Color temperature is a measurement of light in degrees Kelvin that corresponds to how we perceive the color tone of the light, for example, warm light color or clear, bright light color. A lower Kelvin degree rating on a light is generally considered warmer and softer; a higher degree Kelvin rating is more clear and more bright. For comparison, the light from a candle has a Kelvin rating of 1850; daylight at noon on a summery, cloudless day has a Kelvin rating of 6500. 

When you see the color temperature ratings of LED strip lights, those will give you an indication of the relative warmth or clarity of the light and what color it will cast as it is illuminated (more on this in a moment.) 

Understanding color temperature is important because it determines the look and feel of the lights and how well the color they emit will compliment or enhance the space where they are installed. Do you want soft lighting? Warm lighting? Bright, “crisp” lighting? Not sure? Confused what any of that even means? All will become clear—clear as premium 5000k white lights beaming at their brightest. (Sorry—just a little LED dad joke there.)

We’ve used this example before, but it is such a great explanation. Let’s say you’re going to paint a room white. You get to the hardware store and look for a white paint chip. Pretty quickly you’ll see all the white paint chips—all the dozens and dozens of them. Do you like Navajo white? Cool Vanilla? Bright white? Dove white? Cold cream white? All these are real paint names, by the way, and you either know from experience or know instinctively that each white paint in our example will vary slightly. If you hold the paint chips up next to each other, you will see in fact that the whites are not the same (and you can chuckle at all the creative names for white tones.) 

Staying with our room painting scenario a moment more, once you’ve looked over all the paint chips, you’ll next have to reflect on what kind of white you’ll want your room to be? Is this a cozy space where you’ll want a warm white to soften the appearance of the room? Is this a modern space that needs an ultra-white gleam to the walls? Are the walls textured—crying out for a creamy white that will enhance the slight variations across the space? As you contemplate all these choices and variations, bring your thinking back to our beloved LED strip lights and our color temperature discussion. The same kinds of choices and considerations you made in our paint example carry over to our LED strip lights. The same decisions you make for the wall paint in a room translate to similar decisions you make for LED strip lights. Even if you want to simply say “just gimme some white paint” it doesn’t have to be complicated, and in fact we’re going to break down the color temperatures even more. 

It’s important to match or at least compliment the color temperature of the LED strip lights with the style and appearance of the room. Keep in mind: nothing cheapens a space faster than lights of mismatched color temperature. While we’ve already given you some mood notes above, keep some general tips in mind as you choose the tone of the strip lights. Darker rooms work well with warmer lights. Open concept spaces work with neutral white. Modern designs are complemented by cool whites. 

Whichever lights you choose, you don’t have to figure things out alone—even which color to ultimately pick can be talked through with one of our helpful staffers. Color makes a big difference in any realm, and the color temperature of white HitLights LED strip lights is no different. (It’s important for our array of multi-color LED strip lights, too. But a color convo is for another time.)

Do you know how to get a hold of someone on our team? HitLights representatives want to talk to you. Reach out now: (1 (855) 768-4135) Now you know: it’s hard to say “just white.” HitLights wants you to get the right white.