Properly warm light bulbs - help!

caroline1973lefty

Can anyone recommend light bulbs that are genuinely warm (standard screw (e27) and small screw fittings). I’ve tried loads and even the supposedly ‘warm white’ 2700k led filament ones, I find horribly fluorescent and cool/sickly. The halogen ones were ok but you can’t get them any more. The cheaper LED ones are awful but even the relatively pricey ones don’t seem that different, but perhaps I have t found the right brand?To be honest I miss incandescent bulbs - to be totally honest I still have a few, though not screw ones alas. (My energy consumption all round is pretty low, I don’t drive, rarely fly or eat meat, put a jumper on and turn heating down, and don’t do gadgets much…. Wanting warm light is my one eco-vice! I’d live by candlelight if I could, in fact I did for a while, but it wasn’t very practical!). 

Norman_Castle

For your old bulbs https://www.google.com/search?q=bayonet+to+screw+adapter

I've got a few 2400k bulbs which are very orange to me.

https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/light-bulbs/cat8350001?calclightbulbtechnology=led#category=cat8350001&calclightbulbtechnology=led&colourtemperaturedescription=warm_white

https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/light-bulbs/cat8350001?colourtemperaturedescription=very_warm_white

Ectophile

If you really want warm, then there are LED lamps that have been dipped in an orange laquer.  Restaurants seem to like them for some reason.  I have seen them for sale in B&Q.  I suspect their efficiency is pretty poor, having filtered out all the blue and green light, so you may need several of them to light a room.

casper_gutman

Are you using the LEDs with a dimmer? I find most of them feel cool when dimmed, because they stay the same colour temperature as they dim.

Then I found some (I think they're made by Phillips) which are made to simulate the behaviour of filament bulbs by getting warmer as they dim. I think the term you need to search for there is "dim to warm".

Carrot007

There are many LED's on the market with both controlable white and also every colour. These work great for me. You will need wifi on 2.4 and an app to control 99.9% of them but it is worth it.

AS LONG AS IT IS A BULB SIZE.

All the smaller fitting just suck and are probably best replaced. They sucked anyway for other reasons.

There is no need to spend a lot on t hese as with some manufacturers. There are good generics. But of course bulb size needs to be good in order no to die quick. I changed pretty much everything back to bayonet but obviouslly ES also exists. SES may be an issue like gu10's given the size. As I saidf to OH. Look at fitting first and do not buy the silly ones that suck for led. (or indeed all, the gu10 leds last slightly longer than the old ones did but not by much).

Doozergirl

There is a company called Tala that produce really lovely bulbs.  Not cheap but bulk discounts are available if you're doing the whole house.  They are recommended by the likes of John Cullen for 'standard bulbs' as they are genuinely 2700K on warmth and have a very high CRI to keep the colours that you see true.  

https://www.tala.co.uk/light-bulbs/

They even do 'dim to warm' bulbs which increase warmth as you dim the lighting.  We don't have those.  We have the cheaper normal sized bulbs, so some Globe 6 matt white for normal sized fittings and porcelain 1 for little lamps.  

I'm so pleased with them.   We're only 15 months in, but they're attractive looking bulbs and so far none have blown.   The house has a genuine warm glow when I come home at night and I'm so glad we invested in good lighting because it really makes the long winters more bearable. 

We have neighbours whose houses glow blue, virtually.  I'd hate it.  It would feel like living in an office.  
 
 

Bendy_House

casper_gutman said:

Are you using the LEDs with a dimmer? I find most of them feel cool when dimmed, because they stay the same colour temperature as they dim.

Then I found some (I think they're made by Phillips) which are made to simulate the behaviour of filament bulbs by getting warmer as they dim. I think the term you need to search for there is "dim to warm".

Philips' WarmGlow or DimTone (no idea why they have two product names) are superb; my default bulb.

'Filament'-white when full on - ie bright, clear but not harsh - and as warm as you like as you dim them down. On one wall my two light fittings have an old filament bulb in one and a WarmGlow in t'other - ye cannae tell which is which.

You can often pick these up on t'Bay for ~£4 a piece.

FaceHead

Norman_Castle said:

For your old bulbs https://www.google.com/search?q=bayonet+to+screw+adapter

Thanks so much for this. 

I feel rather silly to not have realised these exist - I detest having two types of fitting in the house, so will just get a couple of adapters

chrisw

Incandescent bulbs are still readily available. Look for 'rough service' bulbs.

Belenus

Over the last few years we have purchased and fitted small screw golf ball LAP LED Bulbs in Warm White from Screwfix and we are happy with them. They appear to be very competitively priced.

I cannot know whether you would also be happy with the quality of the light.

A regular electrician poster often criticises LAP as an unreliable make but we have only had one failure and that was replaced without fuss by Screwfix.

twopenny

I so sympathise and am following these suggestions.

I moved into a place with wall lights I was going to take out. Then found they gave a wonderful warm cosy glow in winter.

In true moneysaving style I replaced with warm light led's. It;s still like daylight!

Just wondering if I still have the old bulbs.