Late night studying: effects of warm and cool LED lamps

Are you trying to pick out the right kind of fluorescent LED light for your room? One search for light bulbs on amazon shows results that range within 3000K or 6500K LED light. They look either warm or cool, so which one should you be purchasing? Sure, the decision can come down to personal preference, but you know you want to buy the right kind.

Here’s a scenario to consider: you’re a newly admitted college student and you’ve moved into your new space with default warm light bulbs installed already. And after a few late night study sessions in your room, you’ve noticed that you’ve been getting drowsy super fast. So, when it comes down to what might truly benefit you, we can take a closer look at what each kind of light temperature offers.

A study conducted to examine the effects of warm/cool white LED lamps and warm/cool color environments on mood and performance showed that perhaps inhabiting a study environment with a cooler light and a cool color environment help with study productivity (Shahidi et al., 2021). Additionally, another suggestion was to have a combination of the white color and warm light or the blue color with cool light can have a more favorable effect on visual comfort and mood (Shahidi et al., 2021). Some further discussion also revealed that cool lighting in white and blue colors stimulated less fatigue than warm light, and that warm light significantly reduced the amount of vigor than cool light. However, it is advised that increased exposure to cool fluorescent lighting can lead to increased rates of anger and depression (Shahidi et al., 2021). This is pretty typical with college students and late studying, since it can lead to eye strain and tiredness. Getting the right studying environment, like what fluorescent LED lamp you should place in your room, is the first step, but other factors like your attention and mental energy can also contribute to a successful late night study session.

So, should you be installing warm or cool light LEDS in your room? Hopefully, this provides a better insight into what type of environment is ideal, but that would also depend on if you’re trying to be more or less productive.

Citations

Shahidi, R., Golmohammadi, R., Babamiri, M., Faradmal, J., & Aliabadi, M. (2021). Effect of warm/cool white lights on visual perception and mood in warm/cool color environments. EXCLI journal, 20, 1379–1393. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2021-3974

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