I worked in an office in the late 70's and regularly had headaches and eyesight problems from the headaches in the winter. A guy I've known since that time came in for a meeting late one day, He's a lighting specialist and I was suffering back then, he got on a chair and took the diffuser off a light and removed the tube and checked the colour. "warm white", He explained how and why warm white is unsuitable for office and workspace use or anywhere where you might sit and work and read for a long time.
He even sent a scientific report to our directors and they had all the warm white tubes replaced in the offices and workshops, stress and headaches reduced dramatically across the workforce.
"Cool white" or somtime know as "daylight" tubes and bulbs are the closest to the spectrum of natural light.
When we first used LED's I got headaches. I checked out LED colours and found they were simlar to Flourescent tubes and plenty of reports linking warm white LEDS's to the same problems warm white tubes cause.
Warm White (2700K – 3000K): Classified as extra warm white (2700K) and warm white (3000K), these lamps gives off yellowish light that helps enrich the warm colours in your home, like wood.
They are more suitable for lounges, hallways and bedrooms – areas where people relax.
"Warm white” is the same colour temperature as the standard inefficient incandescent bulbs. These bulbs impart a more orange/red light on objects. These are the coolest bulbs based on colour temperature still they are called “warm” white as warmth is normally associated with red or orange objects.
Note that light from a 2700K incandescent light bulb will look fairly similar to a 2700K compact fluorescent light bulb or LED and the space will feel uniform, even though the light won’t be perfectly identical.
Cool White (3600K – 4900K): White looks ‘crisper’ under higher colour temperatures and appears more ‘normal’ in high lighting level situations.
As a matter of fact, ‘cool white’ gives off a bluer light that improves our ability to see contrasts, making it ideal for work areas such as kitchens, laundries, workshops and offices
It is also appear brighter that white and warm white thereby making it excellent for task lighting such as reading lamps.
One may consider it for a home office to give a more professional feel.
They are called “cool” white as their colour temperature is in the low range of blue colour, similar to ice.
We spend evenings reading in the caravan and my wife does needlework and writes, with warm white LED's she gets tired and irritable I just get headaches. Our low energy bulbs at home are also cool white as well for the same reason.
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