💡 The Light Bulb Database

Find the healthiest light bulbs for your home with the world’s largest database! The desktop experience is recommended.

Spectrum
Flicker

Learn more about the color quality aspects of lighting:

We just got our hands on a new spectrometer and we’re getting a professional-grade integration sphere.

This will allow us to get more accurate spectral data, including LUMENS! No more of this “800 lumens” nonsense you see on every single light bulb package…

We will be retesting every light we’ve tested so far, and many many more.

A light’s color temperature is essentially a description of how humans perceive the overall hue of a light source. The color of natural sunlight varies throughout the day, however, it hovers around 5700K for most of the day.

Some lights in our database differ greatly from the manufacturer’s stated CCT, we’ve included our measurements so that you know what you’re buying.

representation of color temperature from various lights

As evening and night roll around, low/no blue light sources with warm color temperatures are ideal, think <2200K.

CRI (Color Rendering Index)

CRI is a unit used to represent the ability of a light source to reflect the true colors of objects, compared to a natural light source, like the Sun.

It’s currently the most popular way of determining the color quality of an artificial light source and can be seen on many light bulb packages.

For CRI, a score of over 90 is considered good, however, I prefer to see over 95 for this metric.

image showing how apples might look under a CRI of 97, 90, and 80

A little dirt on CRI: CRI used to comprise only 8 colors. The average of these would be called the “Ra” or the average R-value. The CRI standard has since added 6 more colors, however, one of them, R9 (deep red) is more difficult to get high scores on. So most companies still only use the first 8 to calculate their “CRI score”.

We use an average of all 15 colors in our calculations, so the CRI score may be lower or higher than what is typically advertised for each light.

TM-30 (Rf and Rg)

TM-30 was created in 2015 and is a new alternative to the CRI standard.

While CRI only measures 8 to 15 colors for its average score, TM-30 uses 99 total colors.

tm-30 color fidelity graph — TM-30 fidelity graph showing how well a light source reflects all 99 colors

The TM-30 gives us three important metrics:

Rf or Fidelity: This is a number of 1 – 100 that measures the reflected light accuracy compared to a standard, similar to CRI.
Rg or Gamut: This number shows how saturated a light source is on average. A number higher than 100 indicates it’s slightly over-saturated, while a number under 100 indicates under-saturation.
Color Vector Graphic: Finally we get the CVG, which gives us a visual representation of color saturation.

a graphic explaining how to interpret a color vector graphic

If you’re at all concerned about how similar your light is to sunlight, the only current metric to measure this is the ASD unit developed by Bridgelux.

ASD measures how much a light source varies from a blackbody radiation curve of the same color temperature.

comparison of several lights against a 3000k black body curve

As you can see above, even though all the light sources are 3000K, the ASD percentage is higher for lights that are less similar to the black body curve.

The ASD metric should only be used to compare lights of the same color temperature.

If you’d like to read more, Bridgluxe’s ASD whitepaper is quite an informative read.

Almost all lights have an “invisible flicker”, if this bothers you, our database has lots of info to help you choose flicker-free lighting.

The flicker depth shows how much the brightness of a light source varies from its minimum brightness to its maximum brightness.

For example, a light source that varies from 100 lux to 80 lux, would have a flicker depth of 20%.

Generally speaking, we want this to be as low as possible, as sunlight doesn’t flicker at all.

The waveform graph actually shows you the flicker depth plotted on a 24 ms time slot.

Waveforms can vary dramatically from one light to the next.

It’s possible to associate headaches with certain types of waveforms, so if this is you, you can use this graph to decide which lights might irritate you and which might not.

This graph is based on the IEEE’s PAR1789 flicker standard.

While this standard isn’t perfect, it’s the best we’ve got right now.

This graph essentially takes the flicker frequency, seen in the waveform graph, and plots it against the flicker depth.

The idea here is that the lower the frequency and the higher the depth, the more likely a light source is to cause noticeable biological problems.

The Flicker index is a measurement that takes into account the areas above and under the light’s average output and calculates this as a number.

This gives us a good numerical value for how much time the light source spends away from the median brightness level.

diagram showing how the flicker index is calculated — Diagram illustrating how the flicker index is calculated.

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Lights Tested: 106

2/12/2025: Tested Sunsy Shine
2/8/2024: Tested Yuji D50 NormLite
8/19/2023: Improved spectral graph resolution!
6/18/2023: Tested Yuji CRI-MAX, SunWave, and WELL24
5/5/2023: Updated incorrect halogen/incandescent flicker values
5/5/2023: Tested Soraa Zeroblue and Vivid
3/20/2023: Version 1.0 Release! 🎉

The Light Bulb Database

Our work is reader-supported; if you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Brand	Model	Amazon	Website	CCT (hidden)	CCT	CCT (After 1 hour)	Lumens	Watts	Base	Shape	Dimmable	Flicker Risk	Flicker Index	Flicker Depth	CRI	Rf	Rg	ASD	Finish	Test Date	Test Data	Coupon Code
GE	Sun Filled	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2800K	850	10.5W	E26	A21	Yes	High Risk	0.0515	17.7%	96.1	95	102	13.2%	Plastic	2/4/2023	Link
GE	Sun Filled	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5150K	850	10.5W	E26	A21	Yes	High Risk	0.0402	13.6%	97.7	98	101	8.4%	Plastic	2/4/2023	Link
Norb	Smile	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5250K	800	11W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.0865	28.6%	97.3	98	100	8.2%	Plastic	2/3/2023	Link
Norb	Smile Soft	Check Price →		4000K	4000K	4250K	800	11W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.0890	28.1%	98	97	100	9.7%	Plastic	2/2/2023	Link
Norb	Everyday-Sun	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	4900K	800	9W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.0545	20.7%	89.9	91	97	12.7%	Plastic	2/2/2023	Link
Norb	Everyday-Sun Soft	Check Price →		4000K	4000K	4050K	800	9W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.0606	22.3%	92.3	91	97	13.3%	Plastic	2/2/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5450K	800	8W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0045	4.1%	90.9	89	96	19%	Frosted Glass	Feb/18/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	4850K	800	8W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0030	1.7%	94.7	92	97	20.3%	Frosted Glass	2/4/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5350K	1100	11W	E26	A21	Yes	Low Risk	0.0109	5.5%	95.5	91	97	23.9%	Frosted Glass	2/4/2023	Link
Flash Pu	Z0850Pro		Check Price →	5000K	5000K	5200K	530	8W	E27	A19	No	No Risk	0.0110	3.7%	97.1	96	98	5.1%	Plastic	2/2/2023	Link
Flash Pu	Z0855Pro		Check Price →	5500K	5500K	5750K	530	8W	E27	A19	No	No Risk	0.0121	4.2%	97.1	96	98	4.9%	Plastic	2/2/2023	Link
Waveform	Candelabra		Check Price →	2400K	2400K	2500K	450	5.5W	E12	CA11	Yes	No Risk	0.0060	1.9%	96	94	99	17.2%	Clear Glass	2/5/2023	Link
Waveform	Lux24		Check Price →	2400K	2400K	2450K	450	5W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0027	0.9%	90.7	92	97	20%	Clear Glass	2/5/2023	Link
Waveform	D50		Check Price →	5000K	5000K	5150K	800	10W	E26	A19	No	No Risk	0.0032	1.3%	95.9	95	103	14.6%	Plastic	Feb/05/2023	Link
Waveform	Centric Daylight		Check Price →	5000K	5000K	5100K	1600	15W	E26	A21	No	No Risk	0.0334	10.9%	96.2	95	103	14.6%	Plastic	Feb/06/2023	Link
Waveform	Superwarm		Check Price →	1700K	1700K	1700K	600	10W	E26	A19	No	No Risk	0.0154	5.1%	79.7	87	90	22.4%	Plastic	Feb/06/2023	Link
Waveform	FilmGrade		Check Price →	5600K	5600K	5800K	800	10W	E26	A19	No	No Risk	0.0058	1.8%	92.9	91	99	14.5%	Plastic	Feb/06/2023	Link
Norb	Smart	Check Price →		Variable	2650-5000K	Variable	806	9W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.0561	19.1%	94.2	91	97	12.2%	Plastic	Feb/07/2023	Link
Tuo	Circadian	Check Price →		Variable	2400-6500K	Variable	Variable	9W	E26	A21	Yes	High Risk	0.6281	99.5%	79.5	84	98	33.2%	Plastic	Feb/07/2023	Link
GE	Sun Filled	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2750K	680	8.5W	E26	BR30	Yes	High Risk	0.0634	20.9%	96	96	101	12.8%	Plastic	Feb/07/2023	Link
GE	Vintage	Check Price →		2200K	2200K	2150K	280	4.5W	E26	G25	Yes	High Risk	0.0134	11.6%	77.1	84	93	29.3%	Amber Glass	Feb/07/2023	Link
GE	Vintage	Check Price →		2200K	2200K	2200K	400	5.5W	E26	G25	Yes	High Risk	0.0424	30.4%	79.3	85	93	28%	Amber Glass	Feb/08/2023	Link
GE	Vintage	Check Price →		2150K	2150K	2150K	560	6W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.0789	30.7%	78.2	85	94	27.5%	Amber Glass	Feb/08/2023	Link
GE	Vintage			2150K	2150K	2250K	240	3.5W	E26	A15	Yes	High Risk	0.0455	18.9%	81	86	96	27.8%	Amber Glass	Feb/08/2023	Link
GE	Vintage	Check Price →		2000K	2000K	2050K	125	3W	E26	A15	Yes	No Risk	0.0046	2.4%	79.3	84	91	27.4%	Amber Glass	Feb/08/2023	Link
GE	Vintage	Check Price →		2000K	2000K	2150K	250	5W	E26	ST19	Yes	High Risk	0.0202	20.3%	85	87	95	26.7%	Amber Glass	Feb/08/2023	Link
GE	Vintage	Check Price →		2200K	2200K	2200K	250	5W	E26	ST19	Yes	High Risk	0.0222	24.1%	81.1%	87	98	27.6%	Clear Glass	Feb/08/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2850K	450	5W	E26	A15	Yes	Low Risk	0.0079	6.6%	95.5	94	101	25.1%	Clear Glass	Feb/08/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2800K	450	5.5W	E26	R20	Yes	No Risk	0.0051	3.8%	89.8	93	98	20.8%	Frosted Glass	Feb/09/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2850K	800	8W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0042	2.4%	95.9	95	102	25.2%	Clear Glass	Feb/09/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition			2700K	2700K	2800K	450	5W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0044	2.8%	93.7	94	103	28.3%	Clear Glass	Feb/09/2023	Link
Philips	Vintage	Check Price →		2000K	2000K	2050K	225	3.5W	E12	B11	Yes	No Risk	0.0039	3.5%	77.5	84	93	29.8%	Amber Glass	Feb/10/2023	Link
Philips	Vintage	Check Price →		2000K	2000K	2050K	225	3.5W	E26	A15	Yes	Low Risk	0.0054	4.8%	77.1	84	94	28.9%	Amber Glass	Feb/10/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2650K	1600	13.5W	E26	A21	Yes	Low Risk	0.0124	5.5%	94.9	94	102	27.9%	Clear Glass	Feb/10/2023	Link
Hooga	Red Sleep	Check Price →		1000K	1000K	1000K	180	7W	E26	A21	No	No Risk	0.0248	8.4%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Frosted Plastic	Feb/10/2023	Link	Use coupon code OPTIMIZE12
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2700K	1100	11W	E26	A21	Yes	No Risk	0.0047	2.3%	95.3	94	101	30%	Frosted Glass	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2750K	800	8W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0049	2.8%	95.8	95	101	23%	Frosted Glass	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Vintage	Check Price →		2000K	2000K	2000K	400	6.5W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.0554	27.2%	76.5	84	95	28.7%	Amber Glass	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition			2700K	2700K	2800K	500	5W	E26	G25	Yes	Low Risk	0.0088	6.4%	95.9	95	101	25.2%	Clear Glass	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition			2700K	2700K	2800K	185	2.3W	E12	BA11	Yes	No Risk	0.0042	2.3%	96.1	95	99	21.6%	Clear Glass	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5250K	750	6.6W	E26	A15	Yes	Low Risk	0.0073	7.6%	95.7	91	98	26.3%	Clear Glass	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2750K	650	7.5W	E26	BR30	Yes	Low Risk	0.0172	7.3%	92.7	94	99	20.8%	Frosted Plastic	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5250K	1600	13.5W	E26	A21	Yes	High Risk	0.0291	12.3%	95.3	91	98	23%	Clear Glass	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5300K	450	5W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0074	7.1%	96	93	98	22.9%	Frosted Glass	Feb/11/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5250K	650	7.5W	E26	BR30	Yes	Low Risk	0.0120	4.9%	95.7	95	100	19.5%	Frosted Plastic	Feb/12/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5150K	500	5W	E26	G25	Yes	Low Risk	0.0075	7.6%	93.5	94	98	20.7%	Frosted Glass	Feb/12/2023	Link
Hooga	Red Sleep	Check Price →	Check Price →	1000K	1000K	1000K	40	1W	E26	A15	No	No Risk	0.0503	18.5%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Frosted Plastic	Feb/11/2023	Link	Use coupon code OPTIMIZE12
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5300K	800	8W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0035	2.2%	95.1	95	99	20.7%	Clear Glass	Feb/12/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5200K	500	5W	E26	G25	Yes	Low Risk	0.0093	8%	96.1	95	102	25.2%	Clear Glass	Feb/12/2023	Link
GE	Sun Filled	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5350K	680	8.5W	E26	BR30	Yes	High Risk	0.0465	15.6%	97.9	98	101	7.9%	Frosted Plastic	Feb/12/2023	Link
Norb	Sleep CA	Check Price →		2650K	2650K	2700K	520	6W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.0437	16.7%	95.7	92	96	12.6%	Plastic	Feb/12/2023	Link
Harth	Nite Nite	Check Price →		1900K	1900K	1950K	N/A	3W	E12	C35	Yes	No Risk	0.1423	50.5%	60.9	76	89	33.2%	Plastic	Feb/12/2023	Link
Block Blue Light	Bio Light		Check Price →	Variable	1800-4000K	Variable	700	8W	E27	A21	No	No Risk	0.0359	12%	97.7	97	101	10.8%	Frosted Plastic	Feb/12/2023	Link	Use coupon code OPTIMIZE10
Hooga	Amber Sleep	Check Price →	Check Price →	1700K	1700K	1700K	600	7W	E26	A19	No	No Risk	0.2392	88.9%	59.2	72	86	39.9%	Plastic	Feb/12/2023	Link	Use coupon code OPTIMIZE12
Kinur	Sleep	Check Price →		1800K	1800K	1900K	600	7W	E26	A19	No	High Risk	0.2174	70.3%	48.7	52	45	54.3%	Plastic	Feb/13/2023	Link
restful.	Bedtime Bulb	Check Price →		2200K	2200K	2350K	450	6W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0031	1%	95.3	95	101	17.8%	Frosted Glass	Feb/14/2023	Link
Harth	Sleep Shift	Check Price →		1600K	1600K	1600K	600	7W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0074	2.5%	57.5	N/A	N/A	49.1%	Plastic	Feb/14/2023	Link
restful.	Bedtime Bulb	Check Price →		2200K	2200K	2300K	250	4W	E12	B10	Yes	No Risk	0.0072	2.4%	93.2	90	97	22%	Frosted Glass	Feb/14/2023	Link
Harth	Nite Nite	Check Price →		1600K	1600K	1650K	N/A	3W	E26	A15	Yes	No Risk	0.0126	4.5%	57.5	73	80	39.7%	Plastic	Feb/14/2023	Link
Hooga	Amber Sleep	Check Price →	Check Price →	1700K	1700K	1650K	80	1W	E26	A15	No	No Risk	0.0442	15%	58.9	74	80	39.9%	Plastic	Feb/13/2023	Link	OPTIMIZE12
Kinur	Sleep	Check Price →		1800K	1800K	1900K	200	3W	E26	A15	No	No Risk	0.0592	20.8%	48.8	56	50	53.4%	Plastic	Feb/15/2023	Link
Koze	Day	Check Price →	Check Price →	5000K	5000K	5000K	800	9W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	32.7%	0.1208	95.9	95	99	8.7%	Plastic	Feb/17/2023	Link	10% off through link
TrueLight	Luna Red		Check Price →	Variable	1000-3000K	Variable	Variable	10.5W	E26	BR30	Yes	No Risk	0.4288	99.5%	93	91	98	20.9%	Plastic	Feb/17/2023	Link	Use coupon code OPTIMIZE10OFF
Koze	Sleep	Check Price →	Check Price →	1600K	1600K	1600K	300	3.5W	E26	A15	No	No Risk	0.0110	3.7%	56.6	71	73	41.8%	Plastic	Feb/17/2023	Link	10% off through link
Lighting Science	Sleepy Baby	Check Price →		2100K	2100K	2050K	275	4.5W	E26	A15	Yes	No Risk	0.0026	0.9%	77	84	86	29.7%	Plastic	Feb/17/2023	Link
TrueLight	Luna Red		Check Price →	Variable	1000-3000K	Variable	Variable	7W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.6750	99.5%	86.7	91	99	21%	Plastic	Feb/18/2023	Link	Use coupon code OPTIMIZE10OFF
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		3500K	3500K	3550K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0060	4.5%	89.5	91	95	15.8%	Frosted Glass	Feb/18/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		3500K	3500K	3400K	1600	15W	E26	A21	Yes	Low Risk	0.0084	5.8%	90.2	92	96	13.6%	Frosted Glass	Feb/18/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2750K	800	8W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0076	7%	91.3	91	96	19.3%	Frosted Glass	Feb/18/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2700K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0057	4.1%	90.4	89	96	23.5%	Frosted Glass	Feb/18/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	4900K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0050	4.2%	88.6	89	95	19.9%	Frosted Glass	Feb/18/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2750K	1600	15W	E26	A21	Yes	High Risk	0.0525	13.8%	90.3	91	96	21%	Frosted Glass	Feb/18/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5250K	1600	15W	E26	A21	Yes	No Risk	0.0047	3.5%	87.3	91	95	14.6%	Frosted Glass	Feb/19/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2800K	650	7W	E26	BR30	Yes	High Risk	0.0677	26%	91.5	93	96	13.7%	Plastic	Feb/19/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5500K	650	7W	E26	BR30	Yes	High Risk	0.0631	24.4%	90.5	89	95	16.6%	Plastic	Feb/19/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	5350K	1100	12W	E26	BR40	Yes	High Risk	0.0511	19.8%	89.3	87	93	18.6%	Plastic	Feb/19/2023	Link
Sylvania	Natural	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2750K	1100	12W	E26	BR40	Yes	High Risk	0.0498	18.9%	91.1	93	98	14.9%	Plastic	Feb/19/2023	Link
Low Blue Lights	Amber Night Light		Check Price →	1600K	1600K	1500K	30	0.5W	E12	C7	No	High Risk	0.3814	99.5%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Plastic	Feb/24/2023	Link
Low Blue Lights	Sleep Light Bulb		Check Price →	2200K	2200K	2200K	800	9W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.1635	52.5%	52.1	57	52	50.8%	Plastic	Feb/25/2023	Link
Swanwick	Better Nights	Check Price →		2200K	2200K	2150K	260	4.4W	E26	A19	No	No Risk	0.0013	0.2%	28	28	25	65.5%	Plastic	Feb/27/2023	Link
TCP	Red	Check Price →		1000K	1000K	1000K	N/A	5W	E26	A15	No	No Risk	0.0040	1.7%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Plastic	Mar/01/2023	Link
Sunlite	Red	Check Price →		1000K	1000K	1000K	N/A	3W	E26	A19	No	No Risk	0.0049	4.1%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Plastic	Mar/01/2023	Link
Kinur	Red	Check Price →		1000K	1000K	1000K	200	3W	E26	A15	No	No Risk	0.0435%	14.8%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Plastic	Mar/03/2023	Link
Sunlite	Red Filament	Check Price →		1000K	1000K	1000K	33	4.5W	E26	A19	Yes	High Risk	0.2317	72.9%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Red Glass	Mar/03/2023	Link
Sunlite	Incandescent	Check Price →		2850K	‎2850K	2350K	30	7W	E12	C7	Yes	High Risk	0.0406	13.4%	98.2	98	98	3.2%	Frosted Glass	Feb/26/2023	Link
Sunlite	Incandescent	Check Price →		2600K	2600K	2650K	320	40W	E26	A15	Yes	High Risk	0.0326	10.2%	97.1	98	99	2.5%	Clear Glass	Feb/26/2023	Link
GE	Incandescent	Check Price →		2850K	2850K	2950K	3780	200W	E26	A21	Yes	No Risk	0.0095	3.2%	98	98	98	2.7%	Clear Glass	Feb/27/2023	Link
GE	Incandescent	Check Price →		2850K	2850K	2900K	2710	150W	E26	A21	Yes	No Risk	0.0107	3.8%	98.3	98	99	1.9%	Clear Glass	Feb/27/2023	Link
GE	Halogen	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2800K	620	43W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0236	7.4%	98.7	99	100	2.4%	Frosted Glass	Mar/06/2023	Link
GE	Halogen	Check Price →		2800K	2800K	2900K	390	29W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0283	9.1%	97.9	97	98	2.9%	Frosted Glass	Mar/07/2023	Link
GE	Halogen	Check Price →		2800K	2800K	2950K	890	53W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0208	6.7%	98.8	99	99	1.2%	Frosted Glass	Mar/07/2023	Link
GE	Halogen	Check Price →		2850K	2850K	2900K	1270	72W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0207	7%	99.3	99	100	1.4%	Frosted Glass	Mar/07/2023	Link
Philips	Ultra Definition	Check Price →		5000K	5000K	4950K	1600	13.5W	E26	A21	Yes	High Risk	0.1277	42.2%	93.5	91	99	24.3%	Frosted Glass	Mar/17/2023	Link
Soraa	Zeroblue	Check Price →		2700K	2700K	2700K	600	11W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0060	4.3%	78	62	110	48%	Plastic	May/05/2023	Link
Soraa	Vivid	Check Price →		3000K	3000K	3050K	900	11W	E26	A19	Yes	Low Risk	0.0192	9.7%	95.5	95	101	12.8%	Frosted	May/05/2023	Link
Yuji	WELL24 Nite		Check Price →	2200K	2200K	2200K	1000	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0021	0.7%	81.6	80	107	36.4%	Plastic	Jun/17/2023	Link	OYBYJ5 for 5% off
Yuji	WELL24 Day		Check Price →	4000K	4000K	4100K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0022	0.7%	83.9	80	91	18.5%	Plastic	Jun/17/2023	Link	OYBYJ5 for 5% off
Yuji	CRI-MAX		Check Price →	5000K	5000K	5100K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0030	1%	93.7	88	96	18.1%	Plastic	Jun/17/2023	Link	OYBYJ5 for 5% off
Yuji	CRI-MAX		Check Price →	5600K	5600K	5750K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0028	1%	92.5	87	95	18.4%	Plastic	Jun/17/2023	Link	OYBYJ5 for 5% off
Yuji	SunWave		Check Price →	3000K	3000K	3050K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0030	1.2%	97.7	96	101	11.9%	Plastic	Jun/17/2023	Link	OYBYJ5 for 5% off
Yuji	SunWave		Check Price →	4000K	4000K	4100K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0027	1%	96.9	93	98	9.5%	Plastic	Jun/17/2023	Link	OYBYJ5 for 5% off
Yuji	SunWave		Check Price →	6500K	6500K	6600K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0028	1%	95.3	92	97	8.7%	Plastic	Jun/17/2023	Link	OYBYJ5 for 5% off
Yuji	NormLite		Check Price →	5000K	5000K	5250K	1100	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0023	1%	96.9	94	98	8.3%	Plastic	Feb/08/2024	Link	OYBYJ5 for 5% off
Sunsy	Shine	Check Price →	Check Price →	2700K	2700K		670	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0014	0.5%	97	94	103	15.6%	Plastic	Feb/12/2025
Sunsy	Shine	Check Price →	Check Price →	4000K	4000K		820	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0015	0.5%	97	96	102	11.3%	Plastic	Feb/12/2025
Sunsy	Shine	Check Price →	Check Price →	5700K	5700K		845	11W	E26	A19	Yes	No Risk	0.0014	0.5%	97	97	102	10.3%	Plastic	Feb/12/2025

32 responses to “The Light Bulb Database: Find the Best Light Bulbs”

Jack
September 24, 2023
Bon Charge lights
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  September 30, 2023
  Hey Jack! Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll try to get my hands on these.
  Reply
bh
October 1, 2023
I’d love to see some higher-lumen bulbs like corn bulbs rated here. I have a 12000lm one I’m happy with but had to give another one away because of its flicker
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  October 1, 2023
  I’ll see what I can do about adding some of those. Are there any brands in particular you had in mind?
  Reply
Daniel M
December 6, 2023
On the Dimmable bulbs (like some of the Phillips), how do they respond when dimmed? Does it depend on the dimmer?
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  December 6, 2023
  In my experience almost all dimmers have the same effect, they increase the waveform depth. However, they don’t seem to change the frequency as much, so higher-frequency dimming lights remain within the “no risk” category, while low-frequency lights generally get much worse.
  Reply
Phil
January 5, 2024
Thank you for making this database! It’s so useful after discovering that most LEDs give me daily migraines.
However, I’m a bit confused on one of the lights. Waveform have helped me, but I mistakenly bought some of their lights thinking they were flicker free (they ended up causing migraines for me). Their customer support confirmed that only some of their A19 lights are considered flicker free.
Would it be possible for you to re-test the Waveform Lux24? Your data is showing it as no risk, with no flicker index and low flicker depth. However, Waveform themselves say that it has flicker percentage of 29% (https://www.waveformlighting.com/knowledgebase/a19-bulbs/what-is-the-flicker-rate-of-the-lux24-circadian-bulb). Their spec sheets also shows this https://www.waveformlighting.com/photometrics/TR_4002.24.pdf
Maybe I’m reading it wrong, but I’d greatly appreciate your feedback!
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  January 5, 2024
  Oh wow I see that! I’m not sure how or why I didn’t detect that with my light. I’ll have to double check it when I get my hands on another light.
  Thanks for pointing that out!
  Reply
  1. Phil
    January 5, 2024
    Thanks!
    Reply
Phil
January 5, 2024
I also confirmed with Waveform Lighting customer support that their Candelabra lights are not flicker free. It looks like all of their Filament style bulbs are not rated flicker free for them.
“This was their response: Unfortunately, we don’t have the specs available for our candelabra bulbs at this time. We apologize!
We can confirm that our filament bulbs (including the candelabra) are not flicker-free based on our internal standards (~2%). However, we guarantee these bulbs have a flicker rate lower than traditional incandescent lamps (20-30%).
On average, the flicker index is 0.08, and flicker frequency is 121 Hz.
We suggest taking advantage of our 30-day free return policy to test and compare our products. If you find them unsuitable, let us know within 30 days of receiving the items, and we’ll be more than happy to process a return for you.”
The bulbs that they rate as flicker free usually show this according to their specs:
Flicker (%): < 1%
Flicker index: < 0.01
Flicker frequency: 0 Hz
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  January 5, 2024
  Looks like I’ll have to get my hands on some more for a retest. I don’t currently have any on hand so I’ll have to order some more!
  Appreciate you looking into that.
  Reply
Saige
August 3, 2024
Would you be willing to test some Feit smart bulbs? I’ve been thinking those are giving me more migraines, and I’ve seen other people sensitive to them, but I don’t see flicker with my phone camera, and that’s all I can really afford. It would be a great help to understand where my sensitivity range is based on the info about these bulbs before I shop for new ones. I switched back to incandescent, but my electricity bill is ridiculous when they eat 60w/hr. I have an extra I’d be happy to donate to the cause, altho it’s about 6 years old now and might not reflect current Feit market.
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  August 3, 2024
  Hi Saige! I’d be happy to test a bulb if you sent it to me 🙂
  I’m currently working on a new smart bulb database as we speak and the Feit bulbs are on my list! So I will be getting to those eventually.
  Reply
Lucy
November 28, 2024
If you could test the Philips 3 way and 18.5w bulbs you’d be a god. I’m mostly interested in 2700k. They make two versions of the 3 way. I’m curious if they are any good for my lamps with 3 way sockets. I like the ultra definition series, but these seem to be different.
This is an awesome resource you’ve created. I really appreciate the information.
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  November 29, 2024
  Hi Lucy! We’re in the process of getting some new equipment and finishing up winter projects, but I hope to return to the light bulb testing with much better data soon! And these are on my list 🙂
  Reply
plix
December 3, 2024
Hi Derek,
When you test for flicker, e.g. Yuji Sunwave 4000K, do you check the waveform at max brightness, or across the dimmable spectrum?
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  December 3, 2024
  The waveforms here I believe are at 100% brightness. I’m planning to do more in-depth testing like our smart light database for future bulbs however.
  Reply
Courtney n
December 30, 2024
Thank you for this database. I’m learning a lot. I would love to see the chromalux bulbs tested.
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  December 31, 2024
  We’re planning on improving this database hopefully soon! Those will be tested when we do 🙂
  Reply
Emily
January 8, 2025
Hello, thank you so much for all your information! My kitchen currently has a long tube bulb fixture (maybe t5 or t8?). Are there any bulbs in that shape are better than others? I know it’s not ideal lighting but I’m not sure what to do as that is the fixture I have.
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  January 9, 2025
  Hi Emily! Something like this is probably your best bet. Unfortunately no one currently sells any “full-spectrum” T8 tube lights that I’m aware of.
  The caveat is that if you currently have fluorescent lighting in there you’ll have to remove the ballast and do some rewriting to get LEDs working in the fixture!
  Reply
  1. Emily
    January 9, 2025
    Thank you!
    Reply
Emily
January 9, 2025
Ok, thank you for your last reply. After researching this more, I think the best option is to fully change out the fixture. For a kitchen overhead light, would you recommend changing it to an LED panel light? If so, do you have any recommendations?
Thank you!
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  January 9, 2025
  Oh excellent! That’ll open up a lot of options. If you want to get really fancy you could get a Yuji Skyline series light panel.
  Other than that I have to admit I haven’t done a ton of research on “full spectrum” light panels as there aren’t many and normally they’re aimed towards B2B marketing and aren’t very consumer focused. I’d try to find something High CRI at least but I’ll see if I can’t find some.
  Reply
Emily
January 10, 2025
Hello again, I’ve been trying to find an LED light panel that will be good. Have you heard of NuWatt? https://www.nuwattlighting.com/products/1×4-ft-led-surface-mount-panel-2-pack-40w-5cct
Does this product look good?
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  January 11, 2025
  They look… average? CRI claim is 80 which is rather poor. It also claims to be flicker-free, but who really knows?
  Reply
Gus G
January 21, 2025
No gu10 sockets? Would really appreciate more gu10 lights
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  January 27, 2025
  Hey Gus! Sorry for that :/ I’m super busy right now but I hope to get back to this and include those in future testing 🙂
  Reply
Spacebear Volta
February 13, 2025
Curious how you’d rate the Biolight in terms of Lux and “CL” (Circadian Light) — is that even a thing? Wondering how many Biolites you’d need in order to have some effect on your circadian rhythm.
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  February 15, 2025
  You’re referencing the bulbs from Block Blue Light? I actually did test those, just need to add that data to the DB! They’re okay. The “full specturm” daylight mode is only around 4300K which isn’t too bad but for “circadian” purposes you’d want to be at 5000K and above I think.
  Reply
Caitlin
March 6, 2025
Hi! This database is really cool and almost exactly what I was looking for, thank you for taking the time to make it! I live with birds and while flicker doesn’t affect me, I’m concerned it might affect them! But outside of ponying up for waveform lighting or getting my own oscilloscope, I didn’t think I’d be able to tell/measure.
Question: Do you sample multiple different bulbs for each trial, or just one? I’m just wondering about outliers or consistency/inconsistency in their production.
Reply
1. Derek Antosiek
  March 7, 2025
  Hi Caitlin! Good question, usually just a single bulb. The real issue is that over time driver components can change so some of these results will be inaccurate because of that. If you have access to a phone that does 240hz slow motion video you can use that to determine if there’s any oscillation in that range. If you see none at all at 240hz that’s a start!
  Reply