The Joy of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

These are the lights in my apartment. When I originally bought this lamp I wasn't putting too much thought into the colors surrounding the bulbs or the fact that the bulbs were compact fluorescents. When I initially plugged in this light and turned it on it gave off a very warm and orange/pink hue. After hearing about the very blue hue that compact fluorescents give off on their own I started to think about why the manufacturer added the colored bowls that surround each bulb. Could this have been an effort to resolve the fluorescent blue hue and create a warmer atmosphere? Quite possibly it could have been.

Another thought popped to mind as i turned on these lights. They have three settings: a low setting where only two bulbs turn on, a medium setting where three bulbs turn on and a high setting that turns on all the bulbs. Since each bulb has a different color surrounding it that acts as a kind of gel, the additive color mixing created by each setting is quite different. You get different versions of warm tones depending on what setting you are on and which direction the bulbs are pointed.

There are so many options with this light because it is flexible. I could point the lights to create a type of asymmetrical trough that directs the light upwards on the wall (like lighting up a backdrop) or I could point the lights directly at an object. All of these positions and colors give this light a lot of diversity in effect that has the potential to create a different mood in the room.