Best bulbs for vanity light?

[dspiffy]

Over the past few months, my wife has gotten insanely serious about hair and makeup, to the point of making her own videos on YouTube and the like.

She typically uses the bathroom mirror, and the vanity has four warm white globe CFL bulbs that have been with me since our last house. The thought occurred to me recently that these bulbs probably have TERRIBLE color rendering and she could really benefit from a different option.

So: let the only factors be, best light for her purposes, and ability to purchase at Menards What would be the best option?

I understand incandescents and halogens have the best rendering, but the light is very yellow. I am wondering if a combination of warm white and daylight might be ideal? Or a combination of warm white, daylight, and halogen?

I havent asked her yet if she cares if the bulbs are actually globe shaped.

 

[StarHalo]

GE Reveal incandescent frosted; these provide better color rendering than most lighting in public places.

 

[dspiffy]

I actually really like GE reveal bulbs.

You think I am better off with these than with anything LEDs can do?

 

[markr6]

GE Reveal incandescent frosted; these provide better color rendering than most lighting in public places.

That seems like the best way to go. Plus you can get them in the globe (G25) shape. I'm assuming its the light bar type where the bulb is completely exposed. Anything else (A19, CLF, etc) would look like some kind of science project to me.

 

[dspiffy]

The LED and CFL globes dont look bad, but using regular type A anything does look odd.

 

[dspiffy]

FWIW I did a little experimenting tonight without buying anything new--

4 warm white CFLs. Tried replacing one with an incandescent. No noticeable difference. Tried replacing one with a daylight CFL. HUGE difference in both the color rendering and the light itself. Bathroom seems WAAAAYYYY brighter.

 

[dspiffy]

Still havent gotten around to buying new bulbs . . . I put in 4 daylight spiral bulbs just to see what the wife said. She thinks they're great. "The other ones were rosy, these are much better!"

I hate daylight bulbs.

 

[StarHalo]

Don't bother with CFLs in that application; the color rendering will only come somewhat close to incandescent at a much higher price. I've tested this with my wife comparing various color temp CFLs versus the Reveals, the Reveals won by a sound margin every time.

 

[dspiffy]

Don't bother with CFLs in that application; the color rendering will only come somewhat close to incandescent at a much higher price. I've tested this with my wife comparing various color temp CFLs versus the Reveals, the Reveals won by a sound margin every time.

You convinced me, I'll pick some up today.

 

[dspiffy]

Reveals are lot less bright than the daylight CFLs, and they seem very yellow.

I guess I need to look for 4000-5000k LEDs with high CRI and ~800 lumens.

 

[StarHalo]

The goal isn't output or whiteness, it's color rendering; you can put 6500K 100 watt CFLs (actual, not equivalent) in there, and the whole space will be lit like a laboratory or dentist's chair, and then the moment your wife sees her reflection anywhere else, her coloring will look unusually dark and muted. Reveals are a good happy middle, a nice average of color temp you'd experience throughout the day.

 

[dspiffy]

The goal isn't output or whiteness, it's color rendering; you can put 6500K 100 watt CFLs (actual, not equivalent) in there, and the whole space will be lit like a laboratory or dentist's chair, and then the moment your wife sees her reflection anywhere else, her coloring will look unusually dark and muted. Reveals are a good happy middle, a nice average of color temp you'd experience throughout the day.

The goal is both color rendering and wife-pleasing. These two may not always be parallel.

 

[dspiffy]

Now we're trying WCCW CFLs, the cool being daylight. She likes this, at least for now.

 

[ETX_LED_GUY]

Over the past few months, my wife has gotten insanely serious about hair and makeup, to the point of making her own videos on YouTube and the like.

She typically uses the bathroom mirror, and the vanity has four warm white globe CFL bulbs that have been with me since our last house. The thought occurred to me recently that these bulbs probably have TERRIBLE color rendering and she could really benefit from a different option.

So: let the only factors be, best light for her purposes, and ability to purchase at Menards What would be the best option?

I understand incandescents and halogens have the best rendering, but the light is very yellow. I am wondering if a combination of warm white and daylight might be ideal? Or a combination of warm white, daylight, and halogen?

I havent asked her yet if she cares if the bulbs are actually globe shaped.

Here is your bulb.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/115237/TCP-8G25D30KF.html

The combination of 83 CRI & 3000K at 2100 lumens would be awesome for her.

TCP is also a well respected brand in the lighting world.

 

[xevious]

Utilitech Pro makes a great 25w mini globe style bulb that's supposed to consume a paltry 3W. The one I have is 40mA 200 lumens warm white 3,000K and dimmable. It's very close to incandescent. Picked it up at Lowe's for something like $10. I couldn't find a multi-pack. Might be cheaper elsewhere. Nice design and it gets only slightly warm to the touch after being on for a long time.

EDIT: I've had this bulb only for a couple of weeks and I like it, but... I just checked Amazon and Utilitech doesn't seem to be doing all that well in the reviews. There may be longevity issues. Oh well.

I have a better choice, based on many positive Amazon reviews. Lighting EVER makes a 3W with 25W output equivalent LED bulb (see it on Amazon-4pk, Amazon-2pk), with CRI claimed to be over 80, 2700k and 200 lumens. Entire glass is translucent instead of transparent, so it's soft enough for vanity use. I've just bought a 4-pack and hope to receive it in a few days.

 

[xevious]

The Lighting EVER bulbs came in. They're a little smaller than I thought, but still decent size. Good brightness. Very slight PWM detectable, but seems to fade a bit after the bulbs warm up.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

If you want to try an LED bulb, the Cree high-CRI unit might be fun to give a whirl.

Link to Pic

 

[mds82]

If you want to try an LED bulb, the Cree high-CRI unit might be fun to give a whirl.

Link to Pic

I would recommend the same thing, for an LED bulb they are quite nice

 

[mcnair55]

I would peruse the women's make up mags for ideas or better still the professional light guys for the movies as they will be the real experts on the subject.I could not imagine anyone on here having a Danny La Rue.