Soft White VS Daylight – What’s The Difference?

How an object or space is perceived when illuminated depends on the color temperature like soft white and daylight. So it becomes important for someone to select the best option for their application. 

Soft white VS Daylight can be also represented as a comparison between Warm Vs Cool or between 2700K VS 6000K. By this, we are clear that we are going to talk about the difference between two different color temperature that is totally on the opposite side of the Kelvin scale. 

The Kelvin scale is a scale used to measure color temperature in LED lights. It ranges from 1000K to 10000K. The higher number on the scale, the more blueish the tone, on the other hand, the lower the number more yellow tones.

So, without wasting time let’s get into the topic of Soft White Vs Daylight.

Soft White ranges basically between 2700K to 3000K and daylight ranges between 5500K to 6500K. 

Soft White Vs Daylight 

Well, we can see the big difference between these two color temperatures. Soft white is in the yellow color range and has got warm tones, whereas, daylight has more white and blueish tones and is cool. 

Besides this, soft white is more suitable for residential applications, as it has an earthy tone. However, daylight may be more suitable for commercial applications as it has got blueish tones. 

Here we have listed the places where these color temperature suits the most in the table:-

Soft White Is Ideal For	Daylight Is Ideal For
Under Cabinet	Signage
Bathrooms	Offices
Kitchen	Garages
Residential	Commercial
Bedrooms	Display Cases

Soft White Or Daylight for Bathrooms

Are you confused about whether to use soft white or daylight for bathrooms? Let me tell you. 

You should go for soft white (3000K) to cool white (5000K) while selecting color temperature for a bathroom, as you may willing to have a bright light in the bathroom. 

Note that, soft white is around 3000K, which is suggested for earthy tones. But on the other hand, daylight is about 6000K, appears a bit blueish, and is best for commercial settings. 

Some things to be considered:-

• Paint Color
• Existing natural light
• Cabinetry color
• Countertop color
• Size of the room 

When both 3000K and 6000K lights are tested on a standard gloss taupe colored paint.  Then you can see a big difference as shown in the picture. The result that comes out is the soft color is pleasant whereas daylight is pretty bright. So choosing the color temperature in between these two may be the right thing to do. You can go for 4000K 

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Soft White Or Daylight For Kitchens

Soft white light is suitable for transitional kitchens. Moreover soft light gives earthy tones so you can create a pleasant environment in your space. 

But if you have got a more contemporary kitchen then go for cool white lights, which range between 4000K to 5000K. Because it’s usually better than a daylight color of 6000K. However, it’s always good to find the color temperature between soft white and cool white. 

When soft (3000K) and daylight (6000K) got tested on darker wood veneer cabinets. 3000K soft white seems to be quite pleasant whereas 6000K was much brighter. 

We can say that daylight color temperature provides a more task-oriented light whereas soft white makes wood grains and cabinets appear more natural and pleasant. 

But you need to consider your cabinetry color. If you have got a white contemporary cabinet go for cool white light, not the daylight. 

Soft White or Daylight For Bedrooms 

For bedrooms, soft white light or yellowish light is preferred. So look for 2000K to 3500K color temperature. One of the most famous daylight to consider is Basking. 

We can say that daylight in lighting could not be the best fit for bedroom light. 

It is more bright and bluish hue. 

You can give warm white color light if you want to make your bedroom a pleasant place. 

Below you can see the photos of the floor lamp with different types of bulbs. Seeing the pic you can separate the difference between soft white and daylight. 

Soft White Lights 

Soft white is most suitable for residential applications. One can also consider 2700K to 3000K or a warm white. We can say that soft white color tones have got more application than daylight bulbs. 

One can get soft white lights in lots of fixtures such as:-

• Incandescent Bulbs
• Outdoor String Lights.
• Recessed Ceiling Lights
• LED Light Bulbs.
• LED Strip Lights
• Puck and Stick Lights.

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Daylight Lights 

You can find several fixture styles while shopping for daylight fixtures. One can use tunable lights to switch between daylight or soft white light in some cases. 

One can get daylight fixtures in:

• LED Strip Lights
• Incandescent Bulbs
• Stick Lights
• LED Light Bulbs
• Ceiling Lights 
• Puck Lights 

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Time To Conclude

Though you can find several good guidelines to follow, the thing is you can always go with your guts (personal preferences). However, it’s always best to test various lights and colors. You may find something better than you have. 

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