Personalized Lighting® is about having choices with your lighting. It’s more than the on, off, dim options of the past. Having a more prescribed experience with color temperatures and CRI options will level up the everyday. The color temperature of light can quickly shift the appearance of a room. It is essential to consider the function of the space, the amount of natural daylight, and the color and materials of a space when deciding which color temperature to choose. Warm millwork, hardwood floors, neutral and mixed tones, cool stonework, and metals will look best under different temperatures.

Warm

2700K is a warm color temperature that coordinates well with the warmth of hardwood floors and millwork.

USAI Lighting Product: the LittleOnes® Micro 1.25”
Project: Lakeside Montana Residence
Lighting Designer: Camp Martini
Photograph: Gibeon Photography

Neutral

3000K is a good neutral color temperature to render a pop of color for a wide range of cool to warm hues in textiles, furnishings and artwork.

USAI Lighting Products: BeveLED® 2.2, 4.5”
Project: Blake Street House
Lighting Designer: Renfro Design Group
Architect: Hufft
Photograph: Hufft

Cool

4000K or 3500K are cool color temperatures that will make cool greys, silver and white finishes and materials look their best.

USAI Lighting Products: BeveLED Mini® 3”
Project: 56 Leonard Street
Lighting Designer: Jasmine Lam Design Studio
Photograph: Marietta Leung

Choosing the right CRI

After selecting the Color Temperature of your light, the next big decision is the Color Rendering Index or CRI of the light.

CRI is a standard measurement of how natural color of objects render under an artificial white light source when compared with natural sunlight, which has a CRI of 100 as the maximum CRI possible. A lower CRI (less than 80) indicates that some colors may appear unnatural when illuminated by a light source.

Higher CRI lighting is valuable in Residential, Hospitality, Retail, and Gallery applications. CRI 90+ can transform a room by giving finishes more depth and luster. It creates a more comfortable and natural overall feel.

Learn more about USAI's LED color options.

View Choices

CRI 80: Good for general spaces where efficiency matters
CRI 90: Best to enhance color finishes and skin tones
CRI 95: Ideal for showcasing artwork and retail items
An alternative method, TM-30-15, also describes color rendering properties of light sources.

*Based on 3000K light source