Cool White vs Daylight in 48 “ Florescent Tubes

[Snagglefoot]

I purchased some Phillips brand 48 inch “Daylight” Florescent Tubes to replace my existing “ Cool White “ tubes that are burning out after 10 years. I like the look. They seem to have a bluish tinge, and not as much glare as the “Cool White” tubes. Also, if my ballasts finally crap out I’ll probably change to LED but that’s for another day. . Compared to the “Daylight” tubes, the Cool White tubes almost look a bit yellowish in a relative sense. Has anyone else converted to “ Daylight” tubes? What’s your preference?

My IPhone is unable to capture the difference, just resulting in glare in the photo.

 

[benjy]

a little searching will explain the various differences in all kinds of lighting devices + "bulbs"

 

[mk378]

Yes, Daylight is intended to be more blue. Indeed it's the most blue you'll find in the general lighting market.

The light color is rated by color temperature (K). Daylight is 6000 or 6500K, the old standard Cool White is 4100K. If you prefer more yellow consider Warm White or Soft White around 3000K.

LEDs use the same rating system.

 

[brianl703]

Helped my friend install a fluorescent fixture in his laundry room a few years ago, I think he got "daylight" bulbs, he said it looked like the lighting in a meth lab. I had to agree.

I told him he could switch the bulbs out for warm white bulbs...

 

[92saturnsl2]

I prefer cool white (>3000K) for every application in the house. That said, I went with 2700K warm white because they were half the price for LED bulbs to cover the whole house. IMO warm white is too yellow a hue, cool white is brighter without giving off a blue hue.

In the shop or anywhere I need bright lighting and I don't care about "ambiance", daylight lighting (>4000K) is the way to go.

 

[Number_35]

Yes, Daylight is intended to be more blue. Indeed it's the most blue you'll find in the general lighting market.

The light color is rated by color temperature (K). Daylight is 6000 or 6500K, the old standard Cool White is 4100K. If you prefer more yellow consider Warm White or Soft White around 3000K.

LEDs use the same rating system.

A couple of years ago I replaced the over-the-sink fluorescent fixture in our kitchen with an LED unit.

It's an interesting setup, with a switch to select 3000, 4000, or 5000K.

The 3000K setting turns on all of the 3000K LEDs.

The 5000K setting turns on all of the 5000K LEDs.

The 4000K setting turns on half the 3000K and half the 5000K LEDs.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I guess location is important. Mine were up in a vaulted ceiling high up in a garage.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Helped my friend install a fluorescent fixture in his laundry room a few years ago, I think he got "daylight" bulbs, he said it looked like the lighting in a meth lab. I had to agree.

I told him he could switch the bulbs out for warm white bulbs...

Yes, I agree that in rooms in a house, a softer light is more pleasing to the eye.

 

[Snagglefoot]

a little searching will explain the various differences in all kinds of lighting devices + "bulbs"

As with 99% of the info discussed on Bitog. I’m looking for your viewpoint.

 

[tbm5690]

All LEDs here, no tubes but my color temp choices are 3000k for everything inside the house, and 4000k for the garage.

 

[Ws6]

I use photography grade LED's with 5600k tint and a 95 Ra with >80% R9 and Green +-1/32. No PWM. These go in the bedroom and office fixtures, as well as above the bathroom mirrors.

I use generic LG Reveal HD+ 2700k LED's in my can lights on dimmers in the kitchen, hall, and stairway, with the livingroom vaulted ceiling having full spectrum 95 Ra 6500k lights, also on dimmer. The livingroom adjoins the kitchen and I can balance the dimmers for a more "rosy" lighting if I favor the LG's in the kitchen, or a more "daylight" lighting if I favor the 6500k full spectrum lights.

Above the diningroom table, just LG Reveal HD+. I like the "warm" "rosy" tint over meals or gatherings, even if Ra for the LG Reveal HD+ is a relatively low 80's.

 

[skyactiv]

Phones and digital cameras have auto white balance. You can usually adjust it manually, but it still won’t capture what the human eye sees. I don’t like daylight bulbs.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Thanks everyone. I decided to move the Daylight bulbs to my windowless food storage room downstairs and it works great. When you walk towards it down the hall, you get the impression you’re going to step outside into the sunlight.

For my 600 square ft garage I am staying with the Cool White tubes. As they continue burn out, I’ll replace them. All good.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

I won't buy any bulb/lamp over 3000k. I can't stand the 'hot' white and blue lighting. I'm amazed at how many people have blaring hot 6000k light "bulbs" in their lamps and light fixtures in their houses. Unreal.

 

[tbm5690]

I won't buy any bulb/lamp over 3000k. I can't stand the 'hot' white and blue lighting. I'm amazed at how many people have blaring hot 6000k light "bulbs" in their lamps and light fixtures in their houses. Unreal.

You really don't get into the discernable blue spectrum until around 5000K or so, assuming it's a quality bulb with accurate color temp info. 4000K should not give an impression that any blue is present.

 

[JTK]

To me, "daylight" or ~6500K color/temp fluorescent lamps are just an overall better quality of light given off compared to ~3500K warm white w/ fluorescents. The higher dollar "kitchen and bath" lamps tend to be of higher quality and will last longer than standard shop light tubes.

Basically the higher you go in K-range, the more blue/purple the light is. I've had 48" fluorescent T8 and T5 fixtures over my aquariums with 10000K lamps. It's more of a marine/coral thing. Very blue/purple.

 

[BeerCan]

I think cri is more important than temp. I can handle high cri 5k lights just fine. If the cri is low I prefer warmer temps

 

[PWMDMD]

I won't buy any bulb/lamp over 3000k. I can't stand the 'hot' white and blue lighting. I'm amazed at how many people have blaring hot 6000k light "bulbs" in their lamps and light fixtures in their houses. Unreal.

My pet peeve is +5000K lights. We have a new coffee shop and restaurant in town with great interiors that they spent a bunch of money on to make it look like a home inside and they screwed it up at the end with bright white +5000k lights that kill the mood/ambiance. They are horrible and make the coziest space look institutional. I'll take 2700K any day...

 

[Finklejag]

Anything over 3000K looks like a grow lab.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I purchased some Phillips brand 48 inch “Daylight” Florescent Tubes to replace my existing “ Cool White “ tubes that are burning out after 10 years. I like the look. They seem to have a bluish tinge, and not as much glare as the “Cool White” tubes. Also, if my ballasts finally crap out I’ll probably change to LED but that’s for another day. . Compared to the “Daylight” tubes, the Cool White tubes almost look a bit yellowish in a relative sense. Has anyone else converted to “ Daylight” tubes? What’s your preference?

My IPhone is unable to capture the difference, just resulting in glare in the photo.

We have 5000k LED tube in our kitchen. My wife thinks they're too bright and can't stand them, but I told her I can't see what I'm cooking without them. We use warmer light for the rest of the house.