The best desk lamps in 2022 (2023)

FAQs

What kind of light is best for desk lamp? ›

Look for LEDs with high CRI ratings between 85 and 100. Color Temperature is a standard measure of a light's appearance, often referred to as the “warm” or “cool” look of a light. LED desk lamps in the color temperature range of 2700K to 4500K generally provide a clear and pleasing light to work beneath.

The tasks you perform at your desk can impact the ideal number of lumens needed. Typically, 450 lumens is sufficient for reading, writing, or general work. For more intricate tasks, 800 to 1,100 lumens may be necessary.

Best Light Bulb Wattage for Studying

Staying focused and on task requires the right amount of brightness. Use a 40 to 60-watt light bulb for tasks such as reading and writing. Use a 60-watt light bulb for tasks such as using a computer. Use a 60 to 80-watt light bulb for detail-oriented tasks.

An 800 lumen LED downlight is bright enough for most home or office lighting applications and regarded as a very good recessed light output, providing an intense beam of light.

LED lamps: We favored LED lamps because they are energy-efficient (better for the environment and your power bill), have long lifespans, don't get hot, and often allow you to control brightness and color-temperature settings.

A good rule of thumb for a living room setting is that you will want your lamp shade to sit within eye level, or about 24 - 34 inches tall. That way you'll be able to read your favorite book or work with ease under enough light when seated.

A Fluorescent desk lamp gives out a nice even coverage across your workspace with very natural looking light. Fluorescent bulbs are also very efficient; they last almost 11 times longer than traditional bulbs. Another feature of the fluorescent bulb is it only gives off about 30% of its heat.

The brightness, or lumen levels, of the lights in your home may vary widely, so here's a rule of thumb: To replace a 100 watt (W) incandescent bulb, look for a bulb that gives you about 1600 lumens. If you want something dimmer, go for fewer lumens; if you prefer brighter light, look for more lumens.

What kind of lightbulb do I need for a table lamp? Quick answer: For table lamps with a shade a pearl LED bulb is fine in a GLS or candle shape, but go for warm white colour and if you need the table lamp for reading have at least 450 lumens.

Warm light is best for the eyes. This includes filtered natural light and light produced by incandescent and LED light bulbs.

What color light is best for your eyes at night? ›

Amber light and red light from Blue Light Blocking Lightbulbs are the best color lights for reading and studying at nighttime because they don't affect your circadian rhythm or disrupt hormone balance.

A tip you should keep in mind is that a bulb that is brighter, with a cooler white to natural daylight range is best for reading and study. This is the equivalent of 4000K to 6500K. You will find yourself feeling more awake and ready to take in information.

A level between 4,000 and 8,000 lumens is ideal.

80 lumens is considered bright enough for most walkways — including commercial properties. For garden lights used as accent lighting, 50 lumens is generally sufficient to add safety, dimension, color and interest in your yard.

Home office: 6,000 to 8,000 lumens. Dining room: 3,000 to 4,000 lumens. Kitchen: 3,000 to 4,000 lumens. Dining room: 3,000 to 4,000 lumens.

LED lamp stroboscopic affect (Flicker): LEDs, or light emitting diodes, do not always make the best lights for eyes. This is because they can have a near-imperceptible flicker that can cause eye strain, headaches, and even epileptic seizures.

Position the lamp so it will not reflect on the computer screen. The lamp should be placed so that hand shadows don't streak across your work. If you're right-handed, this means placing the light source on the left side of your desk.

To prevent glare, the task light should not be placed behind you, as it will shine directly on the screen. The best location is either resting on or mounted just above the desk.

Five Tips for Buying a Lamp

Buy a lamp that matches the tone of your room. The lampshade should be at eye level when you are seated. Try to keep all lamps in the same room about the same height. If you love a lamp and it is too tall – put it on a smaller table.

How do I choose a table lamp? ›

How to Select the Perfect Table Lamp - YouTube

Desk lamps are great because they put light right where you need it without taking up any valuable workspace on your desk. Table lamps provide ambient lighting around the room (which can be helpful when reading), but they don't offer direct illumination like desktop lights do.

For general purposes like reading and writing, it would be around 450 lumens. For more delicate tasks like looking at small parts because you are a repair-man or doing some heavy-duty drafting, it would be a minimum of 800, but we mostly recommend about 1100 lumens. Note! As you age, the more light you will need.

points are important for your home office. To achieve office lighting of 300 lux, an LED lamp should be at least 600 lumens. You can achieve 500 lux for your workspace with a 1,000 lumen desk light. By comparison, a bright, sunny day outdoors is up to 100,000 lux.

Is 5000 Lumens Bright Enough? A 5000 lumen LED is a very bright light source, and is likely to be too bright for some applications. For example, it would be too harsh for general room lighting where a more subtle level of illumination is required.

For every 100 square feet, 1000 lumens is sufficient for low-light level areas such as living rooms and lounge areas, while task-oriented spaces may require up to 3000 lumens or more.

For reading purpose or study rooms, its good to avoid yellow lights as they strain your eyes while reading. White lights are best for these areas. And for living room, especially in evenings, we suggest you to have a yellow light/ dim light on left side of your TV unit.

A 1000 lumen flashlight is quite bright and, depending on the lens or reflector design, powerful enough to reach a distance of 200 meters or more. This type of flashlight allows you to see objects from a far distance.

Which color is less harmful for eyes? ›

Yellow light, has been proven effective in protecting the retinas of patients exposed to excessive blue light, since it offers the best contrast.

That being said, yellow and green, which are at the top of the visible spectrum bell curve, are easiest for our eyes to see and process. Maybe try a dimmed yellow, gold, or green. But if you're going for night vision-safe, go with red.

Blue light or blue-violet light can be damaging to delicate retinal cells deep in the eye. Additionally, studies have shown blue light is a risk factor for the onset of age-related macular degeneration, which is a progressive condition that can lead to vision loss over time.

Blue. Blue is perhaps the best color for your bedroom. Not only is it more muted, but blue tones also tend to have more calming effects on the brain, as shown in a 2018 study of blue walls in a university residence hall.

Red light and sleep

The theory is that red light wavelengths stimulate the production of melatonin. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that helps you sleep. Your brain releases more melatonin as darkness falls and tends to release less when you're exposed to light.

Blue light

According to a 2017 study in the scientific journal PLOS ONE (9), blue lighting “accelerates the relaxation process after stress in comparison with conventional white lighting.” This study found that stressed people immersed in blue light relaxed three times as quickly as in white light.

This is simply because our eyesight gets worse with age. Therefore you need to increase the wattage as you get older. A 10 year old may be able to read with a 40 watt standard bulb (equivalent of a 6W LED bulb), but a 60 year old may need a 75 or 100 watt standard bulb (equivalent of 13W-18W in LED terms).

During the daylight hours, it's best to keep your monitor relatively cool with a default color temperature of 6,500K. At night, the color temperature should be warmer, and around 3,400K.

The warm light of 2,500 to 3,000 K will help you relax while reading and rest better after that. The natural light of 4,900 to 6,500 K is the best solution for eyes that allows comfortable work. The cold light of 6,500 K offers an excellent level of brightness and improves overall attention.

Shining a light that's brighter than 10,000 lumens into someone's eye can cause permanent eye damage and even blindness.

Which is the brightest LED bulb? ›

The Brightest Household LED Bulb: The Philips 5000 Lumen LED Bulb is the brightest LED bulb — this is a huge bulb (5.28 x 5.28 x 12.13 inches ). The Brightest “Warm White” LED Bulb: The SANSI 27W A21 Dimmable LED Light Bulb. This bulb is warm white and produces 3500 lumens.

Lumens measure brightness. For example, a 60-watt incandescent bulb produces about 800 lumens of light.

Is 2000 Lumens Bright Enough? A 2000 lumen LED is a very bright light source, and is likely to be too bright for some applications. For example, it would be too harsh for general room lighting where a more subtle level of illumination is required.

Watts to Lumens – Energy Output to Brightness Produced

40-watt bulb produces 450 lumens of light. 60-watt bulb produces 800 lumens of light (most widely used in households) 75-watt bulb produces 1,100 lumens of light. 100-watt bulb produces 1,600 lumens of light.

For example, 1100 lumens has brightness equivalent to a 75-watt bulb.

Lumens is the unit measurement of brightness, with 1 lumen equalling the brightness of 1 candle, so 1600 lumens has the brightness of 1600 candles. 1600 Lumens is a very good level of light for LED, CFL or incandescent lighting.

Recommended light levels in offices is 300 – 500 lumens. In spaces where there are no other sources of bright light, lighting at around 300 lumens is best. When the environment is already bright or there are large contrasts in lighting, brighter lights (400-500 lumens) are more appropriate.

Dark Sky-Friendly Lights

Choose lamps that have a total visible light output of 4500 lumens or less. This is equivalent to about four 60-watt (or one 250 watt) incandescent bulbs. That's a lot of light at night. Our dark adapted eyes see the road very well with car headlights of two 50 watt lamps.

A Fluorescent desk lamp gives out a nice even coverage across your workspace with very natural looking light. Fluorescent bulbs are also very efficient; they last almost 11 times longer than traditional bulbs. Another feature of the fluorescent bulb is it only gives off about 30% of its heat.

LED lamp stroboscopic affect (Flicker): LEDs, or light emitting diodes, do not always make the best lights for eyes. This is because they can have a near-imperceptible flicker that can cause eye strain, headaches, and even epileptic seizures.

Is white or warm light better for reading? ›

Warm light is much better for evening reading than white light which projects a bright glare. Bright light and bulbs which do not specifically block blue light should be avoided during the evening.

Warm light is best for the eyes. This includes filtered natural light and light produced by incandescent and LED light bulbs.

Desk lamps are great because they put light right where you need it without taking up any valuable workspace on your desk. Table lamps provide ambient lighting around the room (which can be helpful when reading), but they don't offer direct illumination like desktop lights do.

In general, warmer yellow or orange lights tend to be better for relaxing, whereas cooler blue and white lights are good for working, waking up, and concentrating. If possible, the lighting temperature and color should vary based on the time of day.

Blue light or blue-violet light can be damaging to delicate retinal cells deep in the eye. Additionally, studies have shown blue light is a risk factor for the onset of age-related macular degeneration, which is a progressive condition that can lead to vision loss over time.

The average lifespan of an LED is often rated up to 50,000 hours. This is about 50 times longer than a typical incandescent, 20-25 times longer than a typical halogen and 8-10 times longer than a typical CFL.

For example, for a reading light you'll probably want at least 450 lumens.

This is simply because our eyesight gets worse with age. Therefore you need to increase the wattage as you get older. A 10 year old may be able to read with a 40 watt standard bulb (equivalent of a 6W LED bulb), but a 60 year old may need a 75 or 100 watt standard bulb (equivalent of 13W-18W in LED terms).

How many lumens are recommended for reading? ›

If you want a light on your desk for daily reading and writing, a bulb of 470 lumens should be perfect. But, if you are looking for a light that will ensure you can read for long hours in any part of the room and without any stress on your eyes, a bulb of 800+ lumens is necessary.

Yellow light is the best contrast against blue light and can protect the retinas of the eyes. Whichever color you opt to use during the day, it is essential to not overexpose the eyes to any light source.

That being said, yellow and green, which are at the top of the visible spectrum bell curve, are easiest for our eyes to see and process. Maybe try a dimmed yellow, gold, or green. But if you're going for night vision-safe, go with red.

When you're 10, you can read by 40 watts or hardly any light. By the time you're 60, you need around 100 watts.” As brightness is measured in Lumens, the following will help you choose a bulb with the wattage (or equivalent wattage) that you need.