The market for LED bulbs is becoming increasingly saturated, with manufacturers and suppliers of different sizes, with very different approaches to quality. If you have already found your trusted manufacturer or supplier of LED light bulbs, there are still some important decisions to make, before making an actual purchase. Here is our mini-guide in the jungle of LED light bulbs.
First of all, do not under any circumstances buy the cheapest LED light bulb you find. It is not just a myth that price and quality goes inseparably together. Buy the cheapest LED light bulb, and you will with no doubt find yourself with a product that compromises energy efficiency, lifespan or quality of light. We have seen examples of cheap manufacturers tuning their LEDs way above the maximum capacity, causing the diode to use a lot more energy and to burn out a lot faster. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. The cheapest bulbs can even be manufactured without proper knowledge and quality testing, which means they can actually pose a fire threat. You do not have to choose the most expensive LED light bulb available on the market, as long as you do some research at home on the manufacturer.
Okay, you have done your manufacturer-research. Now it is time to get a little more specific. A huge Don’t that many people fails to realise before making a purchase, is to know what colour temperature they are actually seeking. Colour temperature is measured in Kelvin units, abbreviated as K. So what do you need? Do you want cosy lighting, or more cold and functional lighting? To give you a starting point, here is a few different colour temperatures: a candle is about 1800K, a traditional incandescent is about 2700K and the midday sun is approximately 5500K. The most common and comfortable light is around 2700-3000K, which therefore is the safe way to go. Otherwise make sure to keep the colour rendition at a minimum of 90Ra to make sure that the colours are rendered as realistically as possible.
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