Hello everyone, This is Adam, a lighting designer from London, UK.

[AaronAdams]

I hope everyine is good and safe. I am here to see if is there anything I can help you guys about lighting design and especially assiting you when you buying lighting for your home or workspace. I also have experience on Custom Lighting design and maintenance.

Please ask me anything about this niches so I do my best to help!

 

[LukeD]

Yes.....why are so many LED track modules a single unit with the driver behind the LED and absorbing all the heat .So the driver burns out ???

 

[Carolina]

Is there a way to know the colour temperature and RI of a light? without knowing the manufacturer's spec.

 

[AaronAdams]

Is there a way to know the colour temperature and RI of a light? without knowing the manufacturer's spec.

Hi Carolina,

Hope you are well.

I have tried to put together some useful information about Led Lights and how to know colour temperature and RI of a light.

About colour temperature

Colour temperature level, also called "associated colour temperature" (CCT), defines the appearance or color of a particular light. Most light bulbs send out a white light, yet this white light can range from warm to cool. Think of colour temperature level like you consider paint, where there are seemingly endless tones of white to select from. In the same blood vessel, there are a number of various colour temperatures for you to choose from when you're choosing new light bulbs.

Some lights, like incandescent bulbs, release a warmer light, while various other bulbs like LEDs give a larger range of colour temperatures to pick from. Many individuals like the heat of an incandescent light bulb, yet don't realize that this sort of light can be conveniently reproduced by merely choosing the ideal energy-efficient light bulb. If you're taking into consideration updating to LEDs or other power reliable bulbs, the light bulb colour temperature chart below can assist you discover the appropriate colour temperature level for your area. Yet before we start, allow's have a look at how to measure colour temperature level.

Exactly How to find out Colour Temperature Level
Correlated colour temperature level (CCT) is determined in levels Kelvin on a scale from 1,000 to 10,000. Unlike measuring temperature level in levels celsius, the warmer a light bulb's light is, the reduced its temperature will certainly be. A cooler temperature level will have a higher value.

For reference, candlelight has a colour temperature of about 2,000 K, while sunlight has a temperature level of concerning 6,000 K.

Why Does Colour Temperature Level Issue?
Whether you're searching for LEDs, CFLs, halogens, or incandescent light bulbs, there are a vast selection of power levels as well as colour temperature levels to choose from.

When we rely upon incandescent bulbs for all of our lights, we rarely needed to take into consideration colour temperature level when replacing bulbs in our houses. Today's energy efficient bulbs are readily available in a wide array of colour temperatures, and also lots of families who have started switching over to LEDs as well as CFLs experience frustration with their chosen light bulb since it emits a various light than what they're accustomed to. The light bulb colour temperature graph over can assist you determine the correlated colour temperature level (CCT) of your existing bulbs as well as find the excellent substitute for your room.

I hope that was helpful, if still have some questions please let me know so I can be more specific..

Best wishes
Aaron

 

[Carolina]

Hi. I won't quote the previous comment because it'd be too long.
But here

colour temperature chart below can assist you discover the appropriate colour temperature level

I can't see any chart, if it's an inserted image maybe it's not showing up or my ISP is blocking it -I'm not from the UK- for who knows what reason.

What I know is that incandescent emits aroud 2700K which is the tone we use and like at home, coated variants like the Bellalux are closer to 3000K, according to the manufacturer of course, not sure if those still exist, probably not.

I've tried LED before but all of the AC bulbs I've got died too soon, I like the clear bulb LEDs better because they don't diffuse the light too much, using a few of them and they're really close to the actual 2700K of an incandescent.
CFL is a weird one, it's more closely related to a colour-corrected Hg-vapour lamp than anything else, most people seemingly hated them due to the warm-up times and line frequency flicker, I don't, there are some places where they can be useful.

My question was perhaps a bit more technical, say I have a light bulb I know nothing about, and want to know its colour temperature while on. I investigated a bit more and there's a way, that's the good news, the bad news is that you need a photosynthetic photon flux density handheld spectrometer that costs $5000 to do that, so I'll just pretend my light bulb emits exactly 2850K and leave it like that for the sake of my wallet. I'm not a lighting scientist to use one of those, I just wire fittings and ask the client what kind of light he wants, warm or cool and that's it ^^

 

[plugsandsparks]

May sound a bit noddy for this but typical available lights are 2700, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000.
You could buy 5 known lights and then use your eyes to compare an unknown lamp. I can usually tell the colour just by looking at them, e.g. 2700, 4000 and 6000 are easy to tell

 

[Jim_e_Jib]

Hi. I won't quote the previous comment because it'd be too long.
But here

I can't see any chart, if it's an inserted image maybe it's not showing up or my ISP is blocking it -I'm not from the UK- for who knows what reason.

What I know is that incandescent emits aroud 2700K which is the tone we use and like at home, coated variants like the Bellalux are closer to 3000K, according to the manufacturer of course, not sure if those still exist, probably not.

I've tried LED before but all of the AC bulbs I've got died too soon, I like the clear bulb LEDs better because they don't diffuse the light too much, using a few of them and they're really close to the actual 2700K of an incandescent.
CFL is a weird one, it's more closely related to a colour-corrected Hg-vapour lamp than anything else, most people seemingly hated them due to the warm-up times and line frequency flicker, I don't, there are some places where they can be useful.

My question was perhaps a bit more technical, say I have a light bulb I know nothing about, and want to know its colour temperature while on. I investigated a bit more and there's a way, that's the good news, the bad news is that you need a photosynthetic photon flux density handheld spectrometer that costs $5000 to do that, so I'll just pretend my light bulb emits exactly 2850K and leave it like that for the sake of my wallet. I'm not a lighting scientist to use one of those, I just wire fittings and ask the client what kind of light he wants, warm or cool and that's it ^^

If you're looking to check the colour temperature, some photography/video light meters will measure this. There are also apps available for smart phones, although they are likely less accurate than a proper light meter.

CRI, as you say, is trickier and more expensive to measure.

I think you can usually spot the difference between a typical lamp with a CRI of 80 and one in the high 90s. The lower CRI lamp tends to make things look a bit washed out and insipid.

Another clue is that, with LED lamps, all else being equal, you tend to get less lumens per watt as the CRI gets higher.

 

[giladabush]

is it relevant?
The function of the building's lighting is to illuminate and emphasize the architectural design of the building. Lighting fixtures of this type throw beams of light up and down and their reflection of light is done from the walls of the house In these bodies it is possible to play with the illumination angle of the light beam in order to emphasize the structure in the most impressive way.

 

[DPG]

is it relevant?
The function of the building's lighting is to illuminate and emphasize the architectural design of the building. Lighting fixtures of this type throw beams of light up and down and their reflection of light is done from the walls of the house In these bodies it is possible to play with the illumination angle of the light beam in order to emphasize the structure in the most impressive way.

The colour temperature is still very relevant.

 

[LukeD]

The colour temperature is still very relevant.

Incorrect Colour temp is the fastest way to make things look bad

 

[DPG]

Incorrect Colour temp is the fastest way to make things look bad

That's why I said it is relevant. Maybe re-read my post.

 

[LukeD]

That's why I said it is relevant. Maybe re-read my post.

The post should have mentioned Giladabush's comment !

 

[LukeD]

is it relevant?
The function of the building's lighting is to illuminate and emphasize the architectural design of the building. Lighting fixtures of this type throw beams of light up and down and their reflection of light is done from the walls of the house In these bodies it is possible to play with the illumination angle of the light beam in order to emphasize the structure in the most impressive way.

yes !

 

[integrationdan]

I hope everyine is good and safe. I am here to see if is there anything I can help you guys about lighting design and especially assiting you when you buying lighting for your home or workspace. I also have experience on Custom Lighting design and maintenance.

Please ask me anything about this niches so I do my best to help!

not replying to that

 

[DPG]

The post should have mentioned Giladabush's comment !

Sorry about that, I think I may have misread some comments. I'll blame the beers!