IMO mixing the 2 is hard to live with one has yellow cast and the other much more like daylight. I would do all 4000K and if you want to change some do it later after you have lived with it. I actually like 5000k but baby steps are sometimes a good idea when doing something new.

My sister just put 5000k LED all through her house (all dimmable) and loves the clean look it adds to her modern renovations. We are doing new construction but all 3000k LED (for slim profile cans, fixtures, etc) as we just prefer the warmer light - I don’t find it looks yellow unless it is right next to 4000k+. She and I both live in climates with a lot of winter and little daylight during those months but went in different directions just due to personal preferences :)

I think for a very modern styled house a “whiter” light suits it well - I think you can easily go with 4000k and put lights in “relaxing” areas at least on dimmers.

I live in the PNW. I just changed my bathroom and kitchen lights to 4100k LED. They are an improvement. The yellow light of 2700k was throwing my colors off and wasn't giving me bright enough task lighting. I tried the 5000k and returned them--much too harsh and clinical.

@mayflowers (and anyone else who is reading), colors are not thrown off by the Kelvin temperature. They are thrown off by the CRI. You can have lower temperatures and a high CRI or higher temperatures and a low CRI. Important to look at the labels. You want the highest CRI possible, e.g. 90 or better. The difference between the higher temperatures and the lower ones is the spectrum range: higher numbers go colder, lower go warmer.

Here's a good chart for reference:

colors are not thrown off by the Kelvin temperature.

higher numbers go colder, lower go warmer.

You just negated your own post by your two comments above. If someone is looking for a warmer feel, then yes they don't want to put in bulbs that will create a cooler light.

If you put in a 5000 K bulb, your colors are going to read cooler. If you put in a 2700 k bulb, your colors will read warmer, so yes color is thrown off in terms of whether they read warmer or cooler.

@cpartist, I didn't actually. CRI and Kelvin temp are not the same.

Good luck even finding anything other than 2700k or 5000k in big box stores. I was able to find the 4100k at a Batteries Plus Bulbs store. There are several in Oregon and Washington. They sell Duracell brand. I didn't want to order online and have to keep returning them until I got it right.

Good point, @mayflowers. You definitely should go to a reputable lighting store that also works with the construction and design trade. In terms of vendors, Juno makes great options.

Mayflowers

We have bought a lot of lights on line I think from Lighting World \but not sure that was the name. We bought rope lights to go around Palm trees and our courtyard sunscreen as well as every other kind of light and bulbs up to 5000K. They pretty much had everything, decent price and good service.

Inga

Yes, that's fine as long as you know the lighting color you want, but I needed to try them out first. Now I know.

Hi, Tina--

Sabrina's right on the money here, and as far as spec'ing out interiors, I work in the same band. Since you mentioned upthread that you already have some fixtures in that are 3000K, I'd recommend staying consistent to that standard. You'll note that's the convention in hospitality settings too -- putting all the mounted and free fixtures in the same K temp in the house -- working consistently so that table or floor fixtures can be moved across rooms/zones and provide a matching quality and cast of light that never conflicts, wherever they're needed for deployment whether temporary or permanent.

Some clients have been concerned if one quality of light works in both more restful versus active spaces. Usually, as long as everything's set on dimmers (as you mentioned you're doing), that resolves the best-fit for a seamless and uniform quality of light throughout. Cheers!

Its been a while since you have all commented, and not sure you will read this but its important to add. Lighting is important for our circadian / 24 hour body clocks. Esthetics is one thing, but you can not trick or cheat nature. 4000k or above should be used for the time 12-15 (12-3pm) or around there, with gradually warmer lighting into evening. all other lighting disrups melatonin synthesis (and for the same reason, we should not look at bright blue monitors or phones at least an hour before sleep). Circadian disruptions do cause sleep problems, increase obesity, are hornonally disruptive, and increase certain types of cancer. This is not skepticism, it is science. White light is not the same. CRi is definitely going to make the light more

or less blue, but its Kelvin that will take you from a daytime all the time stimulation, to day-night balance.

Hi Tina,

I'm dying to know, what did you end up going with? How do you like it?

I'm in the exact same situation!

Thanks!

Me too!! Just finishing our home and now with power on I realize the 3000k seems way too dim. But I know that’s because there weren’t enough can lights put in. I’ve tried 4000 but the light seems stark. I’m disappointed I didn’t realize the number was insufficient before now. Contractor says it will be difficult to add more at this stage!

@Judy Lassiter Lights are never that difficult to add. Contractor may be referring to having to change placement to have a balanced layout. But if you can just add more without changing the location of the existing lights, it's super easy.

Finishing up my remodel, I ended up easily going with 3000K. I actually had them all at 4000K and switched all of them to 3000K myself. While the 4000K looked really nice, felt like a showroom featuring my beautiful brand new kitchen and spaces, by night time we realized that its just too white and uncomfortable, like you can't relax.

Per Judy's concern above, i have lots of lights, so the color at 3000K felt plenty bright and not too warm at all. 3000K color temperature is very comfortable. I think when you go to places like Lamps Plus, they use a lot of 2700K and thats where things feel old style and too warm.

Also, when you have different lights in the same room at different temperatures, its very obvious that they are different. I would not recommend.

Is there much difference between 2700K and 3000K? If I switched out the 2700 for the 3000, would I notice a difference?

Jeri, Yes you would.

For what it’s worth I’m working with a designer and a lighting designer for my home and they are both adamant about only using 3000k throughout the house even for bathroom mirrors.

Does anyone have 3500k in their home? Our lighting guy in our new construction wants to use 3000k but they look so yellow to me. Our rental has 4000k and it is very white. We can get 3500 for an up charge. We have more warm tones in the new house.

I would recommend 3000K or 4000K because 3500K will be difficult to find as future replacements.

If you go RGB, or fully controllable colour then you might be able to tune event further.

Maybe your rental 4000K wasn't 4000K but 5000K? (you sure?).

Personally I switched from 3000K to 4000K throughout the house, it feels more modern. But I still have a variable 3000K to 4000K bedside table, warm light is better as late night light.

There are both 4000k and 5000k in the rental. Nice and bright but it is a white and blue modern home. Ours will be more mountainy. The light guy said maybe a selectable bulb would work for us.

For me, 3500k is a nice medium - but it’s also very difficult to find if replacement bulbs are needed. I could barely tell the difference between 2700k and 3000k, and yes 4000k and 5000k are very white. A variable might be the best option for you.

Here’s an update from today: Our lighting installer just told us that they will no longer be installing 3000K LED. Instead, all their lighting is going to be the selectable bulbs. This means we can change the setting to anything we want, and there will be no additional price for us. This is the best news we could hope for!

Meg - That does sound like a great option. My only caution concerns the CRI value. Some of the selectable bulbs have low CRI values. From what I have read, you want a CRI of 90+.