Value and usability shine with this smart bulb

The good: The Insteon LED Bulb is about as easy as home automation gets — just screw it in, add it to your network of devices, and start scheduling away. With only 8W of energy usage and a life expectancy of 52,000 hours, this is a power-saving bulb built to last.

The bad: The bulb is only available in one size and one tone, and it isn't quite as bright as we'd like. For smartphone controls, the Insteon app definitely isn't our favorite.

The bottom line: At just $29.99 per bulb, this automatable light source will fit nicely into existing home automation networks, serving as an appealing alternative to more expensive dimmer modules and smart switches.

 

Light bulbs have long been seen to symbolize good ideas, and that's exactly how Insteon hopes you'll see its LED bulb. For starters, the Insteon LED Bulb will shine as brightly as a 60-watt incandescent bulb while using only 8 watts worth of energy, putting it squarely in line with other energy-saving LED bulbs. But this is Insteon we're talking about, and sure enough, this bulb is fully automatable on Insteon's network, no separate dimmer module required. Just pick a lamp or light fixture, screw in the Insteon LED Bulb, and you'll be able to control it right alongside your other Insteon gadgets by using the Insteon Hub.

A fully dimmable bulb with built-in dual-band networking capability brings some interesting flexibility to your home automation scenes. Automating an overhead ceiling light used to mean breaking out the toolbox and hard-wiring a special light switch into the wall. Now, it's as easy as replacing the light bulb. Plus, while most other, comparable LED light bulbs boast average life expectancies of 25,000 hours or so, the Insteon LED Bulb promises to last an estimated 52,000 hours. According to Insteon's claims, if you ran the light every single night for 8 hours, it wouldn't burn out for almost 18 years.

The price of a standard LED light bulb can range greatly depending on the variety and on subsidized pricing, but most comparable bulbs will cost you somewhere between $10 and $25. The Insteon LED Bulb, on the other hand, costs $29.99, and in my eyes, that's a very reasonable price, especially considering that the dimming modules and smart switches you'd otherwise be using to dim and automate the lights in your home will typically cost you at least $50. You'll need an Insteon Hub or another compatible home automation control center in order to use it, but if you're already an avid home automator, or if you're looking for reasons to get started with Insteon (aside from the lack of monthly fees), then I think you'll find the Insteon LED Bulb very appealing.

Design and features
Just looking at the Insteon LED Bulb, you can tell that it isn't your average light. The bulb sports an attractive and weighty design, with the hemispherical bulb housed in a durable white plastic casing. At a weight of 6.2 ounces, it's noticeably heavier than a standard light bulb — the cheap flex lamp I used for a few of my tests could barely support it.

With its 8 watts of energy usage, the Insteon LED Bulb claims to produce as much light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb (the Insteon site actually lists it as 60 to 100 watts). This might be pushing it just a little, as the bulb definitely looks to be at least slightly on the dimmer side of expectations. We weren't surprised to find that it puts out 591 lumens worth of light, which isn't terrible, but still falls short of other leading LED bulbs, which can put out as much as 900 lumens or so. With its warm tone, the Insteon is fine for an accent light, or if used in combination with other light sources, but don't expect to light up an entire room to satisfaction with just one.

The Insteon LED Bulb sports a color-rendering index (CRI) of 82, which is on par with an above average household bulb. The CRI score is actually an average of several scores, each rating the light source's ability to faithfully reproduce colors in comparison with natural daylight. The higher a light's score, the more accurate it will make colors appear. Bulbs that score in the 90s are typically only used by photographers and other professionals with a need for vivid, highly accurate, natural-looking light; bulbs in the 80s tend to be higher-end bulbs for everyday home use.

As a rating system, the CRI is far from perfect, but still, 82 is an acceptable score. However, with standard LED bulbs like Cree's TrueWhite 60 Watt Replacement and the Philips EnduraLED scoring in the low 90s (the same can be said of the Philips Hue), I'd feel a little better about Insteon's offering if it had scored somewhere above 85.

To control the Insteon LED Bulb, you'll need an automation control center like the Insteon Hub, which will connect your bulb to your home network. You'll be able to turn the light on or off remotely, either from a computer or from Insteon's free smartphone app, available both for iOS and Android devices. You'll also still be able to turn the light on and off manually like any other light, although automations and remote capabilities go out the window once you switch off the power.

Putting an accent light on smart LEDs

The good: Philips Friends of Hue LightStrips give creative lighting and home automation enthusiasts a programmable, flexible decorative lighting accessory.

The bad: These tiny LEDs aren't as programmable out of the- box as they could be, which hurts given their high price tag.

The bottom line: Intended for owners of Philips Hue LED bulbs, these LightStrips, as frivolous as they are, succeed by opening up another connected lighting option.

Have you ever felt like your Flag Day lights were missing something? Perhaps your kickoff-timed lighting display still needs that fourth color from your team's second alternate European road trip jersey?

Rather than expanding into the galaxy of home automation component devices, Philips is taking a focused approach with its Friends of Hue product line. Hue, of course, is Philips' connected LED light bulb line that debuted last year. The Friends of Hue, at the moment comprising two accessory products, so far stay rooted in the world of LED illumination.

Among Hue's new Friends are the Bloom LED spotlight, and these $89 LightStrips, an adhesive-backed strip of tiny, programmable, LED accent lights. Intended as a companion light to go with the Philips Hue Connected Bulb Starter Pack, the LightStrips require that kit, specifically the puck-shaped networking hub that comes with it, if you want to control and customize them through your mobile device and over the Web.

Thus not only do you need to be a Hue owner to use these lights to full effect, as a niche product within a niche product category LightStrips are really aimed at Hue owners who are also particularly committed to either decorative lighting or home automation. I can recommend them if you have either or both of those enthusiasms. Few others will find this product useful.

LED bulb casts a multicolored shadow

Dutch designer Dennis Parren has developed an LED bulb that casts shadows in cyan, magenta, and yellow.

We all know that white light is created when different color wavelengths combine. So what happens when you use that phenomenon to create a lightbulb?

That's exactly what Dutch designer Dennis Parren did when he developed his CMYK bulb. Well, sort of. Expanded from his original CMYK Lamp 2011 graduation project for Design Academy Eindhoven, the bulb consists of a white LED light source pointing downward. Then placed equidistantly around the bulb, the cyan, magenta and yellow LEDs face up.

This has the rather fun and fascinating effect of casting a triple shadow from whatever comes in front of the LEDs — one in each of the three colors.

"It's the first lightbulb that creates colored shadows, which also can be very wonderful with existing shades," Parren said on his Web site. But the designer has also created a shade of his own to go with the bulb. Called "Diamond," the polypropylene is folded into the faceted shape of a cut stone, with tiny holes that allow the light to escape and sparkle in the different colors.

"I chose this shape because the light sparkles through the little holes like a real diamond," Parren said. "The cheapest diamond ever made."

The E27 screw-in CMYK bulb is available for 95 euros ($118), or the bulb and Diamond shade for 160 euros ($210), both from Parren's Web site.

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Glowing plants could act as biological night lights

A Kickstarter project promises to deliver seeds and plants that glow in the dark, thanks to synthetic biology and designer DNA sequences.

Humans have a lot in common with magpies. We gravitate toward shiny things.

It's easy, then, to see why the Glowing Plants project on Kickstarter has more than doubled its goal and still has 38 days to go. It's a fascinating mix of botany, science, and unexpected glowing things.

Some people can boast a green thumb, but very few people can boast a glowing green thumb. For a pledge of $40, Glowing Plants will send you 50 to 100 seeds to let you raise your own glowing plant at home. The project's creators say that this is a one-off opportunity and the seeds will not be available commercially later on.

If you're not the gardening type, then a $150 pledge gets you a young glowing plant that already has had a good start to life. It's up to you to take care of it, feed it, and keep your cats from eating it.

Creating a glowing plant is not a simple process. First, the Glowing Plants team had to design DNA sequences using the Genome Compiler software program. The Kickstarter funds will be used to print the DNA, which is then inserted into Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant. The synthetic biology transformation allows it to glow in the dark, no blacklight required.

Here's the process in more detail: "Transforming the plant will initially be done using the Agrobacterium method. Our printed DNA will be inserted into a special type of bacteria which can insert its DNA into the plant. Flowers of the plant are then dipped into a solution containing the transformed bacteria. The bacteria injects our DNA into the cell nucleus of the flowers which pass it onto their seeds which we can grow until they glow!"

The Glowing Plants team looks to have the credentials to pull this product off. There's a biochemistry PhD, a mathematics master, and a cell and molecular biology PhD in the lead roles. While prototype glowing plants have been created, there's a chance that this first round of Kickstarter plants may not glow quite as much as people would like. "We hope to have a plant which you can visibly see in the dark (like glow in the dark paint) but don't expect to replace your light bulbs with version 1.0," the teams says.

Perhaps the best part of the Glowing Plants project is extrapolating what it could mean for the future. Imagine a dark street lined with biological lights. Whole gardens could be made to glow. It would be magical.

Unique Lumio lamp disguises itself as a book It looks like a book, but when you open its cover, Lumio glows with ambient LED light.

 March 14, 2013 10:19 AM PDT

 

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Future headlights turn rain invisible, we explain how in video

Rain — the scourge of the night driver! Too many times have distracting droplets proved an annoyance for those traveling roads after dark.

New technology co-developed by Intel and Carnegie Mellon University could one day change all that. I've spoken to Intel about the new tech, so hit play on the video above to find out how it works.

Instead of relying on a bog-standard bulb to beam light out over a darkened road, the futuristic setup would use something more akin to a projector.

Meanwhile a camera sits nestled beneath that projector, keeping an eye on drops of rain as they enter the headlights' beams. Information from that camera is sent to a processing unit, which identifies raindrops and makes a guess as to where each droplet is headed.

The projector then blots out the bits of its projection where the rain drops are. The result is a light that shines out from the front of a carin the dark, but doesn't highlight any rain.

You'll need a powerful projector to make it work though, and obviously cramming a camera, projector and processing unit into the front of your car will be more expensive than a normal bulb.

As a result, don't expect to see this technology squeezed into cars any time soon. Intel reckons we'll see it inside new vehicles within a decade, though.

 

Check out the video on the link below…

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/cartech/future-headlights-turn-rain-invisible-we-explain-how-in-video-50011059/

Ref: CNET

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Let there be lights: Crowd-funded lighting campaigns.

Take a peek at these awesome Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects.

Here's a list of crowd-sourced home lighting projects I'm really excited about. Some of these campaigns are fully funded, while others are still soliciting pledges. Have a favorite? Let me know in the comments section.

Alva LED lamps
This Kickstarter campaign still has 10 days to go, and it has nearly doubled its original $12,000 funding goal. This design team crafts custom-blown glass LED lamps that look a lot like original Edison bulbs. They wanted to merge thoughtful design and modern lighting technology; I think the company achieved its goal. You can pledge a minimum of $1, but you'll need to drop at least $480 to get one of these original creations.

Dodecado multipiece lamp
Here's an intriguing interactive light fixture made of modular LED blocks, or Dodecados. One Dodecado can attach to other Dodecados, creating a custom, multipiece lamp. Each fixture comes with a power deck that can accommodate up to eight individual LED blocks, which have 149 lumens and 1.05 watts each. With just shy of a month left to go, this project is pretty far from its $61,000 (CAD) goal, but I'm selfishly hopeful. That way, there's a chance I can review one.

Forever LED Light
Forever LED Light is offering a suite of five dimmable cool touch bulbs that promise to never burn out. There's an 8-watt pear-shaped bulb, an 11-watt spotlight, a 6-watt small spotlight, a 3-watt round light, and a 3-watt chandelier light. According to Forever LED Light, these are the only LED bulbs that come with a lifetime guarantee. Hm, curious.

Heat Pipe Lamp
This bulb claims to have a better light angle (330 degrees compared with 140 to 160 degrees) and consume less energy than other LEDs (8 watts compared with 12 watts). It also produces 1,080 lumens and comes with dimmer capabilities — not bad at all. This $50,000 Indiegogo campaign still has about two months to go and had earned $290 last I checked. Thanks to Indiegogo's flexible funding, the Heat Pipe Lamp will still get all of its pledged funds even if it doesn't reach that $50K mark. Hopefully that means I'll see Heat Pipe Lamps whether it gets fully funded or not.

Ilumi claims to be world's smartest lights
This campaign still has 44 days to go on Kickstarter, and it has already exceeded its $25,000 funding goal by over $10,000. And I can see why: it's a Bluetooth-enabled LED bulb that can be controlled via the Ilumi Android or iOS app. Hooray for crowd-sourced home automation lighting. I can't wait to compare Ilumi lights to the Philips Hue.

LIFX light bulb
LIFX is an energy efficient LED bulb that you can control remotely using the LIFX app on yourAndroid or iOS device. This Wi-Fi-enabled bulb can change color to set the mood — it's anotherPhilips Hue-esque concept that piques my interest. The original target was $100,000 and the final funding tally hit $1,314,542. So, yeah, things went very well for LIFX on Kickstarter. Early shipments have already gone out, but you can still preorder a LIFX bulb for $89.

Lightree
This 16-inch LED lamp can be powered by remote control. It has 16 different color options and three power levels. Funding for this low-wattage LED lamp ends on October 21, and pledges of $75 or more will get a Lightree (if the project reaches its $3,000 funding goal). It's a cute project — I can easily picture a Lightree in a child's bedroom.

NanoLight
Not only is the NanoLight neat-looking, it only uses 12 watts of electricity to generate more than 1,600 lumens. That's on par with a 100W incandescent bulb, but way more energy efficient. The funding period ended earlier this year and exceeded its original $20,000 goal by over $250,000. Want. That is all.

The Question Block Lamp
8-Bit Lit's Question Block Lamp is a tribute to old-school gaming, and I strongly approve. Just tap the bottom of the lamp to power it on or off. The successful campaign ended in July, but you can still preorder a Question Block Lamp and mounting kit for just $49. Very sneaky, 8-Bit Lit, appealing to my nostalgia like that.

Ube WiFi Connected Smart Light Dimmer
Here's something that reminds me a lot of the Belkin WeMo Light Switch I recently reviewed, except that this Ube switch is dimmable. This Kickstarter campaign was successfully funded back in April, but you can still preorder an Ube WiFi Connected Smart Light Dimmer starting at $79. Watch out, Belkin!

ZG-1 LED lighting system
The ZG-1 is a lighting system that separates the light emitter from the light diffuser — what a novel idea. In fact, the light diffuser bulb can actually be unscrewed from the light emitter, making the bulb reusable and highly customizable. There are just a few days left on this flexible-funding Indiegogo campaign, but the design team will receive all of the funds raised, even if it doesn't meet the $15,000 goal. Hopefully, that means that I'll get my hands on a ZG-1 regardless.

Ref: CNET

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Toss traditional lightbulbs and save with CFLs, LEDs

 

Old-school lightbulbs are becoming history as tests show energy-saving bulbs are better than ever.

With many homes using about 50 lightbulbs, the cost of traditional incandescent bulbs is a good reason to make the switch.

"Incandescent bulbs are really only cheap if you never turn them on,” said Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman of Consumer Reports. “They cost about $8 a year to power, and that's compared with only $1.70 for an LED or CFL."

Most compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs, cost under $3. LEDs are more expensive, at $20 to $30 per bulb.

"But even at that price, they still save you about $125 over their lifetime on electrical costs and on the cost of replacing bulbs,” Lehrman said.

LEDs can last for decades, more than twice as long as CFLs. Also, LEDs light instantly, unlike CFLs that can take 30 seconds or more to reach full brightness.

Many LED bulbs are dimmable. Most CFLs are not.

Consumer Reports tested more than 750 CFLs and LEDs, measuring warm-up time, light distribution and longevity.

The best LEDs outperformed the CFLs on all counts. For 60-watt equivalents, Consumer Reports named two $20 LED bulbs as “best buys." They are from 3M and Utilitech, which is sold at Lowe's. Both offer a dimmable white.

If $20 is too much for one lightbulb, consider CFLs instead.

Among 60-watt equivalents, Consumer Reports says Walmart's Great Value Soft White CFL is top-rated. The cost: $1.25 a bulb.

Durham-based Cree makes an LED bulb that comes with a 10-year warranty. The $13, 60-watt bulb has been through Consumer Reports initial tests only. Testers say it instantly provided a bright, warm, yellow light.

REF: WRAL.com

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Light bulb buying guide (continued…)

What about directionality?

Glad you asked. Some newer lights have hardware built into the bulb itself that can block the downward projection of light. These bulbs are still fine for something like a recessed light fixture, where they can hang upside down and shine straight out, but if you're buying one for a bedside reading lamp, it might be disappointingly dim. If you aren't sure exactly what you'll need from your bulb in terms of light direction, the safe bet might be to go with a bulb that shines in all directions. The term that you'll want to look for is "omnidirectional."

In addition, some nonomnidirectional lights will offer you an idea of just how close to omnidirectional they actually are. 360 degrees of light output is the obvious ideal, but a bulb that offered 330 degrees would probably be close enough.

How do I tell if a light bulb is efficient?

In simple terms, a light bulb is just a device that converts electricity into light. The more light you get per watt of electricity, the more efficient the light. With incandescent bulbs, efficiency is easy to understand because a specific wattage of electricity will always heat a tungsten filament to a specific temperature, which in turn will yield a specific level of light. This means that, generally speaking, one incandescent will be just as efficient (or by today's standards, inefficient) as another.

With LEDs and CFLs, the bulbs still convert electricity into light, but the methodology is totally different. Light output isn't fixed to the temperature of a filament, meaning there's more wiggle room for differences in efficiency. Simply put, unlike incandescents, LED and CFL bulbs are decidedly not created equal.

This is another place where understanding lumens comes in handy. A 10-watt LED can easily outshine a 12-watt competitor if it converts watts into lumens more efficiently. All the wattage tells you is how much power the bulb uses. The lumens tell you how much light the bulb puts out. The ratio between the two tells you how efficient the bulb is. The more lumens you're getting per watt, the better the bulb is at converting electricity into light.

What about smart lighting?

It's out there, and it's more affordable than you might think. Whether you want an elaborate network of fully automated lights, or just a simple bulb that you can program over your phone via Bluetooth, you'll find a growing number of options available from a variety of different sources.

Automated lighting

It used to be that if you wanted your lights to turn on and off automatically, then you had to rely on a cheap wall socket timer, the kind used to control a Christmas tree. With a modest boom in smart lighting currently under way, it's easier than ever to dive into the sort of advanced automation controls that can make any home feel modern and futuristic. With the right devices, you'll be able to control your lights in all sorts of creative ways, and make your life a little bit easier in the process.

For lighting control as part of a larger home automation system, one that's capable of tethering the status of your lights to things like motion detectors, smart locks, or presence sensors, you could turn to a system like Insteon's. The company's Starter Kit isn't quite as flashy as some of the other new automation options we're seeing, but it'll work well if you're looking to automate your lights. You could even upgrade your system with a few of Insteon's fully automatable LED Bulbs, while you're at it. We've also seen interesting systems from Nexia, SmartThings, and others, so you'll definitely want to do a little research and shop around before committing to anything too elaborate.

If you're not looking to install a whole home automation system, but you'd still like some of those advanced lighting controls, you've still got options. The Belkin WeMo Light Switch is a single device that'll let you automate a light using the free WeMo app, or the popular Web serviceIFTTT. The WeMo Switch is even more flexible, letting you automate not just lights, but anything you plug into it. Additionally, you could look for smart bulbs with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi built right in — many don't even need any additional products or software. Just screw them in, download an app, and start automating. Best of all, most of these products boast surprisingly attractive prices.

Keep in mind, though, that many of these bulbs will need to draw a tiny bit of power while they're powered off in order to remember your automation settings, and this means that they'll be slightly less energy-efficient than normal bulbs. For green-minded consumers, this kind of bulb might not seem smart at all.

Color control

If you're looking for a little more color in your life, then be sure and take a look at a product like the Philips Hue Starter Kit. Aside from being fully automatable via a mobile app and control hub, the Hue LED bulbs are capable of on-demand color changes. Just pull out your phone, select one of millions of possible shades, and the light will match it. Can't decide between warm, yellowy light or a cool blue tone? Why not both?

Because Philips opened the lighting controls to third-party developers, we're starting to see new smartphone apps that will do some pretty crazy things, like changing the color of your lights in rhythm with whatever music you're playing. Hue lights are even compatible with IFTTT, with recipes already available that will change the color of your lights to match the weather, or to signal a touchdown from your favorite football team, or even to indicate when your stocks are doing well.

Even if that level of smart functionality makes your eyes roll, it still illuminates one last important thing about buying lights: you should look for the lighting setup that you'll enjoy the most, because you'll be using it more often than any other appliance in your home. Even if smart lights aren't for you, there's no reason not to be smart about your lighting choices. Know your options, shop intelligently, and you'll love your lights for years to come.

Ref: CNET

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Light bulb buying guide (continued…)

Incandescents

 

Average cost: $2 – $10

Average wattage: 40 – 150 watts

Average life expectancy: 1,000 hours

When I tell you to picture a light bulb, chances are good that you're envisioning an incandescent. This is the classic bulb of Thomas Edison: a tungsten filament trapped within a glass enclosure. Electricity heats the filament to a point where it glows, and voila, you have light.

Aren't incandescents banned?

As a matter of fact, they aren't. EISA doesn't actually ban anything, at least not directly. What EISA does do is raise efficiency standards — specifically, the minimum acceptable ratio of lumens (light) per watt (electricity). Incandescents aren't banned; they simply have to become more efficient. Also, keep in mind that appliance lights and other specialty classes of incandescents are exempt from the new standards, so they aren't going anywhere.

It's true that traditional incandescents unable to keep up with the times will be phased out. However, the door is still wide open for nontraditional incandescents to take their place, and we're already seeing some manufacturers rise to the challenge, with high-efficiency incandescent bulbs that manage to meet the new standards. Key among these high-efficiency bulbs is yet another lighting option you'll want to consider:

Halogens

Average cost: $3 – $15

Average wattage: 29 – 72 watts

Average life expectancy: 1,000 hours

Halogens are just incandescent bulbs with a bit of halogen gas trapped inside with the filament. This gas helps "recycle" the burned-up tungsten gas back onto the filament, making for a slightly more efficient light. Unlike the mercury in CFLs, this gas isn't anything that could be classified as hazardous waste.

Due to their relative similarity to classic incandescents — both in light quality and in cost — halogens can work as a good compromise bulb for consumers who need to replace their incandescents, but who also aren't ready to commit to CFLs or LEDs quite yet.

What information should I be looking for?

You want to be sure that you'll enjoy living with whatever light bulb you purchase, especially if you're choosing a long-lasting bulb that you'll live with for years. Fortunately, the Federal Trade Commission now requires light bulb manufacturers to put a "Lighting Facts" label onto their products' packaging, not unlike the Nutrition Facts label that you'll find on packaged food.

These Lighting Facts include everything from the estimated yearly cost of using the bulb to more obscure figures, like lumens and color temperature. If you want to shop smart, it will help to understand as much of that terminology as you can.

Lumens

If you're buying a bulb these days, you'll be left in the dark if you don't know what a lumen is. The actual definition gets a bit complicated, involving things like steradians and candela, but don't worry, because all that you really need to know is that lumens are units of brightness. The more lumens a bulb boasts, the brighter it will be. So, how does this information help you?

Let me give you an example. If you look at CFL or LED bulbs, you'll see that most all of them are marketed as "replacements" for incandescent bulbs of specific wattages. You'll probably see the word "equivalent" used, too, as in "60-watt equivalent." This can be frustratingly misleading, with "equivalent" often meaning something closer to "equivalent…ish." Relying on these wattage equivalencies can lead you to buy a bulb that ends up being far too dim or too bright for your needs, and this is where understanding lumens really comes in handy. With lumens listed on each and every bulb, you'll always have a concrete comparison of how bright any two bulbs actually are. The bigger the number, the brighter the bulb — easy enough, right?

How many lumens do I need?

Over the last century, we've been trained to think about light purely in terms of wattages, so it isn't surprising that most people really have no idea of how many lumens they actually need in a bulb. Until you form an idea of how bright is bright enough for your tastes, stick with these figures:

Replacing a 40-watt bulb: look for at least 450 lumens

Replacing a 60-watt bulb: look for at least 800 lumens

Replacing a 75-watt bulb: look for at least 1,100 lumens

Replacing a 100-watt bulb: look for at least 1,600 lumens

Color temperature

After lumens, the next concept you'll want to be sure to understand is color temperature. Measured on the Kelvin scale, color temperature isn't really a measure of heat. Instead, it's a measure of the color that a light source produces, ranging from yellow on the low end of the scale to bluish on the high end, with whitish light in the middle. An easy way to keep track of color temperature is to think of a flame: it starts out yellow and orange, but when it gets reallyhot, it turns blue.

Generally speaking, incandescents sit at the bottom of the scale with their yellow light, while CFLs and LEDs have long been thought to tend toward the high, bluish end of the spectrum. This has been a steady complaint about new lighting alternatives, as many people prefer the warm, familiar, low color temperature of incandescents. Manufacturers are listening, though, and in this case they heard consumers loud and clear, with more and more low-color-temperature CFL and LED options hitting the shelves. Don't believe me? Take a look at those two paper lamps in the picture above, because they're both CFL bulbs — from the same manufacturer, no less.

These days, bulb shoppers will find so many color temperature options that some lighting companies have cleverly begun color-coding their packaging: blue for high-color-temperature bulbs, yellow for low-color-temperature ones, and white for bulbs that fall in between. With so many choices available, the notion that the phase-out of incandescents is taking warm, cozy lighting with it is a complete myth at this point.

Color rendering index

Unless you live in a disco, you probably want the colors in your home to look somewhat traditional. This is where the color rendering index, or CRI, comes in. The CRI is a score from 1 to 100 that rates a bulb's ability to accurately illuminate colors. You can think of the CRI as a light bulb's GPA for colors, as it actually averages multiple scores for multiple shades. Manufacturers aren't required to list the bulb's CRI number on the packaging, but many of them choose to do so anyway, so you'll want to know what it means.

To understand CRI a little better, let's imagine a basketball game played outdoors on a sunny day between a team in red jerseys and a team in green jerseys. Daylight is the ideal for making colors look the way they should, so it gets a CRI of 100. Most people watching this game would have no problem telling the teams apart, because red would appear clearly red and green would look green.

Now let's imagine that same basketball game — except now played inside that disco I mentioned. We're indoors, it's a little dim, and we're stuck with multicolored spotlights as the only light source. A purple one shines down on a very confused point guard as he takes a shot. Can you tell if he's on the green team or the red one? I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't, because the CRI of lights like those is abysmal.

Now here's the rub: the CRI is highly imperfect and not always helpful (the reasons why are mind-numbing, but you can read more here if you're curious/masochistic). The important takeaway is that CRI scores are really only helpful if you're talking about bulbs that sit in the middle of the color temperature spectrum. You'll probably see references to "white" or "natural" light on bulbs like these. In these cases, the CRI score can be a great way to tell a good bulb from a great bulb.

Anything over 80 is probably decent enough for your home, but we're starting to see CRI scores creeping up into the nineties on some very affordable bulbs. If accurate color rendering is important to you, hold out for lights like these. And if you're buying bulbs on the high (blue) or low (yellow) end of the spectrum, take any and all CRI claims with a grain of salt.

Ref: CNET

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