I have one of these swing arm lights attached to my bench that I have picked up recently and its great but haven’t quite found a bulb that works for me. I tried using a normal incandescent 100w and a 60w but found they gave off to much heat ( which is not comfy in the summer heat for sure ) and a yellow hue. I then tried one of the energy efficient 60W ones which only uses 13w but didn’t like the light it gave, but it was alot cooler for sure
Would anybody be able to recommend a energy efficient bulb that will give a bright soft light, maybe a switch to a 100W?
I use the CFLs that you apparently don’t like. If price is less important than heat, you could try an LED. They are available in stores like Lowes or Home Depot.
Not all CFL’s are created equal. You can get different color temperatiures, much like tube fluorescents. Try a warm white one instead of cool white.
My main workbench light is a large magnifying mirror, it has two small fluorescent tubes in it, one on either side of the mirror. They aren’t corkscrew CFLs, they are actual tubes, not sure what else these sort of things are used in other than some battery powered portable lights I’ve seen. They are quite bright and not a harsh color.
I have a 15W 'cool white in my light. I also have a 22W circular fluorescent lamp and three 13W cool whites in an overhead paddle fan fixture. Both of the desk lamps are on moveable arms and shine directly on my work space. Having two ‘arm’ lamps gets rid of the shadow issue and being moveable, they can be adjusted to focus light directly on my modeling project. All of the CFL type fixtures have 5000 kelvin lamps for lots of light.
Sounds like you’re on a budget, so this may not work for you. However, my wife loves me for, among other things, buying her an Ott Lite for Xmass a couple of years back. Best to find them on sale, which is usually only around Xmass. I believe they now have bulbs only that fit standard fixtures or some other less expensive options than their stand-alone lights. In any case, great light that renders colors well and is easy on teh eyes.
LION has train tracks over the top of his work bench. He has four regular CFL bulbs up there it is plenty bright.
More expensive are the new LED strips. They offer plenty of very good light. I bought some to light up a backdrop. I’ll show pictures of them once they are installed.
In our bathroom mirror/light cabinet my wife uses bulbs that are CFL’s, but they look like a regular incandescent bulb. When they are on you can see the coil bulb inside, but they seem much brighter than the corkscrew bulbs used elsewhere.
I use a 23w CFL in my desk lamp… I also have a second small desk lamp that uses a small incandescent bulb.
One thing to remember about CFL’s is that they usually aren’t full brightness when first turned on. You can get a dual bulb that looks like an incandescent but is actually a CFL combined with Halogen. They both go on initially to give a bright light and then after the CFL warms up the Halogen goes off. They cost more so I don’t use them for the workbench - just wait a few seconds and the CFL is fully bright.
I was in Home Depot a couple years ago and found a CFL that screwed into my swing arm lamp that was printed as a grow lamp that gave out light like sun light. Works great and very little heat.
CFLs come in a great, great variety, I know there is an option that will suit you! Up until I finished putting in permanent lighting last night, my workbench (and surrounding area) was lit with a gigantic 45W CFL. I’ve been using cool white lamps, but that’s because I like things to be closer to daylight. You can find CFLs in the 2000-3000K range quite easily, which is a lovely warm glow.
As above, try an OTT light, artists use for their colour clarity, they cost a few bucks but are the closest thing to natural (healthy) light, do NOT use fluorescent bulbs or tubes, bad colour, dim, and they constantly flicker and disturb your eye, I belive CFL’s are just a smaller fluorescent bulb and concept, ask an eye doctor what you should use.
Use the same color temperature at the workbench that you use on the layout. Weathering, hue, and intensity can be greatly affected by the light color temperature. Pick one temperature and use it everywhere for best results. I have had to repaint items that were painted under different lights inside and looked terrible on the layout.