Light Bulb Color Help (how much, kitchen, cabinet, lighting)

[CarnivalGal]

Why is buying light bulbs (LED) so complicated?

We are in the process of remodeling our kitchen. I need to order undercabinet lights. But I have no idea which Kelvin number to get. It seems like with other bulbs in our house, I can never get it right. It's either yellow or ridiculously bright white. There has got to be something in between.

We have one light fixture in our house with LED bulbs that is the perfect in-between color. The bulbs came with the light fixture. Natually, I've looked all over the bulbs and the brand, Kelvin number, etc. is not on them anywhere.

It looks as though my options for undercabinet lights are 3000K, 4000K, and 5000K. The thing is, I think I have 3000K and 4000K bulbs in other fixtures in my house, and don't like either of them - 3000K is too yellow and 4000K is too bright white. Can someone please offer some guidance?

[davebarnes]

Buying LED bulbs is not complicated.

You only have to pay attention to 3 metrics:
* Lumens (how much light is emitted)
* CRI (Color Rendition Index, how pure or true to life the spectrum is). You pay more for higher CRI.
* Kelvin (color temperature)

Old-fashioned incandescent bulbs are 2700 K.
Halogen bulbs are 3000-3500 K.
CFLs and linear fluorescents are 4000-5000 K.

For under cabinet lights, we chose https://americanlighting.com/3LC2 which provides "3-in-1 fixture design with 3 selectable color temperatures:
2700K / 3000K / 4000K
High color rendering (up to 90+ CRI)"
We are very happy with these lights. They replaced halogen lights.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Buying LED bulbs is not complicated.

You only have to pay attention to 3 metrics:
* Lumens (how much light is emitted)
* CRI (Color Rendition Index, how pure or true to life the spectrum is). You pay more for higher CRI.
* Kelvin (color temperature)

Old-fashioned incandescent bulbs are 2700 K.
Halogen bulbs are 3000-3500 K.
CFLs and linear fluorescents are 4000-5000 K.

For under cabinet lights, we chose https://americanlighting.com/3LC2 which provides "3-in-1 fixture design with 3 selectable color temperatures:
2700K / 3000K / 4000K
High color rendering (up to 90+ CRI)"
We are very happy with these lights. They replaced halogen lights.

I just got some very similar lights for a client that is doing a minor update/remodel of the kitchen.
I’m quite impressed with the lights. Having the option of “warm white”, “day light”, and “cool white” in one unit is nice- plus it’s dimmable.

[riaelise]

3000k is not yellow as far as I’ve seen. 2700 is yellow. I buy 3000k bulbs.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by riaelise

3000k is not yellow as far as I’ve seen. 2700 is yellow. I buy 3000k bulbs.

You're right. I got them backwards.

I went ahead and ordered ones that allow me to switch between three different options.