Yes! Higher color temp LED bulbs

I was in Lowes yesterday and notice that they are stocking higher color-temp LED bulbs. All the quality stuff was all the incandescent matching 2700-3000K bulbs, but now there are some 5500K bulbs showing up. I hope the trend continues. I like to see more 3500, 4100, 5000 and 6000K options.

Agreed 100%. As with CFLs, it's nice to give the customer a choice. I know in my neck of the woods the 3500K and 5500K CFLs always seem to get quickly sold out whenever they're offered. Higher CCT LED bulbs also have the bonus of slightly greater efficiency for any given CRI than 2077K or 3000K.

The selection of LED bulbs in Canada is a lot worse than in the US. I ended pairing a 5000°K Zetalux with a 2700°K Philips in my kitchen to get an acceptable CCT.

Choice is nice, but higher CCT LED bulbs are almost certainly going to mean lower CRI - mid 70's at most likely. My retinas prefer a slightly different spectrum than a head of lettuce - sorry. I just tested some neutral white 'ANSI' spec'd Rebels that are 4100k, and they are terrible. Might as well go back to 1970's double phosphor fluorescent tube technology. If this is the price we are going to pay for 10-15% greater efficiency I'm going back to tubes

Also, I've seen enough of these bulbs to realize except for Cree or higher end dedicated fixtures the CCT listed on the package can't be relied on. Several brands of retrofits I've installed claim 'warm white' when there's no way they were lower than 4000k. Color rendition though is actually pretty decent in most of them, and on par or better than CFL.

ANSI spec means what? What Ansi 4100K Rebel PN were you unhappy with?

I've seen some Rebels that colored my room equal to my XPG's, MC-E's... just have to make sure you grab the higher CRI Rebels if you need better. If you have a ANSI 4000k 70-CRI Rebel, don't expect it to be any better than any other higher CCT low-CRI LED. But, if you need close to 90-CRI, you're pretty much stuck in the 3000K region, with most manufacturers. There are those 80-85CRI 4000k Rebel ES's too, if you can find them. I do wish that they would come out with 5w-20w+ large Rebels.

I do wish that the manufacturers would quit chasing lm/w until they can get CRI and K balanced out. Its looked like they were just trying to run their stock prices up over the past few years. Sad that most consumers will just buy what bulb they see on the shelf, or whatever is being thrown(marketed) at them. So, we're stuck with LED bulbs that don't really perform any better than CFL, ESL, LVD... bulbs, with a major price increase(store, supplier, and manufacturer profit margins).

I too have a few light fixtures/lamps with mixed bulbs trying to get the balance that I want.

deadrx7conv said:

I do wish that the manufacturers would quit chasing lm/w until they can get CRI and K balanced out.

Click to expand...

Nichia NS3W183A-H1

Min. 85 CRI
Typ. 92 CRI
5440K CCT

Is there a supply of these "H1" Nichia's easily available? And, is it available in 5w, 10w, or 20w or other more useable sizes? 083's are discontinued I think. 183-H1's aren't too easy to find. 119-H1's are just as rare for us DIY'ers looking for a couple LEDs without paying excessively. I think I'd rather have a P4 or XPG in high cri even if the light is overly warm because I can find them usually, along with the Rebels(but are IMO too small).

For example, after the SST90 was released, there was a rumour that a 90-CRI SST90 was in the works. Never did find one yet But, it would be nice, along with P7, XML, MC-E, SST50, along with the other forgotten LEDs brands/manufacturerers. The best we could do with these is lean toward a neutral or warm tint, and hope that the CRI is ever so slightly higher.

I do give HD credit for offering the bulb in 2 CCT's:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=202668646
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=202668649

I wish that option was available for the Sylvania LED bulbs I have.
http://www.lowes.com/webapp/wcs/sto...oreId=10151&catalogId=10051&productId=3375050

And, even HD's original Ecosmart was only available in a 3000k:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=202188260

CCrane and Tess(Evolux) seem to also have the CCT or K for us, but usually with the CRI drop(or unknown CRI).
http://www.tesscop.com/style/frame/...3&name_id=96385&content_set=color_2&rid=50817
http://www.earthled.com/products.html
http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/geobulb/

I took a closer look at the new 60W equivalent LED bulbs at Home Depot today. The cool white bulb is 4900K, which should be a nice fluorescent work light color. Around the house, I prefer a 3000K bright white though.

Be cautious with higher CCT's, a 6000K LED bulb looks out of place no matter where you put it in the house. I ended up putting that bulb in the garage, and even there, it is still too blue.