A good lighting source will make your room really shine. Here’s what you need to know when choosing light sources.
Color Temperature Light is seen in a color spectrum. Knowing the color of the light is important. It needs to be not too warm and not too cool. The best colors seem to be between 3000K-3500K. Energy use is a concern in every household. LED provides the best light for the least energy used.
Watts vs. Lumens To start with, what’s the difference between a watt and a lumen? Watts: Watts are measurements of how much electricity something uses. It actually has nothing to do with how bright a bulb is, but incandescent bulbs are so similar in their light output that when we buy a 100-watt incandescent light bulb, we have a general idea of how bright it will be. We associate watts with light. With newer types of bulbs, it takes far fewer watts to create just as much light, so wattages are no longer very useful. Each type of bulb is different, and the idea is to develop bulbs that use fewer watts to provide better light.
Lumens: Lumens are the measurement of the amount of light put out by the bulb. Lumens indicate how the light performs even when the light comes from incandescent, fluorescent or an LED source. A standard 6-watt bulb will produce between 750-850 lumens of light, and so will a 13-watt CFL or a 9-watt LED. LED lamp life is often between 25,000-50,000 hours, but don’t expect the bulb to burn out like in the past. An LED lamp reaches its useful life when the light output had depreciated 70% of its stated output. Using the standard of 800 lumens, when an LED lamp has depreciated to 570 lumens of output, it is not providing the correct amount of light.
The Color Rendering Index (CRI) of a light bulb refers to the bulb’s ability to show the full color range. CRI is rated from 0-100, with 100 being closest to natural light. A CRI of 80 is fine for fill lighting, but 90-100 is best for task lighting in an office, as well as the kitchen and bath.