Guide to Light Color Temperature

What is color temperature?

Color temperature describes how warm or cool white light is to the human eye. Light is called warm white if it has orange and yellow tones, cold white if it is neutral, and daylight if it emits a slightly bluish tint.

Image by The One Studio

How is Colour Temperature Measured?

Color temperature is measured in Kelvin and ranges from 1000K to 10000K. Lighting for residential and commercial spaces generally ranges from 2000K to 6500K. Warm white, cool white, and daylight ranges are subjective and include:

• Warm White: 2600K to 3200K
• Cool White: >3200K to 4500K
• Daylight: >4500K

Generally, we recommend all customers to choose 3000K for their living space. This is because the natural warm white temperature creates a cozy atmosphere in the home. For commercial or more functional spaces, a 4000K bulb temperature with more blue hues is commonly chosen. 

Tip: It is very important  that all light sources in the same room have the same temperature. Mixing Kelvin and temperature can throw your design off balance and make your room feel uncomfortable.

Light Color Temperature By Room

Here are our recommendations for each room:

By room	Temperature
Dining	Soft White (3,000K)
Bedroom	Very warm white (2,200-2,700K) and warm white (3,000K)
Kitchen	Warm white (3,000- 3,500K)
Bathroom and Vanity	Warm white (2,7000K to 3,000K)
Living room	Very warm white (2,200-2,700K) and warm white (3,000K)
Outdoor	Very warm white (2500k-4000k)

 

Customers will always have a choice in kelvins when a light fixture uses bulbs, but not always for integrated light fixtures. To view the light temperature details for integrated fixtures, navigate to the light source and option section under details on product pages.

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