Tunable white lighting enables you to control the colour temperature output of a light source. Other common names for it are customer temperature lighting, hybrid white, or variable white. This is achieved by manufacturing the PCB or strip light with different colour temperature LEDs.
How is “white” light classified? And what exactly CCT is?
If you’ve shopped for LED lights online or offline, you would probably have seen them classified as daylight, soft white, bright white, cool or warm.
These classifications are used for specifying colour temperature of white which is being emitted by a light source. It is possible to quantify the colour of white light by referring to its colour temperature.
To grasp the difference in tunable white lighting/variable white lighting, it’s essential to have an understanding of the concept of concept of correlated colour temperature (CCT).
Correlated Colour Temperature denotes the colour temperature of light, which is measured in Kelvin. The colour temperature rating is directly linked to how we humans will perceive the white light. Within LED industry, white LED bulbs are typically created anywhere between 1800 Kelvin and 7000 Kelvin.
For example, an LED light bulb with a 3000 Kelvin rating is called “warm white”. LEDs classified as warm white have an orangey-yellowy tinge. Conventional incandescent and halogen lighting also have a colour temperature in the range of 3000 Kelvin. As the colour temperature increases, the light shifts from orangey-yellow to yellowish white to white and finally to blue.
Colour-tunable lighting products are basically available in three categories:
Dim-to-warm: Dim-to-warm LED colour-tunable lights change the colour temperature from cool to warm when they are dimmed.
White-tunable: These LED lights can change the colour temperature across a range of white light, like 2700K to 6500K.
Full-colour-tunable: These lights have the ability to change their colour temperature across the entire visible spectrum.
Tunable lighting enables you to customize the colour, wattage, or both aspects of a lighting fixture. For this reason, they give you greater control over your space.
However, greater control, is not the only benefit that tunable lighting provide. As this post shows, tunable lighting offers many other benefits as well and is a good choice for both residential and home use.
Tunable Lighting for Residential Use
At this point, you might be thinking: All that’s good and dandy, but what does tunable light mean for my home?
Here are some ways in which you can benefit by installing tunable LED lights at home:
1. Colour Temperatures
In terms of comfort, people frequently experience a greater sense of relaxation in spaces illuminated by lower colour temperatures. You would probably have noticed that offices typically use bright light. That is because people are able to focus better in higher colour temperatures. More than one study has proven that higher colour temperatures help improve both concentration and focus.
Tunable lighting allows you to up the colour temperature when you need to focus, like while working from home. And when it’s time to relax, you can simply dial down the colour temperature to create a relaxing and warm atmosphere.
2. Supports Circadian Rhythm
Circadian rhythm is our body’s internal clock which tells us when to wake up and when to sleep. By mimicking natural light, tunable lighting helps support our body’s internal clock. An improved circadian rhythm in turn impacts our sleep, energy levels, and more.
3. Energy Efficiency
Compared to traditional lighting, tunable white lighting is more energy efficient. Because it adjusts the colour temperature and brightness levels, you can save energy by toning down the light output when the lighting is too bright, reducing the monthly electricity bill.
4. Greater flexibility
In contrast to conventional lighting systems, tunable white lighting offers remarkable versatility, allowing you tailor the lighting to your needs and preferences.
Tunable Lighting for Commercial Use
Tunable lighting is not just a great fit for homes; it is also a smart choice for retail stores, schools, and healthcare.
Why? You may ask.
Because tunable white lighting can improve people’s moods, it fits in any place where the people’s mood come into play.
Take retail, for instance. According to one study, tunable lighting boosted sales.
Another place where tunable lighting was found to be particularly useful was schools. According to a study involving elementary-school children in California, researchers noticed that students’ performance was better when they studied and did homework under tunable lighting. The same study showed that installing tunable lighting on a large scale can lead to cost savings in the range of 48% to 69%.
In hospitals, tunable white LED lighting is gradually becoming popular — and for good reasons. Bright blue light during the day can help improve patients’ appetite and cognitive function. At night, warmer lighting can help lower hormone levels and facilitate a good night’s sleep. It also allows the medical staff to go about their work without disrupting a patient’s sleep.
Tunable lighting can make a world of difference in offices too — helping people not only focus and concentrate better but also feel more comfortable and happier.
Conclusion
With tunable lighting, you can adjust the colour temperature of LED lights to suit your different needs. It is a good choice for homes, offices, retail stores, schools, hospitals, and other commercial establishments.