What kind of LED light source should we choose for our vintage-style home?

Color temperature is important

Filament LEDs, which imitate filaments, are available in a color temperature range of 4000-6400 Kelvin, which we refer to as cool white in the online store. In contrast, traditional bulbs are warm white at 2700 Kelvin, an Edison carbon filament is even warmer at 2200 Kelvin, and a candle flame is 1800 Kelvin, meaning they are quite yellowish. This is usually achieved by coloring the 2700 Kelvin LED glass bulb, generally labeled amber.

So, if we want to ensure the appearance solely in the world of tungsten filaments, we should choose 2700 Kelvin warm white LEDs, but for a true vintage atmosphere, let’s travel back 100 years and use LEDs imitating 2200 Kelvin carbon filament Edison bulbs with amber-colored glass. If we desire an even older ambiance, we should look for products imitating the 1800 Kelvin candle flame color, but be careful, as their brightness is also weaker, so we can only achieve higher brightness with multi-arm (multi-socket) chandeliers—just like in the old days 🙂
However, some people, amidst their nostalgic atmosphere, want to see white walls and white furniture in white light even in the evening, not yellow. For them, a compromise solution could be the COG LED products with medium and cool white color temperatures. These are vintage in form, as they are glass-bulbed products where the light source is visible and distinctly resembles a filament, but the light tone is not the vintage yellowish but white.

Luminous flux (brightness) is important

We need to know that as we go back in time, not only were the light sources less efficient (which we now make energy-efficient with LED technology), but the bulbs also had lower luminous flux. It is not suitable to use a 1500 lumen LED for a vintage style; instead, four 400 lumen ones are a more realistic solution. That’s why we find quite a few weaker types in the field of filament LEDs. For vintage purposes, choose light sources with an amber-colored bulb and between 2-5 Watts, using more of them, and stronger ones only for larger spaces.
The 1800 Kelvin candle-toned light sources are usually only 2 Watts, which are still significantly brighter than a candle.

Appearance is important

This concerns two aspects: the glass bulb and the filament.

• • The glass bulb. Back in the day, bulbs were not produced in such large series, there were no standard forms, and their shapes were not so limited. Therefore, it is more advisable to choose a more unique, rare shape from LEDs. In the world of carbon filament Edison bulbs, there were many unique shapes—retrospectively at a craft level. These unique shapes have revived with the vintage style.

• The filament. Indeed, LEDs do not glow but emit light—let’s set this fact aside for now. In the old days, filaments were visible, and the older the types we talk about, the more yellowish and weaker they glowed. This meant that longer or multiple filaments had to be placed in a bulb. Additionally, for even circular lighting, the filaments had to be arranged, and the weaker they glowed, the longer they had to be wound in some arrangement. Due to their weak light, they did not dazzle, allowing us to admire the unique forms of the glowing filaments. This experience can be recreated by LEDs in four ways:
  • • The oldest solution is when the LED illuminates from the socket side, and the light exits through a unique PMMA (plexiglass) light guide, often at the cut edges. Philips has been using this solution for 10 years (the most beautiful is the lotus flower design), although in a stronger version than recommended to look directly at, but since they are dimmable, we can also do that.

      Based on this principle, other manufacturers have started making LED light sources with an Edison bulb appearance, mimicking dense filaments with light flows that can be looked at directly. Here, we do not see the LED light directly but through a light guide plastic form, and the unique, varied bulb-like appearance depends on the design.

  • • The COG Filament LED. These are small LED sticks, appearing as if filaments under the bulb, stretched in different numbers and forms. Their drawback is that less light reaches the filament directions.
  • • Flexible LED filaments. A flexible development of the previous type. Here, one filament in a bulb is enough, as its length can be multiple times that of a rigid COG LED filament. With it, we can create highly varied shapes, as it is bendable, can be coiled into a spiral, just like a real filament, and generally, its light output is just enough to look at and admire. Since it can be bent as desired, full circular, shadow-free light distribution can be achieved if that is the aim of the particular type.
  • • What’s missing. The LED mimicking a moving flame. If placed in a petroleum lamp or torch form, it can show a fairly realistic flame image.

Socket, officially base

In the spirit of vintage style, we can choose from E27 standard and E14 mignon sockets, as these two types provided the variety in home lighting back in the day.