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_ALLien_ t1_j2muik6 wrote

5000k is sharp cool white. If this is for a residential application you should consider something closer to 3000k. If this is a workshop or similar 5000k makes better sense. That’s my .02.

The load is fine. You were correct in adding up the points. If you have trouble with dimming (flickering, etc) you might need an LED compatible dimmer.

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BigSmokeyTheBear t1_j2n3h1k wrote

100% this. People are turning their homes into offices and it’s driving me absolutely mad. Go into a house with white light and I literally can’t relax. Turns everything from a warm inviting home to a cold prison cell. Just my perception- but I recommend you not decide between one or the other and get something high lumen and temperature adjustable, install it, then adjust it to your preference. Some people confuse lumen output with color temperature- and hence cold residential prisons. If you can’t see get something 3000 lumen instead of 600 and I promise you’ll see everything regardless of color temperature.

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nycola t1_j2n5kp7 wrote

I'm cracking up, my younger cousin got married recently and has entered the world of home ownership with her husband. At Christmas she was telling the story of how she asked him to go to Home Depot to get white lights for their tree.

So he went to Home Depot and got white lights, but they were the blue-white ones instead of the traditional warm-white ones. She grew up with a Martha-Stewart-Like mother (My aunt is the living embodiment of pinterest). She told him to take them back and get the proper ones, he could not, for the life of him, figure out how he got the "wrong" white lights.

So she ended up going back to Home Depot to return them, but she kept one package, then got the "right" white lights.

So she takes them home to show him the difference and he says "I actually like the white-light ones better" at which point she tried explaining color mood to him and he started watching football.

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fuelbombx2 t1_j2nbk80 wrote

Well, either this is the first crack in their marriage or they’ll be laughing about it at their 30th wedding anniversary. Hopefully, it’ll be the second one.

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jasonmp85 t1_j2o6e9c wrote

Why, he sounds like a dolt and she sounds incapable of communicating specificity, let it fail.

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sudifirjfhfjvicodke t1_j2n5z0x wrote

I use color tunable smart bulbs in a few areas of my house that offer a "circadian rhythm" setting that automatically adjusts the color temperature throughout the day. Starts off in the morning around 5000k and gradually adjusts to around 2800k by the evening. I love it this way, I need that white light in the morning to help me feel more energized, especially since our living room doesn't get a lot of natural light.

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Jewrisprudent t1_j2nefnh wrote

This is the only way. I’ve had a combo of Hue and LIFX lights throughout my house for the last 4 years, it absolutely drives me insane when a room is not properly lit now.

It’s 2023 people, we have the technology to perfect our room’s color temperature!

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Deadofnight109 t1_j2nnpeg wrote

100%, I spent the extra for the color hues mostly for all the color temperature settings. The main lights rarely use the full color settings. But it sure is nice when I need some extra visibility that I can change everything to a nice crisp cool white.

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ZeroMayCry7 t1_j2o0t89 wrote

Yup. My friends new house has new recessed lights that are a bright white and it does not feel homey at all

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SyncRoSwim t1_j2nlb8d wrote

After renovating our kitchen with a lot of deep blue elements, we experimented with lighting in various temperatures. The 5k lights looked the best, hands down.

Normally, I’d agree with you - we use warm whites in the 2.3 to 3k range everywhere else in the house. But there is a place for 5k!

Since we had to order the lighting before the renovation was done, all I can say is thank goodness for fixtures with variable temperature settings. Because of my bias towards warm light, I’m certain I never would have chosen 5k in advance.

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coyote_of_the_month t1_j2o07jh wrote

When we bought our house last year, it was yellow-biege, including ceilings, and was mostly lit with honest to God incandescent bulbs.

We painted it a cool off-white and went overboard with 5000K daylight bulbs, if I'm being honest. It made such a difference! Our close friends haven't been shy about saying they hate it though, and I'm coming around to maybe buying some 3000K bulbs as the memories of the beige start to fade.

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sunflowercompass t1_j2n6i29 wrote

3k is too orange, it is the color of light during sunset

I need 4k to stay awake and keep seasonal affective disorder away. 4k is the color of the sun at noon. 4k is the closest to "neutral white"

edit: oh one more variable. The furniture and wall colors you have will affect how light looks. If your walls are yellow like mine the light will look yellower.

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Mr-Thumpasaurus t1_j2nfk2e wrote

Have you considered smart bulbs? I have mine transition throughout the day. That way you have the best of both worlds

An alternative for more analog systems would be to get some lights like the Philips "Warm Glow" bulbs, which transition in temperature as you dim them

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sunflowercompass t1_j2njm6f wrote

I have some phillip smart bulbs. A bit expensive thought and not bright enough for my living room. I replaced them with 3 big LED fixtures at 4k with a dimmer switch. In the evening I use it at the bare minimum, color temp doesn't really matter at that point.

For the bedroom the old warm temps are fine, you want warm lights to go to sleep anyway.

edit: oh I remember why I disliked the phillip lights. They are a neat party trick but I hated the app to control them. If I did it again I'd make sure there's a hardwired control at the switch. Yes it means you need to get up.

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lostarchitect t1_j2nm5g5 wrote

The GE Cync smart bulbs are surprisingly affordable. I put a bunch of them in my basement where I had a bunch of individual ceiling lights with pull chains. Now they all go on at once with the press of one smart switch. I'm also using them around the house in places where I can't have a dimmer but would like one.

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FerretChrist t1_j2o25qa wrote

I have Philips Hue bulbs throughout the house. The app is pretty decent when you want to dive in and edit colours and scenes, but I couldn't live using it day to day just to turn on and off the lights, that would be insanity.

I've attached "Hue Wireless Dimmer" controls next to every light switch. They turn the lights on and off, cycle through different scenes, or turn up/down the brightness. Best of all, they attach magnetically, so you can pull them off the wall and control the lights while you're sat down.

The only downside (except the price!) is they're battery powered, but I've had them in for two years now and not needed to change a battery yet.

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RickFast t1_j2ng5nh wrote

Daylight is 5600k.

It totally depends on the usage of your lights.

Using during the daytime? Anything 4000 and up is appropriate (that’s why it’s used in offices, warehouses, etc)

Using them at night? Anything above about 3500 is gonna look nasty and leave a bad strain on your eyes.

In a perfect world use smart ones that can change the colour temp

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ahecht t1_j2ok45a wrote

> 4k is the color of the sun at noon.

Depending on the season and your latitude, noontime sun is somewhere in the 5000-5800K range. 4000K is closer to early-morning or late-afternoon sunlight.

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Mrgoodtrips64 t1_j2nh457 wrote

The color of the sun at noon isn’t consistent. It varies slightly by time of year and the viewer’s geographical location.

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Paldasan t1_j2ncayo wrote

Pitching in to recommend that any subsequent readers who wear makeup to consider matching their bathroom lights to their place of work lights for colour temperature. That way when you apply your makeup it will closely resemble how it will look at work, or substitute for wherever else you might feel most comfortable projecting your modified appearance.
For those who don't use makeup, then I would suggest a cooler white, it might help you keep track of your skin and observe any changes that might be occurring (such as the size and shape of any moles, which could indicate skin cancer).

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HanzG t1_j2n9ixf wrote

Agreed! 5k is too cold for us too. I bought a handful of 4500 or 5k bulbs from the local Orange store and put them in the outdoor fixtures of my rural home.

Terrible. Cold, stark white like an operating room in the middle of farm land. Swapped them out for 2700k and lower "wattage" and they're much better. I tried the bulbs in the fixtures in the house but again the only place it was decent is the basement workspaces.

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LateralThinkerer t1_j2nu5u0 wrote

3000K - 4000K FTW depending on where you're using it. Work areas you might actually like the "harder" 4000K or more but for interior domestic areas the lower color temperature is best. Also don't be afraid to actually check out lit bulbs in a big-box store if you can...manufacturers will fudge their color temperatures sometimes though this becoming is less common. Source: Light nerd who's refitting his house away from fluorescents.

Here's a graphic guide

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maddips t1_j2odrc2 wrote

Different folks right? I assumed this was for a grow room to need that mich lighting on 1 switch

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jzooor t1_j2n5ugn wrote

Only 2700K bulbs in our house. We have a few task lamps with higher K in them for desk work and other focus tasks but everything else is warm white.

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colinstalter t1_j2ngqdi wrote

Yeah the other comment about 3000k being super orange is nuts. Our whole house is 2700k and they perfectly match the OG light bulbs that I haven’t changed yet.

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ayyylmaowut t1_j2mx1lf wrote

I hate anything below 4000k. Yellow lighting is atrocious imo, and I can never see as well vs whiter lighting….but yellow does match better with traditional aesthetics. For a modern style and cooler colors in a home, 4000k - 5000k works great. It’s not only for shop lights. Lol

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nye1387 t1_j2mzjtu wrote

I'm curious: what part of the world are you in? Turns out there are some strong geographic preferences that are often (not always) linked to local climate. People in deserts tend to prefer high-K lights, and people at high latitude tend to prefer low-K lights—both the opposite of what they tend to see outside.

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ayyylmaowut t1_j2n1wld wrote

I’m in subtropical, so warm and wet. My parents have mostly yellow lighting most of my life. I didn’t really have a strong opinion until I bought a home and had painted 3 walls before I stepped back and realized I hated how the paint looked on the walls. The minute I changed out the light bulbs from the 3000k to 5000k, suddenly the light gray/white paint looked more gray/white and less magenta (apparently had 1/64th magenta in the formula and I could see it with the warmer lighting).

I prefer higher K due to the very real effect it has on cooler colors and style of my home. Also much easier for me to actually see.

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Redthemagnificent t1_j2n3g4d wrote

This makes a lot of sense combined with the previous comment about location. I grew up in cold, high latitude location and I love 3000k lights. 5000-6000k just reminds me of bright sunlight reflecting off the snow and the florescent lights used in schools. 3000k reminds me of sitting by a warm fire. Cozy

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nye1387 t1_j2n7acr wrote

This is exactly what I meant above. Nice to have anecdotal confirmation!

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sunflowercompass t1_j2n6qu0 wrote

I think it's how you grew up maybe. I grew up closer to the tropics so I prefer bright, intense lights. High K lights like the ones from CFL depress the fuck out of me.

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dilligaf4lyfe t1_j2nbsu3 wrote

Warmer lighting is fine for most tasks, if you're having issues with task visibility you probably just need more lights. Most people I see with this issue are relying on a few ceiling lights to do all of the lighting work - minimal ceiling lighting will generally be there to provide ambient light, and should be supplemented with additional lighting for tasks. Lamps in locations where you're reading or writing, pendants or cans in kitchen areas over countertops etc.

I run into this pretty frequently, a customer will have one boob light on the ceiling cranked to 5000k so they can do tasks in the area, when layered, task specific lighting to supplement would make the space a lot more functional without a glaring, cool ceiling light completely dominating the space.

It's all personal preference of course, but I think most people associate overly cool light with hospitals and offices. Really my biggest pet peeve is people who have an assortment of different colors like they just randomly bought whatever bulb was in front of them (which is frequently the case). I can't stand multiple can lights that all have a different color. You can layer in different color lights if it's done with some intention, but man I usually think it looks horrible.

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ayyylmaowut t1_j2nhlur wrote

Lmao I also can’t stand multiple colored lights in a shared space if they’re for the same purpose. We have accent lighting that can be 4000k but all our general ceiling+ lamp lighting is 5000k. We also have task lighting that supplements the general purpose ceiling lights (under cabinet light bars), but we also prefer those set to 5000k, although I have turned them down to 3000k - 4000k before, like when it’s late and I don’t want everything on or we’re watching a movie and want minima background lighting.

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ButtRash69 t1_j2mybs2 wrote

Agreed, I’ve slowly been swapping every light bulb/LED panel with bright 4000k dimmable light bulbs

Yellow lighting makes me want to puke, our carpet is grey so it makes it look like it has pee stains with tired eyes and our walls are blue so it gives them a green tint

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_ALLien_ t1_j2mynhl wrote

Warm light also matches natural lighting more closely - at the hours you’re typically relying on interior light. High noon is closer to 4000k light. Sunset, sunrise, and low angle sunlight is warmer - which is when you’re typically relying on interior lighting. Warm light is for cozy, relax hours. Cool color light is for mid-day active hours. Most smartphones have the option to auto-shift the screen color temp similarly. Places of work and shopping centers typically have cool white light to promote alertness. Restaurants and spas use warm light to promote relaxation.

But do what you like!

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