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Light Color Guide

Color Guide | LeanLight

How to pick the correct light color

You often hear the terms: cool white, daylight white, natural whitewarm white and soft white when describing the light color of a light bulb and/or light fixture.  People often try to match up light bulb colors using these terms, only later to find the light color is a little different.  The reason is terms like warm white and soft white are Layman's terms for a range of light color temperatures. On top of that, these terms vary from company to company.  

It's always best to pick light color by choosing the correct correlated color temperature (CCT).  CCT is measured by degrees of Kelvin.  You will find the Kelvin temperature on the product's box of most major brands.  You will also find this information at LeanLight in the Product Title and specification tabs on the product page.  

CCT Guide | LeanLight

 

Color Recommendations

At LeanLight we have classified Light Color as follows:

Soft White = 2000K - 2999K.  We recommend 2700K for lamps and other residential lighting.  2700K produces a very warm relaxing feeling similar to a nice sunset.

Warm White = 3000K - 3999K.  We recommend 3000K or 3500K for general lighting in residential and hospitality applications for a relaxing mood similar to late afternoon or early sunset.

Natural White = 4000K - 4999K.  We recommend 4000K or 4100K for general lighting in commercial and residential applications.  Here is where the light starts to get whiter.  This is a good color for most applications being similar to mid-day providing a neutral mood.

Cool White = 5000K - 5999K.  We recommend 5000K for general lighting in retail and office applications.  This is where the light starts to turn towards the bluer spectrum.  5000K is a fresh, energetic color temperature often used at big-box stores because it allows the eye to clearly see merchandise colors (CRI also affects this).  This color is similar to early to mid-morning.  

Daylight White = 6000K - 6999K.  We recommend using 6500K for general lighting in specific applications including some retail and outdoor lighting.  This is where the light starts to look slightly blue like the moon.  

 

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