Warm White Bulbs

What warm white bulbs bring to a room

Warm white is the soft, slightly yellow white that older bulbs gave, the light that makes a room feel calm after dark. Every bulb on this page gives warm white light, so the colour is already settled. What is left to decide is the tone of warm white, the cap, the shape, the glass, the brightness and dimming. We take them in turn below.

Warm white light bulbs suit the rooms where you relax, eat and talk, because the light flatters skin, wood and fabric. Keep to warm white across a room and the ceiling light, lamps and wall lights work together.

Choosing 2700K or 3000K warm white bulbs

The Kelvin figure on a warm white bulb settles how warm the light looks: the lower the figure, the warmer the glow. We suggest 2700K for living rooms and bedrooms, where you want a cosy light in the evening. At 3000K the light is a touch crisper, so it suits kitchens, bathrooms and hallways, where you want to see clearly without it feeling cold. Use the same figure throughout a room so the bulbs match.

Some of the bulbs we stock are tunable. A tunable bulb, often marked CCT, can be set to warm white for relaxing or to a cooler white for jobs that need a sharper light.

Finding the right cap for a warm white bulb

The cap is the part that goes into the lamp holder, and it decides whether a bulb will fit. The surest check is to match the cap code on your old bulb. We stock bulbs with E27 and E14 screw caps, B22 and B15 bayonet caps, and GU10 and G9 pin caps. E27 (ES) and E14 (SES) are the standard and small screw caps, while B22 (BC) and B15 (SBC) are the standard and small bayonets that push in and turn. GU10 is a twist-and-lock spotlight cap, and G9 has looped pins that push straight in.

For smaller fittings we also stock a few G4 bulbs. Some bulbs here take GU5.3, the cap used on MR16 lamps. A few of our bulbs use GX53, the flat cap of slim downlights. A few are R7s linear bulbs, the double-ended type used in uplighters.

Warm white bulb shapes and where they go

The shape decides whether a bulb sits comfortably in a shade or fitting, and how it looks on show. We stock warm white bulbs in GLS, candle, golf ball, globe, capsule and spotlight shapes. GLS is the familiar bulb shape for ceiling pendants and wide shades. Smaller candle and golf ball bulbs suit chandeliers, wall lights and narrow shades. Globes look good left bare, capsules fit compact fittings, and spotlights put their light where you aim them.

If the bulb sits inside a shade or a closed fitting, check its height and diameter against the bulb you are replacing, so it does not poke out below the shade or press against the glass.

Opal or filament glass for warm white bulbs

The glass decides whether you see a soft glow or the workings of the bulb. We stock opal, clear and filament bulbs, and some frosted ones. An opal bulb has milky glass that diffuses the light, spreading it evenly with little glare, so it suits shades you can see into and fittings near eye level. A frosted finish softens the light too, a little less fully.

A filament bulb shows its filament through the glass, giving a vintage look, so it suits a bare-bulb pendant, an open cage or a clear glass shade. Clear glass gives a crisp sparkle in chandeliers and crystal fittings. A few of the bulbs we stock have an amber tint, for a deeper, honeyed glow.

Brightness from warm white LED bulbs

Brightness is measured in lumens, and the lumen figure decides how much light a bulb gives. Old incandescent bulbs were bought by the watt, but an LED bulb gives the same light from far fewer watts, so its wattage says little about brightness. To replace an old bulb like for like, compare lumens, or the equivalent wattage where the product details give one.

We stock warm white bulbs from a gentle glow for a bedside lamp to bright light for a large room. Go brighter for a worktop or a reading chair, and choose a lower lumen figure for a bedroom or a hallway at night.

Using warm white bulbs on a dimmer

Whether a bulb is dimmable decides whether it will work on your dimmer switch. Many of our warm white bulbs are dimmable, though most are not, so check the details before you fit one to a dimmer. A non-dimmable bulb on a dimmer can flicker or buzz, even at full brightness.

For a dimmable LED bulb, use a dimmer made for LED. An older dimmer built for incandescent bulbs may not dim an LED smoothly, and can leave it flickering at the low end. If you are not sure which dimmer you have, an electrician can tell you whether it suits LED.