The City of Ivins is trying something interesting with its outdoor lighting that, at least so far, we have not found other cities doing. The City has installed some lighting where the color temperature of the new light source is 3,000 degrees Kelvin.
Okay, that’s not the interesting part, please be patient. Lights with color temperatures below 3,000k are considered “warmer” and friendlier. A lot of older street lighting in the City has color temperatures well below 3,000k. That lighting has less glare, which is not only a safety plus, it is a big help for aging eyes. But lights with color temperatures at 3,000k are still pretty bright and white.
So, to improve the quality of the light, the City is fitting some of these 3,000k light sources with an amber lens. Nothing earth-shattering, just a simple plastic disc with an orange color.
But the amber lens changes the color of light that passes through it. We expect it helps to lower the color temperature of “colder” LEDs, making them friendlier and reducing troublesome glare.
Now that we have an amber lens we can test it with a spectrometer to see just how much of an impact it has on the color temperature of a light. We’ll let you know what we find out.