eLightBulbs Lighting Blog > Ideal Light Bulbs for Kitchens

Kitchens are rooms where the quality of light is very important.  Mixing ingredients and making food is best under light bulbs with a high CRI (Color Rendering Index).  Compact fluorescent light bulbs are great for this with their wide variety of color temperatures and CRIs above 80 (colors are said to be most true under natural sunlight, which has a CRI of 100).

 

I've found the best light bulbs for kitchens are compact fluorescent light bulbs with a color temperature around 5000K.  This is a bright white light which provides a great neutral light in which you can easily distinguish different foods and ingredients.  Kitchens are always hot, and a benefit of compact fluorescent light bulbs is that their energy efficiency means they do not run hot.  With CFLs, you won't be contributing to the heat of a kitchen.

 

A specific place in kitchens where light quality is important is the oven.  If the light is of poor quality, foods can seem undercooked or overcooked, which can fool you into taking them out too early or too late.  Taking them out too early isn't too bad because you can just put them back in, but as we've all probably experienced, burned food is irrecoverable.

 

LED light bulbs would probably be excellent in kitchens as well with their narrow zone lighting.  LEDs come in various color temperatures as well, but currently they are available only in the higher end of the spectrum.  The main factor inhibiting LEDs from becoming widely popular is still price, but time should take care of that nicely.