Each room of the house has a particular purpose and atmosphere, which can be calm and relaxing, or it can prevent you from falling asleep easily. Although a bedroom can have many functions, it should primarily be a place of rest. However, the type of light bulb you choose can either affect this positively or negatively.
The best light bulbs for your bedroom are 12 watts LED bulbs with a brightness of at least 800 lumens and a Kelvin range of 2200k – 3000k. It’s essential to have warm light in your bedroom as this relaxes your body. You can find these requirements in both affordable and expensive bulbs.
With so many light bulbs to choose from, we’ll uncover:
- Which watt bulb is best for the bedroom.
- How bright your bedroom light should be.
- What kind of light bulb is best for your bedroom.
- Whether LEDs belong in the bedroom or not.
So let’s get started!
What Watt Bulb Is Best for the Bedroom?
The watt of a light bulb is the amount of energy that a light bulb needs to work, and the wattage depends on the type of light bulb that you buy.
If you are using an LED light bulb, 12 watts is the best wattage for your bedroom. The higher the watt in a bulb, the brighter it will be. Although you want enough light to perform tasks in your bedroom at night, you don’t want it so bright that it prevents you from being able to fall asleep.
However, to produce 800 lumens of light, the wattage will differ between the incandescent, Halogen, and CFL bulbs, as indicated below.
- Incandescent Bulb = 60 watts
- Halogen Bulb = 43 watts
- CFL Bulb = 15 watts
The LED light bulb has become popular because it saves you money on your electricity bill. Instead of using 60 watts for 800 lumens from the traditional light bulb, the LED bulb only uses 12 watts.
Although LED light bulbs are more expensive compared to the cheap incandescent ones, it’s an investment, as you’ll save more money over time.
According to the US Department of Energy, LED light bulbs use 75% less energy than traditional light bulbs. You could save around $75 on electricity bills per month by swapping over to LED light bulbs.
How Bright Should Your Bedroom Light Be?
A practical brightness for your room without preventing you from falling asleep is about 800 lumens, which is bright enough for you to read a book, pick out your favorite pajamas, write in your diary and chat to your partner in bed while clearly seeing their face.
Lumens is a measurement unit that tells you how bright your light bulb is. The lower the lumens, the less bright your room will be, and the higher, the brighter.
A high number of lumens is essential for your kitchen because you need it to be bright so that you can see what you’re doing when cooking a meal. It’s important to be alert in the kitchen, and the bright light will have this effect on you.
You’d typically need about 3000 – 4000 lumens for your kitchen.
You don’t need to be alert in the bedroom, and in fact, you need quite the opposite. The bedroom needs to be the room where you can wind down from a busy day and get ready for a night’s sleep. Therefore, only a low number of lumens is necessary for the bedroom.
Best Light Bulbs for Bedrooms: Top 3 Choices
The best light bulb for your bedroom is the LIFX Color A19. However, as long as your bedroom light bulb is warm and helps you fall asleep at night, it’ll do the job. The best light bulb for your bedroom depends on you and what you plan to use your bedroom for, other than just for sleeping.
Different light bulbs offer different benefits, so check out these top 3 light bulbs on Amazon.com for the bedroom to determine which one would work best according to what you need.
1. LIFX Color A19
The LIFX Color A19 is definitely my favorite light bulb for the bedroom. Unlike typical light bulbs, this is a smart bulb, which puts the power in your hands.
If you don’t have a lamp next to the bed and are tired of getting up to turn off the main light when you’re about to drift off to sleep, then this bulb will change your frustrating routine. When you want the lights off, you can conveniently turn it off from the app on your phone or use voice command.
You can also turn your lights on from the app when you’re out of the house, which is helpful for security purposes or to make your dogs feel at peace when it gets dark without you there.
The freedom doesn’t stop there, however.
This light bulb offers an enormous range of colors that you can swap over throughout the day. It also has an impressive Kelvin range of 1500k – 9000k, giving you a spectrum of cool and warm tones.
I work from home and often work in my bedroom. What I find beneficial about this light bulb is that I can set the light bulb to blue, which increases my productivity. If I’m struggling with my task, I can set it to orange, making me feel more motivated.
However, when I’m ready to turn it on for the night, I can set my LIFX light bulb to red, which helps me sleep. There are so many benefits to this bulb, other than just shining light.
Not only do you not need to physically turn on and off the lights if you don’t want to, but you can set schedules so that the LIFX bulb turns on the lights in the morning when you want to wake up.
Say goodbye to alarm clocks and say hello to Smart Light Bulbs.
Although you’re going to pay a pretty penny for one of these, it’ll last around 25,000 hours, saving you both the cost of replacing cheaper light bulbs and unnecessarily high electricity bills.
2. Philips LED Dimmable Warm Glow Effect A19
With this Philips LED light bulb, you don’t have to be limited to either a warm or a cold light because this light bulb can dim. The benefit of this is that you can make your room “warmer” as you dim the light, getting you ready to drift off to sleep easily.
In a way, this bulb is two-in-one because you can choose your tone throughout the day using this one light bulb instead of having to buy a warm bulb and a cool bulb. It can go from a 2700k tone right down to a 2200k tone.
Another great feature is that this bulb fits into almost any standard light feature, and it’s comfortable on the eyes and cost-effective because it’s an LED light bulb.
You will pay a bit more for this Philips LED Dimmable Warm Glow Effect A19 light bulb as opposed to a typical light bulb. However, you will save on energy bills on a money basis.
Although the light doesn’t flicker, it can give off a soft buzzing sound which can be annoying.
3. KOR 9W LED A19 Light Bulb
If you’re more comfortable with the conventional light bulb that turns on and off when you flip the switch and are very affordable, then the Kor 9W LED A19 Light Bulb is what you need. This bulb gives you all the basics you need in a bedroom light bulb, from the 800 lumens, the low wattage, and the soft light with a Kelvin rating of 3000k.
These bulbs are LEDs. They’re sure to save your wallet as they’re so cost-effective, as well as a decent life span of 15,000 hours.
Although these are soft white light bulbs, their main downside is that they might not feel warm enough for people that have previously experienced a lower Kelvin rating, such as with the LIFX bulb. These bulbs can’t bring that warm candlelight effect that makes you feel relaxed and cozy.
For a very reasonable price, you’re able to buy a pack of 6 on Amazon.com.
Is LED Light Good for the Bedroom?
LED light is good for the bedroom. Although many people used to use Incandescent light bulbs, LED light bulbs have become very popular due to their many benefits. Their low wattage power being one of them.
The truth is, any type of bulb that has 800 lumens and a Kelvin range at around 2200k – 3000k is suitable for your bedroom. You’ll just miss out on a few perks that make the LED light bulb stand out above the rest.
As I’m sure you picked up from the previous section, all of the best light bulbs I listed were LED bulbs. Here are some of the pros and cons of an LED light bulb:
Pros
- It uses 75% less energy.
- It has a longer lifespan than other light bulbs.
- They don’t typically overheat or burn out.
- It’s bright as soon as you switch it on, as it doesn’t need to warm up.
- They can typically dim.
- They’re environmentally friendly.
Cons
- They cost more than most other light bulbs.
- They give off more blue light than the older light bulbs.
- They give off directional light instead of all over.
The only light bulb that I don’t recommend for the bedroom is the Halogen light bulb. These bulbs tend to have a short lifespan, use quite a lot of energy, and aren’t worth their price, albeit reasonably cheap.
My main reason for not using Halogen light bulbs in the bedroom is because they give off the whitest light out of all of the different light bulbs.
As we know, it’s the warm colors that relax you and get you ready to sleep, not the bright whites as they are the colors that make you alert.
Which Color Light Is Best for the Bedroom?
A red light is the best color for the bedroom. According to Healthline, the red light wavelength helps your body produce more melatonin, which is a hormone that makes you sleep. The darker and warmer your room is, the more melatonin is released, helping you have a better night’s sleep.
On the other hand, blue light stimulates your body to wake up and become more alert because it has the same effect on your body as sunlight. If you’ve got a bright white light in your bedroom and you’ve been battling to sleep, this may be why.
Many people perform various tasks in their bedroom and don’t only use them to sleep in. But rather, they set up their offices in their rooms.
Only having a red light in your bedroom can be impractical, however. A red light bulb would have a Kelvin rating of around 1000k. For practical purposes, I recommend a light bulb with a Kelvin range of about 2200k – 3000k.
The LIFX light bulb solves this problem. As previously mentioned, it has a wide Kelvin range of 1500k – 9000k. A range like this gives you the freedom to switch to a red light at night to help you sleep well, as well as a blue light to wake you up in the morning.
Then, throughout the day, you can create different moods with your lighting with the many colors of this bulb.
Conclusion
There are several types of light bulbs on the market, and it can become overwhelming if you don’t know what to look for. Choosing the wrong light bulb for your bedroom may have negative results on your sleep.
Although Incandescent light bulbs aren’t bad, you’ll end up paying more for them in the long run by replacing them when they break.
LED light bulbs are energy-efficient, have a long lifespan, and are environmentally friendly. A red bulb is the best bulb for a bedroom. You can choose this option on the LIFX light bulb and switch to various colors.