Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

As a painter I purchased two of these lamps – the Triple Bright Lamp by Daylight Company – to provide a bright white light over my easels. I’m also always trying to get a light that shows the colors most accurately. I found the three 14 watt, 6500 Kelvin fluorescent tubes that come with the lamp a little too bright and a little too blue for my purposes.

I called the manufacturer, Daylight Company, and spoke with their customer service. My question was – could they provide a replacement bulb that was a little warmer and/or of lower wattage? I was told that that was not possible; that they manufacture the bulbs according to their determination of the best use for the lamp, and they do not feel the need to provide any other options. The person I spoke with also emphasized that they manufacture the bulbs themselves and that they are custom sized to fit the lamp – i.e. that there is no other option for replacement. I then contacted the parent company in England, but got no satisfaction there either.

I didn’t believe the story that they manufacture the bulbs themselves. It didn’t seem logical. After a bit of research I located the bulbs online, and after a bit of experimentation found a couple of ways to adjust the blueness and brightness of this lamp.

Too blue? You can get inexpensive replacement bulbs from BuyLighting dot com. The bulbs are GE T5 fluorescent tubes. They are 14 watts, come in either 6500 Kelvin (cool daylight – these are the bulbs supplied with the lamp) or 3000 Kelvin (warm white). They cost .95, about half of what the Daylight Company charges. In my experience they are shipped quickly and are extremely well packed. To reduce the blueness, I chose to replace the middle of the three 6500 Kelvin fluorescent tubes with the warmer 3000 Kelvin tube. This mix of two cool bulbs with one warmer bulb seems to reduce the overall blueness just enough to provide better color rendering.

Too bright? I found that the the lamp will work fine with one, two or three tubes installed. In my case, once I improved the color, I found the lamp no longer seemed too bright. But you can easily remove one of the bulbs and reduce the brightness that way.

The lamp doesn’t come with any instructions for replacing the bulbs, so here’s how to do it. To remove or replace the bulbs, first lay the lamp, grid side up, down on a table. Then unscrew the little screws that hold the cover and grid in place (see NOTE below). Lift off the cover and grid. To remove the bulbs, begin by removing an outside bulb. Grasp it between thumbs and fingers of both hands and gently twist the bulb until the end pins align with the slots. Then it can be lifted out. Reverse this procedure to put the replacement bulb in. Make sure the pins are all the way in, then twist gently until it clicks into place. This is also how you can access the middle of the three bulbs, which is otherwise too tightly spaced to remove. Replace the grid and cover and you are good to go.

NOTE: The screws are tiny Philips head screws, very cheap, and easily stripped. So be careful when removing. Once you have them out, you may want to take one to the hardware store and try to find the same size in a stronger material with a better head.

As an illustrator/artist, I have been looking for a work lamp for my desk that could provide good lighting without a glare or producing heat. The Daylight Triple Bright Lamp is perfect! It fills my desk top with a soft, warm light that does not distort color or cast strong shadows. I have tried multiple lights but nothing compares to this lamp. Even without using overhead lighting at night, the Daylight Triple Bright Lamp provides an oasis of light at my desk. I actually put off buying this light because I thought the cost was a little high. Mistake! I wasted money on other lamps that were just inferior. If you are an artist/craft maker, you will not be disappointed.

Being very excited to receive this lamp, I was sorely disappointed when I figured out this lamp does not work with drafting tables (the adjustable kind that tilt). The base of the adjustable lamp arm has a post about 3 in. long, that fits into a hole in the clamp. (The lamp with its arm, and the clamp are two separate pieces that come apart without any effort.) It is a snug enough fit to not worry about it falling out, but it is not fixed securely in there in any way, so if the table is tilted then the whole lamp will swing forward no matter now you adjust the arm. This lamp is meant to attach to flat surfaces only. For spending this much money on a quality lamp I am disappointed in this simple oversight that makes is incompatible with my tilted table. (Especially since it is marketed to artists). As an artist who enjoys using a drafting table for its ergonomic superiority, I feel like this is a simple, overlooked feature this lamp is missing. What a bummer. In addition, the lamp I received is defective. There is a quiet buzzing sound coming from the lamp. It isn’t loud enough (at this point) for me to want to go through the trouble of returning it and waiting for a new one though. I will wait a couple more days to see if it is worth keeping.