seems). 

I carry an astrolux S1 with an xpl hi most days. The lower cri isn't a big problem for the most part. But it might be something worth thinking about in the context of the thread. Next time I have to think about kitchen lighting I'll take it into account. I find the led lights ive got at the moment not great for cooking meat. 

[StringJunky]

4 minutes ago, Klaynos said:

Part of the reduction in brightness is due to how lumens are defined, humans are more sensitive to the bluer end of the spectrum and the scale is weighted. So the same energy coming out the front actually changes bassed on colour temperature of the light. There are other factors like the thickness and types of coatings used to on the LEDs to get a white spectrum out. They're getting better at that though (the Samsung options especially it seems). 

I carry an astrolux S1 with an xpl hi most days. The lower cri isn't a big problem for the most part. But it might be something worth thinking about in the context of the thread. Next time I have to think about kitchen lighting I'll take it into account. I find the led lights ive got at the moment not great for cooking meat. 

Yeah, if an led source  is your mainstay ambient evening light, then CRI probably matters much more.