@doug - try HF

I don't like anything much above 2700K, bit my basement lighting is 3500K, Dimmable.

At $60 per fixture, it's OK if you're reworking the full space.   But then, Harbor Freight brought out their 4' Shop lights... LEDs at about 4000K. (I don't like the 5000-7000 color).  For my back room, it's plenty good, and bright (not dimmable).  They now have a linkable version, so 2 or more fixtures still use one outlet. And, at +/- $25 each,  you can experiment without regrets.  Not what you wnant? Move them to the garage. 

My layout and room lighting

My layout and room lighting is 3500K.  I wanted 3000 but if wasn't available in the fixtures I used at the time.  I think it works well, not to yellow/orange and not harsh cool white.

3200k

that's my choice (for MY layout) after going on a year long experimental period. I use a very bright 3200 incandescent photoflood when I photograph the layout and the general lighting needs to be the same temperature if it used for fill.

Also, make sure that the CRI is at least 85 (90+ preferable) for whatever you end up with.

I apparently am in the

I apparently am in the minority these days but I like 5K and that's what I have over my layout in the form of LED household style bulbs. Now for my module, I used dual LED strips, one 6K and one 3K. By adjusting the dimmers, I can blend about anything I want.

Old people and cataracts

My dad was partial to the yellow spectrum of light for the longest time.  To him everything was yellow shades,  He never noticed or realized it tell after he had is cataract surgery.  

After that he did not realize how yellow the world was before the surgery,  he is now very partial to the crisp blue lighting that looks more like out doors than the dim yellow of incandescent bulbs.

Before his surgery the modern LEDs would amplify the fact that he had cataracts and had a yellow ting to his lens.

I think this same thing with light is the same for people that are color blind.  Going to a guys house, I think what the heck is going on with the super bolds and off shades of reds, to him it looked normal.  but for everyone else it was a rather mishmash of shades of bright red that should of been green.  He could not tell the difference.

LED

  I recently switched my lights to LED shop lights. They are 4000K and ready to hang 4 foot long cost about $20 from Costco. Much brighter than my old florescent lights and run cool with no annoying hum....DaveB

For me it’s 3000K

For me it’s 3000K.

Looks like a warm summer day to my eyes. 2700K is a tad too orange, I like the 3000K LED strips best.

Charlie Comstock uses 5000K on his Bear Creek and South Jackson. Personally, I'm not fond of 5000K ... every time I visit I feel like I’m walking into a hospital. 

Temp

I am also in the 3500-4000 camp.

I strongly suggest going to LED's, I raised the color temp, lowered the wattage (heat) and doubled the lumens (amount of light.)  Made a HUGE difference in the room.  Before I had to use a light to do detail scenery work, now the room is bright enough I can spike rail by ambient light.

3k for me too

I think the first question is whether the room lighting needs to be on when you are making scenery. If it doesn't, then the color of the room lighting really doesn't matter for the layout, since you will turn on the layout lighting to make the scenery and the colors will be adjusted based on that.

In that case the room lighting can be whatever color you like your room lighting to be generally, and it's independent of the layout.

If you are going to have the room lighting on when building scenery, so you can see to do it, like because you haven't installed the layout lighting in that section first, then you want to match your layout lighting temperature.

So what's the question? Are you asking us what your favorite room lighting temperature is or what your favorite layout lighting temperature is? :-D

My layout whole apartment, including the layout area, is done with direct ceiling mount, no-can low-profile LED down lights.

They are adjustable to 5 different color temperatures: 2700, 3000, 3500, 4000, and 5000. I requested that the installers set them all on 3000, which is good for me. It took me a couple months to notice that one of the 4 in one bedroom was set to 2700. At least I think it is, it bothers me so little I haven't gotten up there to fix it.

You need a drywall or hung-tile ceiling with about 2" of space above it for the control box, which is thicker than the lights themselves. I suppose with an unfinished bare-rafter ceiling you could just hang them with wire, but I'd recommend finishing the ceiling if you can work around the layout to do so.

These spots are dimmable too, but I haven't installed any dimmers yet. I need to add dimmers to the bedrooms, because they're really too bright at night. They call them down lights because they aren't spot lights, but I'm not sure if that's the same as flood lights or different. The light doesn't seem directional at all, and with 4 in a 12x12' room it's fully and evenly (and brightly) lit.

I'm using Cooper HLB6099FS1EMWR lights, available from home depot and elsewhere.

to clearify… The Layout

to clearify… The Layout lights need to be the correct temp.  The work lights or general room lights or whatever you call them can be whatever, it would be NICE if they matched the layout lights so they can supplement durring construction but that is not my main goal.  Bot the room lights in the workshop which are currently color adjusted 4’ fixtures that match the existing layouts 2700 will need to match whatever the layout uses.

And yes i am asking for opinions on color temp.  Mostly yo see what folks think.  I think the 5000 is a bit to cool.  But i think my current 2700 is a bit to warm.  Thus i am thinking about the 3000 to 4000 ranger leaning towards 3000.

-Doug M

Direct sunlight

4500k-5500k for direct

5000K LED lights match the California Sky Blue paint I use for my backdrops, 

Anything less that 4500K will change the color of the backdrops (Make them start to look green) and the clouds painted on them to look more yellow than the true white and blue sky like in a photo.

Above 5000K it will start to bleach the California Sky Blue pain to a more white look, and the clouds will be brighter, but the clouds will fade more into the background as the blue starts to have that faded white look.

5000K LED Light does not make it obvious that the light is coming someplace other than from the blue sky on the back drop.  It does not over power the sky blue and blends with it.

If you turn on you lighting and see the color change on your back drop, you have the wrong color temp for you lights,  The color temp needs to match the color of your backdrop.  

I have 3000, 4000 and 5000

I have 3000, 4000 and 5000 bulbs on order.  i will try and see what i like as we seam to be all OVER the place with this discussion.  So i will try it on my own i guess.  I had hope to narrow it down a bit but….. not so much.

-Doug M

This thread just shows how

This thread just shows how subjective light and color are. What works for one person doesn't for another. In the end, no one can make the choice for you Doug and you are taking the best approach.

It's Amazing

The things we fuss about in this column. HA! 

Anyway, I have been using the Micromark sourced LED strips in the Neutral (4200K) to rebuild my florescent light fixtures when they fail. I strip the guts and replace the bulbs with two lengths of LED strips.  I have been happy with the results.

Espee over Donner

Color change when turning lights on

If you see the color change on your backdrop when you turn the lighting on, it means that whatever light was on the backdrop before was a different color temperature from your layout lights.  If the before light was sunshine coming in through a window, then picking something like 5000K to match that color temp will work well.  If your room has no windows, and your non-layout lights are 2700K, and you turn on 5000K you will also see the color of the backdrop change.

Anyway, I think your point is an excellent one.  If you have windows in the layout room that let in sunlight and you’re more often in the layout room in daylight than at night, picking a daylight color temp for lighting makes a lot of sense.

CRI and R9 values matter

In my humble opinion, the CRI and R9 values of LEDs are the most important factor by far, regardless of which colour temperature you prefer. Flicker level would be next on the list if you need to spend many hours in the room at a time.

It took me a while to get to my eventual LED tape light solution for my layout which is also my home office. I wanted to capture the look and the "feel" of noon day sun, and my layout is always viewed looking north. So I tried many 4500, 5000 and 6000K lamps and sample tape strips. All of the readily available low-cost solutions gave a "thin", "washed out" "overly blue" light. They made me feel more like throwing myself under a train than operating it. 

Then I went to the local architectural pro LED store and told my story. The guy asked "what's the CRI and R9 value of what you've tried"? Then I found out the cheap stuff had a CRI of 80 or 85 at best, and the specs don't even mention R9.

I ended up with high CRI, low flicker LED tape at 6000k form the pro LED store at about double the cost of the regular 80/85 CRI stuff. But the difference in look and "feel" between it and the cheap stuff is astonishing to me. Now when I turn on the layout lights it feels uplifting, like stepping out of a dim room into bright sun. Even though it's 6000K, there's a warmth and vibrancy, especially in the reds, which was totally absent with the regular low-cost LEDs I'd tried. 

FWIW, here's some info on CRI:  https://www.waveformlighting.com/high-cri-led   

and R9 https://www.waveformlighting.com/tech/what-is-cri-r9-and-why-is-it-important/

and Flicker: https://www.waveformlighting.com/flicker-free-led-lighting?src=pse

Pete

6000K

It's always a bright, sunny day in early September on my layout, so my LED strips are 6000K and the can lights are 5000K.  I like it and it is great for ops, which is the only reason to build a layout.   

I don't get a hospital light feeling from it.  

Randy

I have 1 strip of 600LED/5M

I have 1 strip of 600LED/5M (2835) Daylight 5500K, 1 Strip of 600LED/5M (2835) Warm white 3000K and 1 strip of 300LED/M (5050) RGB. This provides a ton of light, Gives me the yellow of a sunny day with the blues of the sky and I can adjust it all to match any time of day or time of year if I so choose. The whole thing cost me $35 for the 16.5' (5m) not including 12V supply for the 2 white strips. I love it and we're installing effectively the same (though more lumens due to higher valence) at the club.

I find the 3000K alone to be far far far too yellow.  Now this could be a CRI issue, but I've observed it over multiple strips from various times and vendors. so I don't take it to be that. At the same time, I find daylight alone to be too blue for a scene that should be sunny. 

And a good point was made about checking against backdrop color. Part of that is due to CRI, but a blue background will turn gray or yellow really fast in low color temp lighting.

yeah i realize CR is an

yeah i realize CR is an issue.  But i think Temp is a bigger factor.  I do Architectural design for a living.  And while i generally have lighting consultants to work with I have some knowledge of the basic lighting.  The thing is color temp is depended on use.  For instance a different color temp is used in Produce then in clothing or in an office or living room.  But while i can consult articles and charts and experts about recommended color temps for use over an apple cart or coffin cooler full of chicken they oddly enough don’t say anything sbout model railroads…  

Anyway i have a range of colors 3000, 3500, 5000 and 6000 that i will try and see what i like.  then when i have one or two i prefer i will look for the definitive bulb and or fixture…

Frankly the layout will end up with a mix.  It will need edison bulb replacements for tge existing lights as well as a couple tube fixture replacements.  It will also probably see strips used for the remaining to be build section.

And it will need Task lighting for over the workbench (which is mostly what i am looking for right now)

As a secondary thing i need to update/replace the general (non layout) lighting as it has gone bad over the 14 years the house has existed.  So i will buy economical lights for that and if they are close to the color of the layout lights that would be a bonus.

But being as i need to add lights to the work bench, i need to replace the room lights in the shop area and those both need the same color temp as the layout so things i finish in the shop will look the same on the layout i figure it is a good time to update the color temp.

Anyway the lights should be here later this week so i will play with it over the long weekend.

-Doug M

Same here

My lighting for my module is similar. I have one 6K strip and one 3K strip. I've yet to add RGB but I will eventually. By adjusting the dimmers on either of the two strips, I can alter my lighting to provide a variety of moods and/or times of day. it really has turned out to be the best solution. I also find the 3K to be way too yellow on it's own.

If I ever get to move my layout or if I have to start anew, I'm going to convert all the layout lighting to the same type of dual color temp system and add the RGB strips as well.

Interestingly, when I was

Interestingly, when I was reading what many people were using for color temp a year or two ago, it seemed 5k was the most popular.  In this discussion many are leaning to 3k.  

If you are looking for

If you are looking for realism, 5000-6500K.  Also CRI is important as has been noted, as color temperature is not really representative for non-incandescent bulbs.  Lighting seems to be the most overlooked and neglected part of the hobby.

In this topic it doesn't seem

In this topic it doesn't seem to be overlooked.  And one things I've noticed over the years is things don't look quite the same in basements vs outofdoors.  So what is called realism can be subjective to the eye, as we have seen here in this discussion.  I tried 5k lights on my last layout and they seemed too harsh and colors a bit washed out.  I switched to 4K.