Light bulbs are not created equal and understanding how lighting can affect the look and vibe of a room is essential for owners looking to sell their homes.
Replacing fixtures can enhance a room’s beauty, but changing the light bulbs can alter the ambiance of a home. There are three things you need to consider when buying light bulbs: watts, lumens and kelvin.
What are watts and lumens?
The wattage of a light bulb indicates how much energy or power it consumes. The higher the wattage, the more energy is used.
Bulbs with higher watts will have a higher lumen level or brightness. Lumen is a measure of how far light will be visible or how bright it is. A light bulb used to light a sports field has a high lumen and high wattage.
If you have only a few light bulbs in a room, you might want to opt for a higher lumen; however, if you have lots of smaller light bulbs, then you could use a lower lumen. For a 100-square-foot living room or bedroom, you will want about 1,000 to 2,000 lumens, according to Home Depot. But for a bathroom or kitchen, you will want 7,000 to 8,000 lumens.
For lighting a home, look to balance brightness and energy efficiency. There are different types of light bulbs: incandescent, halogen, CFL and LED.
| Lumen | Incandescent watt | Halogen watt | CFL watt | LED watt |
| 250 | 25 | 18 | 6 | 4 |
| 450 | 40 | 29 | 10 | 5 |
| 630 | 60 | 43 | 14 | 7 |
| 1100 | 75 | 53 | 22 | 11 |
| 1600 | 100 | 72 | 26 | 18 |
| 2000 | 125 | 100 | 30 | 22 |
| 2600 | 150 | 140 | 35 | 27 |
What is kelvin?
Kelvin is a unit of temperature; however, when referring to lighting, it refers to visible, not physical, temperature. Light can appear yellow, blue and anywhere in between.
The kelvin rating of your light bulbs will affect the way the room looks. The same paint will look different in each type of lighting. The scale ranges from 1,000K to 10,000K, but for light bulbs, the typical range is from 2,000K to 6,500K.
Warm light
At its warmest, light appears red or orange or similar to firelight. Light bulbs for homes that are warm look yellowish.
| Kelvin | Color | Warmth |
| 2,000K | Deep golden yellow | Warmest, candlelight |
| 2,500-3,000K | Starkly yellow | Warm |
| 3,000K | Soft yellow | Touch of warmth |
Warm light can be cozy, inviting and relaxing. It can also bring out warm tones in wood and soften shadows. This light is good for reading and is gentle on eyes.
Recommend for
- Living rooms
- Bedrooms
- Dens or libraries
Neutral light
Neutral light appears white. From about 3,000K to 4,000K is a neutral light, with 3,000K being warmer and 4,000K being cooler. A kelvin of 3,500 is considered a middle neutral color. Neutral light feels bright and clean.
| Kelvin | Color | Warmth |
| 3,000K | Soft yellow | Touch of warmth |
| 3,500K | White with hints of yellow | Neutral, tiny bit of warmth |
| 4,000K | White | Neutral |
Recommended for
- Kitchens
- Bathrooms
- Workspaces
Cool light
The coolest light appears blue. Bulbs in the upper 4000Ks, 5000Ks and 6000Ks are cool light.
| Kelvin | Color | Warmth |
| 4,000K | White | Touch of coolness |
| 5,000k | White | Cool |
| 6,000k | White, tinged blue | Cooler |
Cool light can feel crisp and, at times, mimics daylight. This type of lighting can feel harsh at times. Think of phone screens or hospital exam rooms.
Recommend for
- Garages
- Outdoor lighting
When to change light bulb temperature
The goal is to have a light that’s not too hot and yellow or too stark and blue.
Adding fresh light bulbs throughout a home is a relatively inexpensive way to spruce it up. Homes are typically outfitted with bulbs in a warm light of 2,700K to 3,000K. However, for a brighter, neutral look, you can switch to 3,500K light bulbs. The higher kelvin light bulbs are crisper and brighter, but in a home, they can feel too sterile and harsh.
Natural light shifts in temperature depending on the time of day and weather. In the morning, light is typically cooler, while in the afternoon, natural light tends to be warmer.
Pro tip: If you are considering repainting from one neutral color to change the undertone of the room, try adjusting the lighting first. For example, if you think the cabinets in your kitchen are looking too yellow and your light bulbs are at 2,700K, try switching them to 3,500K. Changing light bulbs is significantly less expensive than painting.
Common mistake: Light is a powerful tool, but it can’t fix everything. Adding cool light bulbs will not make all paints look more neutral. If you have yellow walls, they will still look yellow in cool lighting. The same goes for blue walls in yellow lighting. Typically, warm light flatters warm colors and cool light flatters cool colors.
Other factors, such as sheen, will affect how the paint appears in a room. But adjusting the lighting is an impactful adjustment and an important factor to consider when remodeling.