LED technology is rapidly changing, and keeping up with advancements can be a challenge. We have had many clients ask questions about Warm Dim and Tunable White technologies so we thought this would be a good opportunity to help sort out the difference.
With standard LED dimming, the color temperature of the light stays the same as the light is dimmed. In a commercial setting where dimming is used minimally for daylight zones, the static color isn’t usually objectionable. Unfortunately, when we are sitting in our homes and want a low, cozy light level the dimmed LEDs stay at the specified color and at low light levels appear very blue. We call that the “Haunted Mansion” effect – not what most people want in their homes. We are all familiar with incandescent lighting and the way the color shifts to warm and cozy when dimmed. Thankfully, new Warm Dim technology mimics that same incandescent color shift. Now we can use LED technology for energy savings and have dimming color shift to that warm amber that looks and feels like our old incandescent stand-by. We see this as a great benefit for residential and hospitality projects. You can even buy Warm Dim retrofit lamps for your existing fixtures with screw base sockets.
Tunable White is a bit more complicated on the control side and still a bit more expensive than standard LED technology. We see Tunable White being used primarily in healthcare and education projects right now. This technology allows users to set the desired color temperature from a wide range of very warm to very cool white colors to set the mood, influence alertness of occupants, or compliment interior finishes; independent of dimming settings. Coupled with astronomic time clock control, lighting color can be programmed to mimic daylight which can be a great benefit for people who are confined to indoor spaces without access to windows.
For now, we are specifying Warm Dim technology in residential and hospitality projects. The cost adder over traditional LED technology is fairly minimal and the comfort of occupants is greatly improved. I encourage you to go pick up one of the new Philips “Warm Glow” lamps to play with at home. Tunable White is still a fairly expensive proposition for most projects, so we are only recommending that technology in settings with specific need for color temperature adjustments throughout the day.
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