Cool Light vs Warm Light: Which Should I Choose?
We take a look at the differences between cool light vs warm light and how to plot out light colour temperature for the different rooms in your home
There are no set guidelines that must be followed when deciding between cold light and warm light for your home's lighting design. While we'll examine each type of light's qualities and the rooms in the house where it works best in this guide, the choice of lighting ultimately comes down to personal taste and the goals you have for the space.
Making the appropriate decision is crucial to your health and welfare when at home since, in addition to impacting your house's beauty, the colour temperature of light has an impact on your body's relationship with sleep and alertness.
What Makes Warm Light Better Than Cold Light?
The Kelvin scale measures colour temperature; the higher the number, the colder and more intense the colour of the light. Candlelight has a Kelvin temperature of around 1,000, whereas cold daylight has a Kelvin temperature of about 6,500 and a Kelvin temperature range of up to 10,000. Nevertheless, the range of light temperatures employed in a domestic lighting design is far more limited, mostly employing warm and cool white lights.
More red, orange, and yellow tones are present in warm white light than in cool white light, which results in a softer, cosier light. More blue is present in cooler light, which results in a cleaner, fresher light. As cool light is brighter than warm light, it is more suited for job lighting, but in the wrong situation, it can seem harsh.
At the Kelvin range of 3,000 to 4,500, cool white light starts to transition into what is known as daylight or natural light. These bulbs usually have a cooler, more blue hue, making the lighting too harsh for domestic use. For rooms in the house that need greater lighting, cool white light provides a nice medium between the two.
Is Warm Light Better than Cold Light?
Warm white lighting is the preferred option for usage in homes in the UK. Warm white often has a Kelvin temperature between 2700 and 3000, although there is no industry definition of what constitutes warm white—only what individuals believe to be warm white. For instance, John Cullen Lighting employs 2700 Kelvin LEDs as standard for their installations since their consumers want this warm white.
Warm light has a cosiness that makes it appealing for houses in the UK and most of the Western world, including Europe and the US, whereas cold light has a starkness yet productivity about it that identifies professional, work settings.
According to Senior Lighting Designer Estefania Marquez of John Cullen Lighting, lower light temps between 3000-6000 Kelvin are typically employed in hospitals or at work to keep people alert and interested.
In light of this, it is also important to take into account how light temperature affects circadian rhythms. Warm light is more in line with your circadian rhythm's objective of promoting the creation of melatonin, which promotes sleep; but, if you're trying to work late or anything similar, you could be seeking the opposite impact. This is a crucial aspect of the significance of lighting in biophilic design concepts.
The light temperature is adjusted throughout the day to fit the user's demands via biodynamic lighting systems, which are intelligent lighting designs that consider colour temperature and circadian rhythm. If so, it would be possible to use a cooler, brighter light in the winter's dimmer early hours while gradually switching to a warmer light as the evening wore on, ensuring that you weren't ready for bed by six o'clock. The concept behind light wake-up alarm clocks, which employ a gradual change in light temperature to assist our bodies in entering and leaving sleep, is similar to this one.
Should I use warm or cool lighting for my living room?
As a living room is typically utilised for rest and leisure in the evenings rather than performing numerous practical duties, it is desirable to have a warm lighting environment.
However, practical downlights can be cooler if used for tasks like cleaning, provided wall lights and pendants are also installed to ensure that a warm, ambient light can be created in the space when using it in the evening. Task lighting, such as reading lamps, should be given a slightly cooler hue.
Estefania adds, "I would also suggest using 2400 Kelvin LED strip for shelves in a living room since it offers a warmer feel at night when you want a more peaceful ambience. "Don't be scared to include warmer temperatures in ornamental fittings that range from 1900 to 2400 Kelvin since it will provide a sensation of warmth. This is especially effective for listed houses' living room lighting options.
Should I Choose Warm or Cool Lighting for My Kitchen?
In recent years, the kitchen's purpose has evolved from being solely practical to serving as the centre of the home. It's true that a lighting mix consisting only of warm white light may feel a touch dark while using the kitchen to prepare meals in the evening, but you also need to consider how your kitchen lighting ideas work with the rest of your space, especially if you have a large open plan kitchen.
In the ideal arrangement, warmer-hued wall lights and pendants over a kitchen island would be used, while cooler-hued downlights or spotlights and under cabinet lighting would be more task-friendly.
Should I Use Warm or Cool Lighting for My Bathroom?
Cooler lighting is frequently ideal for a bathroom. It's a mostly practical area, and getting ready for the day without sufficient brightness might result in some accidents. For this reason, bathroom mirrors with built-in illumination frequently have colder temperatures.
So it's a good idea to incorporate at least one warm bathroom lighting concept into your design. This is crucial if you have a bathtub since having a bath in a room with chilly, harsh lighting is seldom a relaxing experience. When you need to use the lavatory in the middle of the night, a dimmer, warmer light option is also fantastic.
Should I Use Warm or Cool Lighting for My Bedroom?
In general, bedrooms don't need chilly lighting, and even warmer light tones may be employed in your bedroom lighting ideas for the healthiest sleep. If your bedroom doesn't get much natural light, you might want to think about installing some downlights that are a little brighter and cooler to help with cleaning, but they won't often be used in the evening when it's time to go to bed.
Should I Use Warm or Cool Lighting for My Home Office?
While a home office should ideally be used mainly throughout the day, it's still necessary to have an efficient lighting setup to prevent eye fatigue. Brighter, whiter bulbs should be used when lighting a home office since cooler light will assure more productivity.
The flexibility to adjust these temps will make any guests to your home office more comfortable if it sometimes serves as a guest bedroom. There are smart LED bulbs available that can have their colour temperature changed via a Bluetooth-connected smartphone, very similar to biodynamic lighting systems.
Should I Choose Warm or Cold Light for the Garden?
For garden lighting options that are intended to highlight your landscaping, warm lighting is preferred. A garden might appear eerie at night if the temperature is lower than 3,000 kelvins, according to Sian Parsons, lighting designer at John Cullen.
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