Enhance Interiors with the Right Color Temperatures and CRI

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, millwork, stone and brick finishes.

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 to consider 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

USAI Solutions for Everyday Needs

the LittleOnes^® Micro	the LittleOnes^® Zepto^®	the LittleTwos^™ Pinhole	the LittleTwos^™ Cylinder

BeveLED Mini^® Basic Pancake	TrueZero360^™	BeveLED Mini^® Incline^®for Sloped Ceilings	BeveLED Mini^® Cylinder