I am making an effort to convert our standard household lighting over to LED bulbs. I can’t stand CFLs, or Compact Fluorescent Lights, because they give off a weird color light, they often need to “warm up” and they can flicker when they’re turned on. This is especially startling when you’re trying to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night and you find yourself with a rapidly blinking light breaking the darkness. LEDs are better behaved in this regard. However, if you’ve browsed Lowe’s or The Home Depot lately, you’ll see what LEDs are quite expensive.
Hence, my “effort” to slowly convert to LED lighting.
Like their CFL counterparts, the color (or temperature) of LED lighting can be a little wonky. LEDs tend to be a little more cooler, or blue, in their light, which can be especially harsh in the home environment. Manufacturers are getting better at providing bulbs with a warmer glow but we’re not quite there yet when compared to incandescent lamps or even sunlight.
A couple bulbs in different ceiling fans throughout the house blew out, so I decided to convert one ceiling fan lamp to LEDs and move the working incandescent bulbs to the other ceiling fans. The new LEDs would be in the kitchen over the kitchen table.
The chosen LEDs were marketed as “warm white” and dimmable. The dimming ability was important because the lamp in question has a two-stage switch: low and high. I installed the new bulbs and flipped the switch to the first setting.
No dice.
I flipped the switch to full power and after a fraction of a second the lights came on. I’d love to say that I heard a shriek as Earl and Jamie ran for cover or at the very least in search of a strong pair of sunglasses, but that would just be dramatic. But it would not be inappropriate.
The “warm white” glow I was expecting from these frosted LED bulbs turned out to be a very harsh white and very, very bright. The lamps were suppose to approximate at 60 watt bulb, but it felt like we were standing in the middle of a baseball stadium. No peanuts, no popcorn, no seventh inning stretch, just very white, harsh, bright lighting flooding our kitchen table.
We ate one meal under the new bulbs. Jamie asked for sunscreen. Earl’s photogray glasses darkened. I think I sunburned.
I rearranged the bulbs and moved the incandescents back to the kitchen and the new LEDs into the spare bedroom. The white light will accent the white walls quite nicely. I would really hate to see what the “cool white” light bulbs put out.
I don’t think my Irish skin can handle it.
