Proper Kitchen Lighting /Light Bulbs

3 years ago

There is a gal here who is always recommending proper light bulbs for kitchen. I can't find any of her posts. I think it was 4000 watt something....

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Jennifer Hogan

3 years ago

@che11e - you are right - you are not going to find anything at a big box store with a 4000 k temperature.

They are made, but only by a few manufacturers. Most have a couple of choices that are somewhere between 2700 and 3000 or a 5000

Lowes seems to carry mostly GE light bulbs

Choices in colors are Soft White 2700 k, Reveal 2850 k, Daylight 5000 k

Cree- one of the two brands that I use has

Soft white - 2700 k , bright white 3000 k and Daylight 5000 k

Feit - the other brand that I use has the same offering in the general use lights

Soft white - 2700 k , bright white 3000 k and Daylight 5000 k

This information is generally on the box and labeled "temperature"

I also looked at the HD website and they do have one standard light bulb that comes in a 4000 k and it is a brand that I am not familiar with.

If you plan on getting any fixtures with integrated LED light bulbs they are almost all 3000 k. This means that it will look whiter than your other lights if you have 2700 k light bulbs in your other fixtures or yellow if you have 5000 k light bulbs in your other fixtures.

I have not been able to find a single manufacturer that is making a ceiling fan with an integrated light that is not 3000 k and I have researched for months.

So the color is choice 1

The other 2 things I use are lumens (brightness - amount of light produced) and CRI (Color Rendering Index).

Most light bulb packages will provide both the lumens and the Watt equivalent and the temperature. Few are showing the CRI.

CRI/color rendering index is a measurement of how well a light bulb renders different colors. The light waves emitted from a light bulb should be balanced, but LED is still a fairly new technology and not all lights emit balanced wavelengths, so different bulbs may not pick up reds or blues or greens as well as another.

If you are used to 2700 k lighting 5000 k is going to look bright. 5000 k is like daylight on a clear day about 2:00 in the afternoon (Noon daylight on a clear day is 6500 k). Right before sunset when the sky is turning orange the light is about 2700 k

When I first changed out all the lights in the home I bought it looked so bright, but after a couple of days it didn't seem so bright. Now it seems normal and I notice how yellow and dim other homes look.

Not everyone likes the bright white light of a daylight bulb.

I happen to love purples, violet grays and taupe. All of these colors get muddy with yellow lighting. I use 5000 k daylight bulbs.

My sister in law has country style decor, cornflower blues and peaches and creams. She uses 3000 k light bulbs.

My sister has a Tudor home and a lot of industrial and antique furniture and fixtures. Her home is decorated in fall colors, burnt orange, golds, greens. She uses 2700 k lighting.

All three homes look good with the lighting that was selected for their homes and would not look as good with a different color light.

Hope this helped make things a bit clearer for you.

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Comments (13)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
That’s me and the bulbs are available almost everywhere they are LEDs in 4000k they mimic bright sunlight and keep colors from changing at night like the old incandescent bulbs did ans also the warm LEDs Sometimes they are called daylight . I get mine at HD.
che11e thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
che11e
Original Author
3 years ago
Your name popped into my head picking up my grocery order, which they gave me the wrong order, ugh, so I have to go back out. I am looking at Lowes online right now...I am light bulb challenged...4000k is the color-not the wattage....I am seeing warm white and daylight. I am thinking I need daylight??
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Ok well I have been using these forums for months now for advice on our home. I Finally decided to sign up because I have to ask this question. First of all I'm 28 years old newly married and I Have been living at home since college. Fortunately my wife agreed to sell her 1st house of 3 years and move "home" with me so we could save to built. So now we are building and now I am a 28 year old General Contractor (not by trade). I am actually learning about how to build a house as I go. Let me tell you, GC'n your own home with having a full time job is like having two full time jobs. Anyways were trying to save money so this is how we decided to do it. So to my question. Sorry about the dissertation. My Kitchen, right now its all studs as we are doing the electrical. It's basically one huge open floor plan with the kitchen, great room and dining room with the kitchen being separated by a wall from the great room. The wall however only goes 9 ft high and this one big room is vaulted from 9 ft to 14ft in the center. The kitchen itself is approximately 12X12 with a 69" penninsula extending past the 9ft wall at a 45 degree angle. Right now I have 4 Halo 6 inch recessed cans spaced out evenly in the 4 corners of the kitchen about 3" off from where the countertop would be. I have 3 pendant hanging lights over the penninsula and one over the sink. I plan on putting in over the cabinet lighting and under the cabinet lighting though I am not sure what to use yet. Is my lighting plans good enough or will i find that I wished i put in more recessed lights? The cans are H7ICT's and I think we will be using 65w or CLF equivalents with eyeball trims. The lights are mounted on the vaulted ceiling so two of them are actually lower that the other two. I know it is hard to explain so I will try to attach a picture with this post. I am not a designer by any means I just looking for some advice. Sorry about the long post and spelling errors! If you need more info let me know and I will provide what i can. If you can tell me how I add pictures I will add the schematics of the layout Thanks, Nick
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PRO
HALLETT & Co.
3 years ago
Warm white is 2700k which is like traditional light bulbs. Daylight usually means 4000k and has a more blue cast. I prefer 3000k... the good news is you can buy some of each and try them out. Make sure you buy the correct type of bulb- cans need reflector types while regular fixtures don’t.
Jennifer Hogan
3 years ago
I did a lot of research on lightbulbs before selecting which brand and color I wanted. This was about 3 to 4 years ago. Had to get about 50 replacement bulbs for the home I bought.

I found that the CREE Daylight from Home Depot and the FEIT daylight from Costco were the two that had good ratings, really nice color and high CRI (Color Rendering Index).

K values on the packaging do not always equate to the exact same color between brands. I believe my research showed that the k value on the package is +- 500 k.

I don't know if Lowes carries either of the brands I selected.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
You can also just go online to any large bulb supplier I use 1000bulbs too. I do not dind 4000k to be blue at all so I would still stick to that bulb.
Jennifer Hogan
3 years ago
5000 is a true white light, it is not blue.

Top left is 5000 k.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
IMO natural daylight is much closer to 4000K I have it all through my house and not one color changes when the sun goes down and my lighting comes on that is the aim IMO .
che11e
Original Author
3 years ago
Hello everyone... I went to Lowes...I needed help and asked for the 4000K & they had no idea, they told me to get bright white , nothing "warm" . There wasn't a 4000k or whatever that k value is on the boxes. I bought a bulb to try Bright White, 75 Watts, 850 Lumens. All I could think of was Jake from the Blues Brothers....YES. YES. JESUS H. TAP-DANCING CHRIST... I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT. LOL. It's too bright! I know they are dimmable but we would have to install dimmers. Ever notice how one project morphs into so much more? For now, I just need something that reads cool, but not so bright. Since they had no idea, & I really don't know what it means...I specifics. Where do I find this K value?
Jennifer Hogan
3 years ago
To find the CRI if it is not listed on the package you can look up the bulb on the Energy Star website https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-light-bulbs/results
Jennifer Hogan
3 years ago
Just checked out the 1000 lightbulbs site.
- LED Light Bulbs - A19
- LED Light Bulbs - 60 Watt Equal - 4000 Kelvin
Result - 3 brands w/4 lightbulbs

Looked up one specs on one of each brand listed and the highest CRI was 82.
Cris Monty
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I have installed lighting in many kitchens. The light should be placed so that people in the kitchen do not cast shadows on the work surface and the dining area;
At the same time, the light sources must not be too bright so as not to dazzle people.
Some light sources must complement the others, and the Alexa & Google Without Hub light bulbs are suitable for this.
It is also necessary to consider the color scheme of the kitchen. So, light walls and furniture will reflect up to 80% of the light flux, and dark - only about 12%. The dining and working areas need different lighting power. Approximate norms are as follows: illumination power for the working area - 100 W/m2, dining area - 50 W/m2.
everdebz
2 years ago
Ok, Cris, while we're on... isn't undercabineting lighting the only way to prevent major shadows - or do recessed ceiling lights also prevent - placed right?

Proper Kitchen Lighting /Light Bulbs

Jennifer Hogan

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Proper Kitchen Lighting /Light Bulbs

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