In my last post, I stumbled through an explanation of what Color Temperature is and why it doesn’t apply to fluorescent lighting. But, if Color Temperature doesn’t apply to fluorescents, why do they put a color temperature measurement on most florescent light packaging?
Well, they’re not deliberately trying to be deceitful, what they’re using is a Correlated Color Temperature or CCT.
Effectively, the rating listed on the packaging of a given bulb indicates the incandescent color temperature that the light will most closely mimic. Because our eyes are incredibly good at adapting to different qualities of illumination, this correlated color temperature measurement is essentially “close enough” for every day life. For example, “Warm White” bulbs are listed with a CCT between 2800 K to 3500 K, and for most purposes are similar in color tone to common tungsten-based interior lighting.