Buying Warm Light Bulbs

Until the last ten years, all light bulbs would have been considered 'warm'. This is because incandescents, long the standard, are on the 'warm' end of the light spectrum. In other words, the light has a reddish tinge to it. Warm bulbs are rightfully liked for illuminating human faces. Human skin looks warm and healthy under warm light.

Now, however, there is a much wider range of light bulbs available. Incandescents are losing their dominance, while fluorescent, halogen and even LED bulbs take over the market (in fact, incandescents have even been banned in some jurisdictions). As a consequence, if you want to have warm bulbs, you'll need to look for them specially.

For halogen bulbs, you don't need to worry. While they are not quite as warm as incandescents, they are still a very warm light. LEDs currently are not available in a warm light. In fact, it was only a few years ago that LEDs produced any white light, let alone a warm white light.

For fluorescent light bulbs, the trick is to look at the packaging, to make sure that the bulbs say that they are either 'warm white' or 'soft white'. These are intended to mimic the lighting quality of incandescents by providing a warm glow. Whatever you do, stay away from the 'natural' or 'daylight' fluorescent bulbs, as these bulbs actually have a cool, bluish color, exactly the opposite of what you are looking for. They will make people look sickly.

The only time that buying warm light bulbs is really problematic, then, is when purchasing fluorescents. All incandescent and halogen bulbs are warm, while no LED bulbs are. The trick is simply to make sure that you are purchasing fluorescent bulbs that have been designed to mimic the warm characteristics of traditional incandescent bulbs.