LED Ceiling Lights

Many customers have asked us to advise them on what is the correct colour temperature for their LED lights; in this article, we present a quick guide to choosing the colour temperature of the LED lights.Keep reading to find a quick guide on:Warm White vs Cool White - what's the difference?Where should we use Warm White Lights?Where should we use Cool White Lights?Where should we use Daylight Lights?Conclusion: what colour temperature do we need? Before the LED lighting revolution, it used to be so simple: incandescent lights, halogen lamps, and fluorescent lamps; now, things are more complicated, for every LED lamp has a certain Wattage, Lumen output, and Colour Temperature. It used to be quite easy before, when the halogen lamp reached its end of life, you would simply change it to another halogen lamp. Similarly with the incandescent lamps and the low voltage lamps. Nowadays, however, you need to make sure you order the right brightness, the correct colour temperature, and the exact lamp beam so that all these match the existing lamps on the ceiling or the wall. There are many guides, comparisons and charts out there related to the colour temperature of LED lights, and with the recent advancement in LED technology, there are now CCT selectable lamps, which are available via Sparks here. But in this article, we would like to explain the difference between warm white, cool white, extra warm white, daylight, and other colour temperatures that are mentioned on the box of the LED lamp or the integrated LED light fitting. Quick Guide to the LED Lamps Colour TemperatureWarm White vs Cool White - what's the difference?What is the difference between warm white light and cool white light? The colour of light emitted by a lamp can be warm or cool, on a spectrum, depending on the need. The CCT, the Correlated Colour Temperature, in lighting, describes how the colour of the light appears from an LED Lamp or LED light fitting, and it is measured in Kelvins (K). There is a scale from 1000K (which is a very red light) to 10.000K (which is a very blue light). The higher you go on the Kelvin scale, the closer the light emitted resembles blue daylight. The higher the colour temperature, the "cooler" a lamp will look, that is, the more blue-ish the light emitted is. Here is a quick guide to the Kelvins, the Type of lamp used, the colour temperature, the appearance, and the place it is used. Kelvins (K) AppearanceHow it Looks/feelsLight TypeLocation1000Kcandlelight redyellow light1800Kvintage-look filament lamp,orange lightultra warm whitevintage lighting2000K-3000KOrange to yellow or gold white lightCalming light, Cosy, Inviting, and Intimate LightWarm WhiteBedroom, living room, dining room, decorative lights, garden lights3000K-4500Kbright white, blueish whitebright light, vibrant light, inviting, blueish white, crispCool Whitebathroom, home office, work environment, kitchen, commercial properties, outdoor lights4500K-6500Kvery bright whiteappears as daylight, illuminating, powerful bright lightdaylightfloodlight, security light, garage and workshop, hospital, schools6500K-7000Kcool daylight10000Kblue skyblue lightIn simple terms, the colour temperature of an LED lamp is based on how the colour of the heated metal changes as its temperature is increased, from red to yellow and then blue.The range of colours at different temperatures has become useful for describing the colour tint of white light. At Sparks we stock a variety of warm white LED Lamps, extra warm white LED lamps, cool white LED lamps, and daylight LED lamps. The difference between warm white and cool white is that the warm white light is more yellowish while the cool white light is more blueish. Where to use Warm White LED Lights? What about Cool White LED Lamps?Warm white and cool white are the most popular colours of lights; warm white can be either 2700K or 3000K, and cool white is 4000K. Daylight, for instance, is 6500K, and it mimics the daylight. The question is, where is it suitable for warm white light to be used, and what about the cool white light? Based on our experience with hundreds of customers and on the vast knowledge out there related to colour temperature in LED Lamps, here is our advice.Warm White Lights - All Around the HomeWarm white lights are recommended to be used at home, especially in the living room, dining room, and wherever at home you want to create a warm atmosphere, an inviting and relaxing light. The 3000K and 2700K warm white lights offer an orangey-yellow light, similar to what the older incandescent or halogen lamps used to offer. They are ideal for use in the bedroom for ceiling, wall, or table lighting, and you can also use them in the living room, the dining room, the conservatory, and even in the garden as summer lights for example. To create a warm atmosphere at home, warm white light bulbs are recommended for the table lamps, bedside lamps, and desk lights. You can say that there is soft white light between 2700K and 3000K, and the warm white is between 3000K and 4000K on the Kelvin scale.Buy Warm White LED lamps at Sparks Check out the GU10 warm white lights, G9 warm white lights, E27/ES warm white LED lamps, and the E14/SES warm white LED lamps available at Sparks. Cool White Lights - In the Office and in Busy AreasWhere are the cool white lights suitable to be installed and used? They emit a brighter and more vibrant light, a more blueish light, and they appear closer to daylight. It is recommended to use cool white lamps in more lively areas, where you want to make sure people stay awake and do activities. For example, you can use a cool white LED lamp in the bathroom, in the kitchen, and in utility rooms at home. Also, they are recommended to be used in the office and other work environments. Also, you can use cool white lights in the garage or other places where you need brighter light for completing tasks. The cool white lights mimic the light colour temperature offered by the fluorescent tube lights. Wherever there used to be a fluorescent lamp, the cool white lights are recommended. They are perfect for commercial properties. You can say that cool white is between 4000K and 5000K on the Kelvin scale.Buy Cool White LED Lamps See the cool white G9 lamps, E27/ES lamps, E14/SES lamps, and GU10 lamps at Sparks. Also, check out the cool white LED panels, ideal for office lighting, and the cool white LED battens.Daylight Lights - OutdoorsThe brightest and closest to the daylight are the daylight light fittings and daylight LED lamps, 6000K and 6500K. Where are the daylights most suitable to be used? It is recommended to use them where daylight is required. For example, you can use daylight lights and LED lamps outdoors in the yard, forecourt, floodlighting, security lighting, and sports venues. At home you can safely use daylight lighting to light up the driveway or as garden lights. You can accentuate or highlight features outdoors with daylight lighting, but indoors it is recommended to use cool white when you do the same. We can say that daylight is between 5000K and 6500K on the Kelvin scale. Such light shines bright and exposes every detail, hence it is the preferred light temperature for hospitals, large offices, and classrooms.Buy Daylight LED Lights At Sparks we distribute a wide range of daylight flood lights, daylight LED striplights, daylight security lights, and even daylight LED lamps and tubes. Conclusion: What colour Temperature do we need at Home or Office?In conclusion, you can say that it is up to the preference of the homeowner and the atmosphere you want to create in different venues and rooms around the house or at the office. If you want to create a more relaxed atmosphere, warm white lights are recommended. If you want to create an atmosphere for studying, working, and doing activities, cool white lights are the best. If you want to mimic the daylight in order to highlight or light up the driveway or the facade of the house, daylight is the most suitable. If you want to have a table lamp for reading a book or light up a living space, warm white lights are recommended, since they offer a more relaxing light. but if you want the people visiting or working in a room to be alert and have higher visibility, cool white is more recommended. This is valid for both indoor and outdoor lighting. For more information on the colour temperature you need, do not hesitate to contact us.Disclaimer: the images used for the different color temperatures have been taken from the world wide web - they were not created by us. If they are bound by copyright, we can take them down - simply let us know.

We have been writing on the blog regarding LED lamps ever since they were a novelty, and now the dream is becoming reality: there more and more LED lights to the point of being able to replace the regular lights! Do you still use low-voltage ceiling lights? Why not switch to energy-saving LED downlights, many of which come complete with their driver. Do you still use high-wattage ceiling suspension lamps, that is, ceiling pendants? Simply replace the light bulb with an LED one - even a vintage LED would make you save more money and energy.The same principle applies to bathroom lights, wall lights, ceiling lights, table lamps, and even outdoor lights: it's time to switch from high power wattage - which inflat your energy bill - to LED lamps.Buy LED Bedroom Lights And to give you an idea of some of these LED lamps: how they look, what they could do, and what kind of light they offer, we put together a LED Bedroom Lights and Living Room Wall Lights LED Bedroom and Living Room Wall Lights You can view it in full via our account on Houzz.co.uk, where you can see some other projects such as, Track Lighting and LED track spotlights from Illuma - a collection of pictures from the best applications of the track systems in domestic, retail, and commercial environments; Ceiling Lights and Chandeliers - great ceiling hanging lamps and chandeliers or pendants for interior decoration with a modern or contemporary style - pictures only, with links and descriptions; Or check out our other ideabooks with plenty of lovely pictures of: Bathroom Lighting from Astro Lighting - the best pictures bathroom lighting from Astro Ideas for home redesign - a work in progress ideas for home redesign If you are on Houzz, let's connect :) our profile is here: Sparks Electrical Wholesalers Ltd, and we would love to have you as our friend/follower. We will follow back. And if you have some requests of more pictures in different projects or applications, let us know in the comments and we will do our best!Buy Bathroom Ceiling Lights

Recently, Wired UK published the results of an interesting report on how the design of a classroom influences student performance. The results, published in Building and the Environment, revealed that the architecture and design of classrooms has a significant role to play in influencing academic performance. Six of the environmental factors — colour, choice, connection, complexity, flexibility and light — were clearly correlated with grade scores. The study came at an interesting time; the U.K. government released some standardized templates for the design of schools at the tail-end of 2012, a move which was met with some derision from the architectural community. Of course, the lighting conditions are standardized in this document, but first, we'll briefly cover some interesting research findings on lighting and learning. Light Improves Concentration and Memory  In a study of Dutch schoolchildren, a flexible and dynamic lighting system was found to have a positive effect on the subjects' concentration - particularly the younger students. The word "dynamic" here means that the researchers had an element of control over the intensity and color temperature. And interestingly, in another study in Germany, bright lighting was found to have an effect on working memory for night shift workers. While this effect hasn't been studied in schoolchildren yet, it's still an interesting observation. The new findings are in line with what we already know about light's positive effects on learning. It's clear that schools need adequate light (preferably using as much daylight as possible to save energy, of course) and a flexible lighting system.Best Office Ceiling Lighting Designing Within Government Architectural Guidelines The government's baseline designs mandate sustainable lighting systems that are "future-proof" - they need to be reasonably flexible for use. At the same time, a "daylight design" principle is in place - the lights need to provide "balanced, glare-free luminance." At Sparks we distribute a wide range of LED ceiling lights, wall lamps, table lights, and floor lamps. As for the ceiling in the offices or in classrooms, the LED panels will help very much, for they are the best replacement for what we used to have before, e.g., the fluorescent lamps. As for flexibility, on a basic level, we would recommend LED dimmer switches, but a whole-building approach might be best. It's possible, and even easy, to design a lighting system for schools that improves learning and stays within government guidelines. For more information, why not drop by the showroom? Image by dcjohn (Creative Commons)

In today's LED lighting news, NASA has announced a plan to test colour-changing LED lights on the International Space Station. This test, due to take place in 2016, will see the space agency swap one of the ISS's existing fluorescent panels with a solid-state lighting module. The module changes colour from blue to red (with an intermediate white stage), and this will help combat insomnia - which can make depression and illness more likely. This news is simultaneously the most and least science-fictiony news item we've ever read. You might be wondering to yourself: how does that work? Well, it turns out colour temperature is a strange thing, but a relatively important one for the body clock. The Effects of Colour Temperature on Your Body Clock Colour temperature is based on the heat of an ideal black body radiator at its surface, measured in the SI base unit of thermodynamic temperature: the kelvin (K). If you've ever visited a blacksmith or a glassblower, you might have watched them heat a pair of tongs in the fire. The tongs change colour as they warm up, glowing red at first, then turning white as they get even hotter and eventually into a colour closer to blue. The red shades are known as the "warmer" colour temperatures, and the blue shades are the "cooler" ones. It's upside down and reflects perception more than reality. Forgive us for stating the obvious, but the sky is blue during the day - please hold your jokes until the end of the post - and studies indicate that light at this colour temperature promotes wakefulness. The theory goes that over the years humans have evolved to be more alert and awake during the day by producing the hormone melatonin - which wakes us up - when we see that blue light. That's a simplification; the BBC explains the effect much better than we can. Basically, though: blue light promotes wakefulness, and by reversing that effect, NASA hopes to induce sleep. Bringing NASA's Ideas Down to Earth Back down on Earth, domestic lightbulbs are sold in three categories. In order of colour temperature from lowest to highest: we have warm white, neutral white, and cool white. That's the range from ~3000 K to ~6000 K, although individual manufacturers differ. How do we apply NASA's knowledge to the home? The colour temperature of light fittings has been shown to have measurable effects on the human body. There must be some people in our readership who have trouble waking up in the mornings. If you're very imaginative, you might have considered rigging a complicated lighting/timer switch system, but there are easier ways, we think. Simply install different lights around the house. Neutral and cooler whites could be installed in the bathroom, where the shade might help wake you up.Bathroom LED LIghts at Sparks In the bedroom, warmer fittings might be more useful. However, there's not much evidence that this will actually work on a grand scale - any effects would likely be minimal, just a little boost to the natural order - and the best way to be awake during the day is just to get enough sleep. If you're having trouble falling asleep, a GP will be more helpful than this blog post. What do you think about NASA's plan? Will it work for astronauts who don't usually get the benefit of a normal day-night cycle? Would it work at home?

As the city populations overtake the number of people living in rural communities, and land prices escalate to ridiculous degrees, the "tiny house" niche is becoming a bona fide movement, with San Francisco reducing the square-footage requirement for its citizens and a 8' x 10' (approx. 2.43m x 3.05m) London flat sells for almost £30,000. Okay, so maybe you don't need to live in a house quite as tiny as those - but for inhabitants of the big cities there are some useful lessons to be taken from the movement. It makes sense: with small spaces, there is less to clean, and with the move towards cloud storage it's becoming more and more possible to free yourself from the mountain of "stuff" - books, desks, racks full of CDs - that was once necessary. And the smaller the space, the less energy it uses overall! Celebrity architect George Clarke has been showcasing some amazing tiny spaces on Channel 4 recently, and while we probably wouldn't buy essays move into one, we took some remodelling and refurbishing inspiration from the tiny spaces scene. The Practical Elements  In terms of lighting, maximizing daylight is key. If you already live in a place with a huge window, then your work is halfway done. For those of us who aren't so lucky, we'll be needing a ceiling light. With space at a premium, a flush or even a recessed ceiling light is a good idea. That's the general "ambient" light taken care of - but what about the fiddly corners in, say, the kitchen, which might even just be a part of the living room? Some under-cabinet lighting will throw some illumination on those tricky areas to help you see what you're doing! But what about the aspects we tend not to think about? One area that gets overlooked quite a lot is the ventilation, which can be very noisy - even worse in a tiny space. The 5-inch Airflow QuietAir installed in the bathroom is discreet and near-silent. The Not-So-Practical Elements We have talked about the practical aspects of designing a small space, but that's all meaningless if it isn't pleasant to live there. Once the light is sorted out, a large mirror will give the impression of a larger space, and effectively double the illumination in the area. And don't forget the task lighting - bedroom reading lights are more or less essential for relaxation at the end of the day (especially if there's nowhere to fit a television). But if there's a lot of vertical space, why not splash out on a striking pendant like the colourful carafe pendant? We'd like to hear from anyone reading this in a particularly small space - how do you cope with a reduced floorspace? What kind of design tips do you have for us if we were thinking of moving into a flat the size of a walk-in closet (not that this hasn't crossed our mind yet)? (Images via Did Ya See?, the Tumbleweed blog, and blog.buzzbuzzhome.)Full range of LED Ceiling Lights