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LED Fixtures: Great energy savings, but they could be costing you sleep...
Posted on 3/25/17 at 1:45 pm
Posted on 3/25/17 at 1:45 pm
Everyone is pushing LEDs these days (including me) because of the energy savings and up to 10 years life span of the fixtures, but if you choose the wrong color temperature for your indoor fixtures at home, you could be losing sleep.
Below is the color temperature scale:
As you go from the bottom of the scale, 1000K, which is the typical light given off by candles (reddish/orange) to the top of the scale, 10000K, you start utilitizing more blue wavelength light. If you had a 10000K bulb, the light you see would be blue.
Around 5500K is typical noon sunlight you will have outdoors. It's more of a crisp/white light with subtle blue wavelength colors. The daylight bulbs are around 5000K and are great for indoor general purpose areas in offices because it helps keep you alert as your body is trained to be awake during the middle of the day.
However, if you start changing your indoor home bulbs to the 5000K color temperature type, your body still gets the feeling of middle of the day sunlight in the evening/night, and it may suppress melatonin production and alter your sleep cycle.
If you have changed to LED bulbs recently, and haven't been getting very good sleep, check the color temperature of the bulb. If they are in the 5000K range, switch them out to 2700K bulbs for a few weeks.
In outdoor cases, LED fixtures for roadway and other exterior lighting have started to be limited to a maximum of 3000K due to the harsh contrast between the darkness and the light and the severe glare a higher K light produces. In some cases, it has caused headaches, migraines and nausea.
PSA over.
Below is the color temperature scale:
As you go from the bottom of the scale, 1000K, which is the typical light given off by candles (reddish/orange) to the top of the scale, 10000K, you start utilitizing more blue wavelength light. If you had a 10000K bulb, the light you see would be blue.
Around 5500K is typical noon sunlight you will have outdoors. It's more of a crisp/white light with subtle blue wavelength colors. The daylight bulbs are around 5000K and are great for indoor general purpose areas in offices because it helps keep you alert as your body is trained to be awake during the middle of the day.
However, if you start changing your indoor home bulbs to the 5000K color temperature type, your body still gets the feeling of middle of the day sunlight in the evening/night, and it may suppress melatonin production and alter your sleep cycle.
If you have changed to LED bulbs recently, and haven't been getting very good sleep, check the color temperature of the bulb. If they are in the 5000K range, switch them out to 2700K bulbs for a few weeks.
In outdoor cases, LED fixtures for roadway and other exterior lighting have started to be limited to a maximum of 3000K due to the harsh contrast between the darkness and the light and the severe glare a higher K light produces. In some cases, it has caused headaches, migraines and nausea.
PSA over.
This post was edited on 3/25/17 at 8:12 pm
11
Posted on 3/25/17 at 1:54 pm to LSUAlum2001
Thanks a lot Al Gore
Posted on 3/25/17 at 1:55 pm to LSUAlum2001
I had no idea that Kelvins were used to measure something like that
Posted on 3/25/17 at 1:57 pm to Bmath
You can get LEDs that utilize different ranges in the color temperature scale, so you can still reap the benefits of LED bulbs.
Find some at 2700K and use those for inside your home.
Find some at 2700K and use those for inside your home.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:02 pm to LSUAlum2001
Do any of those "smart" bulbs have a night shift mode like my iPhone? One click and all the blue light gets removed.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:02 pm to LSUAlum2001
quote:
Everyone is pushing LEDs these days (including me) because of the energy savings and up to 10 years life span of the fixtures, but if you choose the wrong color temperature for your indoor fixtures at home, you could be losing sleep.
To be fair, its the same thing for all light bulbs.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:05 pm to kengel2
Incandescents are around 3000K.
Fluorescents are ranged as well, but most people are changing to LEDs these days, not to compact fluorescents in the home.
They also are changing to LEDs based on the color of the light without knowing of the potential consequences of their choice. I'd rather the crisper/white at 5000K over the 2700K, too.
Fluorescents are ranged as well, but most people are changing to LEDs these days, not to compact fluorescents in the home.
They also are changing to LEDs based on the color of the light without knowing of the potential consequences of their choice. I'd rather the crisper/white at 5000K over the 2700K, too.
This post was edited on 3/25/17 at 2:07 pm
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:06 pm to LSUAlum2001
I prefer soft white over cool white.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:06 pm to LSUAlum2001
You could just turn your lights off to go to sleep.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:13 pm to LSUAlum2001
I sell LED lighting. If you go buy your lighting from someone who understands lighting, you won't end up with anything higher than 3k in your house. If you go wing it yourself online or at Home Depot, that is the only way you can end up with higher temps.
Bottom line, buy everything from people who actually know what they are selling. PSA over
Bottom line, buy everything from people who actually know what they are selling. PSA over
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:13 pm to LSUAlum2001
Have some 5K outdoor floods, love those things. Ridiculous how bright they are.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:15 pm to LSUAlum2001
Bookmarked
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:15 pm to East Coast Band
quote:
I prefer soft white over cool white.
I hate these terms. The amount of people who tell me daily that they want daylight shows how little people understand what they are even asking for
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:17 pm to waiting4saturday
quote:they are BARELY brighter than a 3k of the same wattage. They are whiter though
Have some 5K outdoor floods, love those things. Ridiculous how bright they are.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:17 pm to bee Rye
I want to be able to see shite without being blinded and without having to squint.
Thanks
Thanks
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:18 pm to Rouge
More info needed
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:18 pm to CaptainsWafer
It's not about just cutting your lights off when you go to bed. Our body's produce melatonin naturally in the Brain. This is the hormone that tells our body to "shut down" This starts to happen later in the day as the body's natural circadian rhythm comes to a down slide for the day, this usually happens as the sun begins to set. What the OP is inferring is that the LED light actually screws up our body's circadian rhythm making our body think that it's essentially noon all the time and our body won't produce melatonin. That's why melatonin is such a highly spoke about "sleep supplement"
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:18 pm to bee Rye
I was just making conversation
My LED light cans have already been installed
My LED light cans have already been installed
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:28 pm to LSUAlum2001
quote:
I'd rather the crisper/white at 5000K over the 2700K, too.
5000K looks like shite inside a home. I wouldn't go higher than 3000K. And it's not so much about the color temperature. GE Reveal incandescents are 2750K and have the best looking light of them all. They have a neodymium coating that filters out some of the yellow.
Posted on 3/25/17 at 2:32 pm to Spock's Eyebrow
Staring into a smartphone or a computer screen for an hour before you go to bed is far more disruptive of our sleep patterns.
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