Explore the Ketra Lighting Difference

At this point, you may have heard of tunable lighting. We've written a bit about it on these very pages. And if you have looked at LED lighting fixtures and bulbs lately, you might notice that many are incorporating color-changing capabilities that enable the "tuning" of white light.

To review (don't worry, there's no test at the end), tunable lighting is the ability of artificial light to change its intensity and hue to mimic how sunlight varies throughout the day. Why is this important? Light affects us in subtle ways, and our bodies respond to the rhythms of natural light. The ability to change the color temperature of white light is a recent feature of LED lighting technology.

Quite a few competitors have emerged in tunable lighting. But you should know that not all tunable lighting is the same. Let’s explore one of the most highly touted features of tunable lighting – warm dimming, and how Ketra, a pioneer in this space, does it better. Read on to learn about how Ketra lighting is different and what it can do in your Buckhead, GA home.

 SEE ALSO: Design Your Home Environment with Ketra Lighting

Warm Dimming

What is warm dimming? In LED lighting, this is the ability to create warm, natural light as the light's intensity is dimmed. Good quality incandescent bulbs of yore (we know you may still have many of them) could do this well. The sun, of course, pioneered this concept. LED lighting, until now, has not done this well at all.

Why were LEDs challenged in this department? It has to do with the technology. Incandescent lighting works by having electrons flow through a filament. As power increases through it, it generates more heat and begins to glow. It starts as amber and moves to a more neutral white with bluer tones at higher temperatures. This is very similar to the sun's light, which can be much brighter and whiter at midday, but goes amber and orange as the sun sets in the western sky.

The typical white LED light is composed of a blue LED with a yellow phosphor coating. The light mixes blue light from the LED with yellow light from the phosphor. When it’s dimmed, well, you get less of the same. It’s a colorless dim, not one that creates a warm ambiance.

The Ketra Difference

Ketra fixtures generate white light differently. They combine saturated red, green, and blue light sources with a phosphor-converted white LED. The result? The use of color lets the fixture dim how incandescent bulbs dim, allowing for a warm, amber hue that is natural – like the setting sun!

There's a little more to this story. There are limited spectrum and full-spectrum lighting systems. Cooler light is the upper part of the spectrum, measured in Kelvin. At 4000K and above, you are getting what is typically referred to as bright white, with a larger amount of blue light present. In contrast, 2000K and below is the range inhabited by warm candlelight. If you really want that warm, glowing light – the kind that naturally triggers our bodies to relax – you want a lighting system that gets down to 1400K and lower. That's what you get with full-spectrum lighting from Ketra.

True warm dimming is only one of the many advantages of Ketra lighting. GHT Group offers Ketra and Lutron lighting control systems as part of our comprehensive set of home technology solutions. Experience these smart solutions at our Marietta showroom, contact us here or click the chatbox below to quickly connect with us. We look forward to working with you!