Light bulb buying guide
Simple steps to success with light bulbs
When faced with rows of light bulbs, it can be overwhelming and difficult to choose the proper one if you lack the necessary knowledge.
We can thus help you pick the proper bulb and light your house quickly, whether you're trying to figure out if it's a BC or ES fitting or attempting to compare watts with lumens.
Understanding cap fittings
You must first determine what cap fitting you require before you can begin purchasing.
The most popular cap fittings are listed here; to determine the fitting you need, compare it to your light bulb fitting.
Convertible cap
Try this bulb converter, which enables you to use your E27 Edison Screw bulb in a B22 Bayonet Cap fitting, if you can't exactly locate the bulb to fit your cap fitting. What a clever notion!
Changing out outdated bulbs
You may switch them out for a more modern LED bulb if you're replacing an old-style, energy-saving CFL spiral or stick-shaped bulb. These new lights are more energy-efficient in addition to having a nicer appearance. Even if incandescent bulbs are no longer widely available, you can still replace one of them by choosing an equal alternative from the list of bulb technologies below.
Replacing old bulbs
If you’re replacing an old-style energy saving CFL spiral or stick shaped bulb, you can change these to a newer LED bulb. These new bulbs not only look better but they are more energy efficient too. Incandescent bulbs have largely been removed from the market, but don’t worry if you need to replace one of those; you just need to find an equivalent option from the bulb technologies below.
Understanding bulb technology
Halogen, LED, and smart bulbs are the three primary categories of light bulb technology available from BENWEI.
Halogen bulbs: Compared to LED lights, halogen bulbs have a shorter lifespan and greater operating expenses, but they also attain maximum brightness rapidly.
The term "LED" refers to light-emitting diodes, or bulbs. Compared to earlier styles of bulbs, LED bulbs are cheaper to operate, emit less heat, and last a lot longer. Don't be deterred by LED bulbs' initial price tag; their reduced energy usage will result in greater long-term savings for you. There are LED lamps that can be dimmed.
LED smart bulbs:
Smart light bulbs provide voice control of numerous lights through a smart home assistant or remotely using an app on your smartphone. These LED lights are smart and come in a variety of colors and designs. They also have a wide range of smart functions.
Understand your brightness
When purchasing light bulbs in the past, we used the wattage as a measure of brightness. New bulbs require a lot less electricity to generate the same amount of light, which is excellent news for the environment and your energy bill. Watts (W) really measure the bulb's power usage.
Now, while evaluating the brightness of a new bulb, you must consider lumens (represented as 'lm') rather than watts!
Understand the color temperature.
The color temperature should be considered while choosing your new bulbs because it might assist you achieve various moods or jobs.
What does Kelvin mean?
In essence, the Kelvin scale measures the color temperature of the light and Kelvins are a unit of measurement for how cool or warm the light is. The Kelvin scale, denoted as K, indicates the degree of whiteness of the light.
Warmer, cozier lighting produced by low Kelvins is ideal for your living room, dining room, bedroom, and hallway.
The environment created by high Kelvins is energizing, bright, lively, and crisp, making it ideal for your kitchen, bathroom, study, and workshop. High Kelvins provide more energizing neutral white light.
Understand your personal style
Our ornamental bulbs come in a variety of designs and forms, such as magnificent globes and diamonds, to complement your decor. They may be simply installed to replace standard bulbs with the same cap fitting by combining LED technology with classic design.
When turned on and off, LED filament bulbs look nice. The color of LED bulbs is frequently opaque or misted, which is also referred to as "pearl" or "opal." These can make the bulb appear somewhat plain, although new variants that are entirely transparent are now readily available.
Filament LED lights
With their characteristic yellow LED filaments for that additional character that makes us think of the original Edison filament, LED filament bulbs are made to resemble traditional light bulbs more. They are incredibly fashionable but lack the high running costs and limited lifespan of their forerunners.
When used in table or wall lamps or as accent lights, these bulbs emit a warm, welcoming golden soft glow that is ideal for fostering a cozy ambiance in living areas or bedrooms.
Glass: amber or clear?
You may select an LED filament bulb with either clear glass or amber-colored glass as well. Both display the fine details of their LED filaments, but the amber glass alternative has a slightly warmer color temperature and has the appearance of an old-fashioned light bulb. Both come in a variety of forms and can be dimmed or not, but amber bulbs provide a warm white light whereas clear bulbs can produce both neutral and warm light.
Details regarding bulbs
Here are some additional ideas and criteria to take into account when choosing your new bulbs:
Beam angles
When choosing a light bulb, choosing the appropriate beam angle is equally crucial.
Low beam angles produce directed light that brings attention to a certain region or item. When installed closer together, low beam angle lights perform better in compact spaces.
Non-directional light will be produced by a broad beam angle. In larger spaces, bright lights with greater beam angles perform better.
The bulb's composition may also affect the beam angle. For instance, plastic bulbs can have a narrower beam angle than glass bulbs.
Dimmable LED lighting
There are varieties of LED lights that can be dimmed and those that cannot; not all LED bulbs are meant to be dimmed. Make careful to buy LED bulbs that can be dimmed if you want to use a dimmer switch; this is stated on the box with the symbol shown above.
In many circumstances, you may continue to utilize your present dimmer switch by just taking out your old lights and replacing them with dimmable LED lights. You will likely need to swap your dimmer switch for one made for low wattage dimmable LED bulbs if your replacement LED bulbs flicker or make a buzzing noise. This is due to the fact that more traditional dimmer switches are unable to "read" the low loading of an LED light. But it's helpful to know that you may use dimmable LED lights with or without a dimmer control.
