A new crop of LED lights combine cutting-edge technology with “vintage-style” looks. However, there are a few things you must keep in mind if you want to upkeep or maintain a vintage decor using LED light bulbs with old-school looks.
It’s all about aesthetics
Want your light bulbs to last a really long time and yet have the vintage-style you love so much?
If so, what you need is LED light bulbs.
They last you decades and now come in a vintage avatar that has increased their popularity even further. If you’re looking to jump in with the trend, there’s some great news. Vintage-style LED bulbs come in all sorts of designs, sizes, and shapes, including globe-shaped LED bulbs.
Whatever your personal preferences are, we’re sure you will find several suitable options.
But Remember Designs Do Make A Difference
Vintage-style LED light bulbs achieve the old-school looks by stringing light-emitting diodes together as fake filaments inside the light bulb.
However, there’s more than one way to arrange these filaments, and how they are arranged can greatly impact the way the light looks when the bulb is turned on.
For example, when the filaments are arranged in tidy columns, the bulb has a kind of industrial look. On the other hand, twisting the filaments to look like decorative double helices can give the bulb an artful appearance. Sometimes, multiple filaments are arranged in such a way that they cast ugly shadows.
Therefore, before you select a vintage-style LED light bulb make sure its design suits your style and the bulb disperses light in an evenly fashion.
Another thing you should look into is dimming. Make sure the LED bulb you buy is dimmable, and you should always use a compatible dimmer switch with your LEDs. While many LED bulbs work with old dimmers, some don’t. Also, you may encounter flickering when you use a LED light bulb on an old dimmer. If you experience flickering and your LED bulb is dimmable, we recommend you invest in a quality dimmer.
Many Vintage-Style LED Bulbs Aren’t As Bright As Mentioned
These bulbs are designed to be looked at. That’s why they are purposely less bright in comparison to bulbs used in a lamp.
While there’s nothing wrong with this, what’s written on packaging can be a problem. Often, these bulbs are labeled as “60Watt replacement” and consequently one tends to think these bulbs emit as much light as 60-watt incandescent bulbs. However, the truth is in most cases these bulbs are far less bright.
For this reason, you shouldn’t pay much heed to wattage-replacement claims. Instead, you should check the lumen count, which acts as an accurate marker of how bright a light bulb is.
Typically, anything that’s under 450 lumens will not be brighter than a regular accent light. For a more practical level of brightness for activities like reading go for bulbs that’s 800 lumens or more.
Take Color Quality into Account
To increase the old-school aesthetic quotient, most vintage LEDs dial down the color temperature. As a result they emit light that is often extra yellow in appearance. Some LED bulbs go even a step further and tint the glass, which in turn results in an overly artificial warm tone, casting an orange-tinted hue (much like a candle) over everything.
If you don’t want colors to be distorted so much, we recommend you going for non-tinted bulbs. They emit light which is significantly more natural.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which light is better for eyes — yellow or white?
White light LEDs (aka “cool” light) is better for optimal learning performing, whereas “warm” or yellow light is more relaxing.
Why is it better to use an LED instead of a bulb?
There are many reasons why LED bulbs are better. For one, they are 75% more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs. Two, they use far less energy to produce the same amount of brightness as incandescent bulbs. Three, they last a really long time compared to traditional bulbs.