4 Things You Need to Know About CRI When Buying LEDs

For years, we’ve been accustomed to the fact that choosing a light bulb is usually a no-brainer task, with most of us simply grabbing the first one we see on the shelf. But with so many kinds of light bulbs today, from incandescent and halogens, to CFLs and LEDs, it helps to do a little bit of homework to know what to look for in a light bulb.

If you’re considering an LED retrofit in your [city] home, you may have come across the abbreviation ‘CRI’ on the label.

What Is CRI?

A light bulb’s CRI is one of the key indicators of its lighting quality. CRI, or color rendering index, is a measure of a light source’s ability to show colors of the space and objects it illuminates “realistically” or “naturally” relative to a reference source like sunlight. CRI measures a light bulb’s color quality—how accurately it can make reds, greens, blues, and all other colors appear the way they should.

It sounds very technical, but all you need to know is the higher the bulb’s CRI, the better its color-rendering ability. Daylight, at 100 CRI, is often used as a benchmark for comparison. So, any bulb that has a CRI level close to that gives you light that makes colors pop.

Why Is It Important?

When it comes to lighting spaces, things like color, texture and seemingly mundane details all play a role in the atmosphere you want to create. Accurate lighting makes colors come to life, makes textures stand out, and gives depth and luster to small details in artwork, furniture, and fabrics. Basically, lighting is an important element of interior design, complementing the textures and colors of any room in your [city] home.

Practical Uses

Since high CRI lighting makes colors stand out, you can leverage this in areas of your home where you want colors and details to look at their best. Aside from homes, high CRI bulbs are ideal for businesses, especially retail stores and restaurants. High CRI lighting makes clothing colors and patterns stand out, and makes food looks more appetizing. High CRI bulbs are also perfect in museums and art exhibits, where flattering light can make words of art more vivid and beautiful.

Get LED Lighting for the Best CRI

Light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs have taken the lighting industry by storm in recent years, having come a long way from once being used as indicator lights on appliances. Today’s generation of LED bulbs boasts of unparalleled energy efficiency, incredibly long lifespan, and outstanding durability.

But an often overlooked advantage of LEDs is how many of these bulbs have excellent CRI. While incandescent bulbs used to be the standard for high CRI lighting, their gradual phase-out in many parts of the world has forced most consumers to CFLs, which are notorious for having low CRI ratings.

LEDs offer the perfect alternative, with the average LED bulb having a CRI of 80 to 85—good enough for home lighting. But if you want color quality as close to daylight as possible, you can opt for the CREE TW LED and the GE Reveal LED, which its makers claim to have a CRI of 93 and 90, respectively.

Bottom line? Sheer brightness or lumen output shouldn’t be the only thing you consider when buying light bulbs. Light quality is just as, if not even more, important if you want your lights to create a desirable ambiance and feel in your [city] home.