Light Bulb Considerations
When choosing lightbulbs, there are several specifications which are important.
These include Lux, Spectrum, Temperature, Flicker, and Color Rendering Index (CRI). https://www.blockbluelight.com/blogs/news/benefits-of-full-spectrum-light
There are four main types of bulbs; Incandescent, Halogen, LED, and Fluorescent.
Lux: Lux is a measure of how much light is produced. One lux is the equivalent to 1 candle or the light of the full moon. Indoor lighting can range from 100-1,000 lux. Daylight sunshine can range from 32,000 lux up to 120,000 lux. Nothing compares to the intensity of the light we are getting outdoors (even on cloudy days!), even in a brightly lit room.
Lumens: The brightness of the light emitted by a bulb. While wattage describes a bulb's energy draw, lumen count better describes how much light a bulb emits or more simply, how bright the bulb is.
Flicker: Some studies show that the human eye can detect flicker of up to 2,000 Hz (cycles per second). Old movies with low frames-per-second, televisions, fluorescent lamps, and newer LEDs all have flicker issues, causing varying health problems. Flicker may or may not be visible to the human eye, but it can have far reaching health consequences, including sick-building syndrome, epilepsy, eyestrain, and decline in cognitive performance.
LED and fluorescent lighting generally has more flicker than incandescent lighting, because there is no heat produced, and the bulb can shut completely off and turn on again very quickly. Dimmer switches make the problem worse by flicking the light on and off more slowly, which lowers the total amount of light produced, but increases the amount of flicker.
Want to Learn More about Flicker? https://www.led-professional.com/resources-1/articles/flicker-beyond-perception-limits-a-summary-of-lesser-known-research-results
Color Spectrum: The color spectrum of sunlight is always a balanced spectrum, which shifts towards redder at dusk and dawn. The color spectrum from artificial light can have strong peaks and valleys and emphasizes color bands which are not good for our health, especially after dark. LED and Fluorescent lights are particularly bad. Incandescent (and some halogen) bulbs are a better choice.
Color Rendering Index (CRI): Color rendering index is a measure a light's quality. CRI is a measure on a scale of 1 to 100 of how accurately a light source shows colors compared to natural sunlight. A light bulb with a CRI above 90 is considered good, and above 95, excellent for color vibrancy and a more natural-looking interior.
Color Temperature: Sunlight is always a full spectrum of light. But its color temperature will depend on the time of day. Sunlight at dawn and dusk is warmer in color temperature, with more red-light wavelengths, and has an approximate color temperature anywhere from 2000K-3000K.
At noon, when the sun is directly overhead, sunlight appears bluer (from an increased presence of blue light wavelengths) and can have a color temperature anywhere from 5000K-6500K.
Color temperature is a visual representation on a scale of how warm or cool a light source appears. Light sources whose spectrum skews more towards the red is referred to as warm white, whereas light skewing more towards blue is referred to as cool white or daylight white.
You will want to use light sources with more blue light in the spectrum (i.e., a natural or cool white/daylight white (4200-6500K)) during the morning and daytime, saving those warmer, redder light sources for the evening (warm white 2500-3500K)
Want to Learn More about Color Temperature? https://healthlighting.com/blogs/lighting-guide/guide-to-color-temperature-in-the-home
Lightbulb Types
There are several highly energy efficient light bulbs on the market now, including Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs), Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and incandescent light bulbs made with a halogen filament.
Compact Fluorescent Lamps: CFLs contain mercury, making them a health hazard if they break. CFLs also emit dirty electricity because they switch from 120 volts to a different frequency of Hz, and the oscillations produce both magnetic and electric fields which extend out into the room. CFLs can have a lot of flicker, a poor color temperature, and a poor color spectrum. Not recommended.
Light Emitting Diodes: LEDs are a mixed bag. Depending on the brand, they can have lots of flicker, a poor color temperature and spectrum, as well as emitting dirty electricity. Some of them have WiFi chips as well which aren’t great for your health…do you really need to control your light bulb with your phone?
We recommend that you use incandescent light bulbs (preferably full spectrum) wherever possible. Incandescent bulbs have a good color temperature, a better spectrum, good CRI, and by their nature no flicker! Halogen incandescent bulbs are completely clean because they run straight off 120 Volts and have no switched mode power supply in them.
Want to Learn More about Bulbs? https://createhealthyhomes.com/education/lighting/
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