Which Kelvin temp do you recommend?

[Maddlesrain]

10k, 14k, or 20k?

Why?

This is for a metal halide light.

 

[ndrwater]

Depends in the look YOU like. They will all work.
10k is pretty white/yellow compared to most systems you see nowadays.
14k is white-er
20k is blue-er and will show more of the colors that online sellers show, but not as much as a typical online sellers photo.

 

[TheGreatWave]

Most like the bluer bulbs.

You really got to look carefully because one brands 14 000K might be just as blue as another brands 20K.

Technically black body radiation is accurate to about 12 000K which is why the blue bulbs are all over the place.
A 20 000K bulb means it is subjectively really blue, but isn't an actual color temperature you can rely on like say 6500K or 2800K.

 

[Maddlesrain]

So hypothetically I could run the 20k without any supplemental blue LEDs and still have the blue look? That would be ideal, but I’m not against a couple LED strips.

 

[TheGreatWave]

Hypothetically yes.

 

[Maddlesrain]

Since it’s purely cosmetic, I guess I’ll just try one and go from there.

Thanks!

 

[Sandyego reeyfur]

anything above 10k

 

[mfinn]

My all time favorite light was the 250 watt 20K Radium bulb on a hqi ballast.