Choosing a colour temperature for a desk
Why Model 2 ships with a 2700 K bulb, when a cooler bulb makes sense, and what CRI changes on a page.
Colour temperature is measured in kelvin. Lower numbers look warmer and yellower, higher numbers look cooler and bluer. Most household bulbs sit between 2700 K and 4000 K.
Why 2700 K
A desk lamp usually works alongside other light in the room: a ceiling light, a window, a screen. We tried Model 2 with 2700 K, 3000 K and 4000 K bulbs on desks in six homes. People kept the 2700 K bulb because it matched the rest of the room in the evening, which is when a desk lamp is on most.
When to go cooler
If you draw, sew or sort colours, a 3500 K to 4000 K bulb shows blues and greens more clearly. Any E26 LED bulb of up to 9 W fits the lamp, so you can change it without changing anything else.
What CRI means on a page
The colour rendering index says how faithfully a light shows colours compared with daylight, on a scale up to 100. Cheap LED bulbs often sit around 80, which makes skin and wood look slightly grey. The bulb in the box is rated CRI 95. The difference shows most on printed photographs and on the wood of a desk.
Dimming
The in-line switch has four steps: 100, 60, 30 and 10 percent. The lowest step is meant for the end of the evening, when you want to see the keyboard without lighting the room.