Light bulb guides

Room-by-room guides

Room guide Bedroom light bulbs Warm 2700K, dimmable, and restful — with a reading-lamp tip. Read guide → Room guide Bathroom light bulbs Accurate, flattering vanity light and damp-rating safety. Read guide → Room guide Kitchen light bulbs Bright ambient light plus under-cabinet task lighting. Read guide → Room guide Living-room light bulbs Layered, dimmable light for everything from movies to hosting. Read guide →

Color-temperature comparisons

Color guide 2700K vs. 3000K The two most common warm whites — when to pick each. Read guide → Color guide Soft white vs. daylight What the box labels mean and where each belongs. Read guide →

Brightness & specification basics

New to bulb shopping? Three numbers do most of the work:

• Lumens measure brightness. Shop by lumens, not watts — 800 lumens ≈ an old 60-watt bulb.
• Kelvin (K) is the color of the white light. 2700K is warm and cozy; 5000K is cool daylight.
• CRI rates how accurately colors appear, out of 100. Aim for 90+ in living spaces, 95+ for makeup.

You also need to match the shape (e.g. A19, BR30, B11, GU10) and the base (e.g. E26 standard screw, E12 candelabra) to your fixture, and choose dimmable bulbs if you use a dimmer. The bulb-box decoder on the homepage shows all of this on a sample package, and How BulbBrief works explains the math and our sources.