Have you been to the light bulb section at the hardware store recently? Holy cow they have alot! It used to be pretty simple with the old incandescent – 40 watt, 60, 75 or 100. Maybe a 3 way bulb for the floor lamp, or a 4 ft fluorescent for the basement. Then the candelabra bulbs came out with the brass chandeliers in the 80s, and the ceiling fan bulbs. Then all shapes and sizes with various new fixtures thru the 90s and 2000s. Then halogens…CFLs…LEDs…And now the latest thing: intensity and color.
I first noticed it with commercial parking lot lighting – the targeted, white-blue-ish color, very bold but not offensive. I noticed the spread into homes with the explosion of LED fixtures, first outside, then interior can lights, kitchens and bathrooms, where brighter lights were desirable. Various intensities and colors/ temperatures were introduced, but alot less incandescent yellow.
The choice today seems not so much wattage as it is brightness or color as indicated on the Kelvin scale. You will notice “soft white” or “opale”(traditional yellow) at the 2700-3000 range; “bright white” in the 3000-4000 range, and “daylight” at 5000. It is worth buying a box of each and trying them in various fixtures (as long as the base fits) around the house to get the look you want. I can tell you with confidence that residential lighting is moving away from yellow. It may be nice to have in a den or bedroom, where you want softer lighting, but out in the public areas, the garage, storage room, front porch, lighting is going “bright white”. I feel the daylight is a bit much, closer to the fluorescent look. We just had new light fixtures and ceiling fans installed in our main rooms and bathroom, and after trying all of the above, went with “bright white” for almost everything. Some are on dimmers, like the dining room. Look for dimmable bulbs.
Happy lighting!
Gary Hoeferkamp, Broker - Owner of Hoeferkamp Real Estate 