The 6500K LED market continues to be a niche worth knowing about. First it was interest in 6500K LED T8 lights, but now it has expanded to all types of light sources.

What is so special about 6500K? 6500K is called Daylight+ and is considered full spectrum lighting. A bright white light that nearly appears blue. Often seen in display lighting, signs, task lighting, paint booths and grow lighting. Also we have seen it in other random applications. After all, people like familiarity. If they have an F32/865, generally they will continue to order that bulb or if they do go to LED they will try to match that 6500K color.

Let’s take a look at some 6500K LED lights, and we’ll start with the aforementioned F32/865 replacements.

6500K LED T8 Tubes

There are four types of LED tubes, and we can find 6500K in three of the types – Type A (uses ballast), Type B (ballast bypass) and Type D (or Type AB, which can use or bypass the ballast). GE Current once had a Type C LED T8 in 6500K but no longer carries it.

For a 6500K Type A LED T8, there are only two options. Keystone once had a lamp but no longer does. GE has this one in the bag with 4′ 6500K ballast compatible LED T8 lamps in 15W or 18W.

GE 35798 LED15ET8/G/4/865
GE 35773 LED18ET8/G/4/865

6500K Type B LED T8 lamps are more common with several different options and sizes available. The most commonly used is the KT-LED15T8-48GC-865-DX2 – a 15W 1900 lumen 4′ LED T8 in 6500K that can be installed via single or double-ended wiring. But they also have a high output 18.5W 2600 lumen 6500K LED T8, not to mention 6500K Type B tubes in 2′, 3′ and 18″.

Keystone KT-LED15T8-48GC-865-DX2 (formerly KT-LED15T8-48GC-865-D /G3
Keystone KT-LED18.5T8-48GC-865-DX2
Keystone KT-LED14.5T8-48G-865-DX2
Keystone KT-LED7T8-18GC-865-D
Keystone KT-LED7T8-24GC-865-DX2
Keystone KT-LED12T8-36GC-865-D

How about some R17d HO 6500K LED tubes? For 8′ there are single-pin lamps in 6500K and R17d HO base in 6500K. Both with ballast bypass double-end wired install method. Sign lamps are also very common in 6500K and the R17d rotatable base, so check out all the Keystone 360 Degree SignHero lights or the Keystone 180 Degree SignHero lamps for any size you would need. If you need something really odd, Satco has 4′ and 6′ Type B 6500K R17d HO LED tubes.

Satco S11925 43T8/LED/96-865/BP
Keystone KT-LED43T8HO-96G-865-D2
Keystone KT-LED54T8-96P-865-D /G2
Satco S11965 18T8/LED/48-865/BP/R17D/HO
Satco S11967 30T8/LED/72-865/BP/R17D/HO

One thing is for sure, with the advent of color-select technology, more people will be able to try out 6500K color temps. Keystone 8CSJ LED T8 lamps for example come in 2′, 3′ and 4′ and allow for 3000K, 3500K, 4000K, 5000K and 6500K on the bulb itself. This makes it much easier for someone to try out the 6500K color without having to commit to it as a dedicated color.

Lastly, there are Type D 6500K LED T8 lamps. None with 6500K as a dedicated color, but again thanks to the color selectable LED T8 lamps from Keystone, their 8CSJ ComboDrive lamps have 6500K as an option. Type D, also known as Type AB, is a technology that allows the LED bulb to operate off the existing fluorescent ballast or bypass the ballast and wire direct.

6500K LED T5 Tubes

The rise in 6500K LED T5 lamps over the last few years has been sudden. Premier Lighting helped facilitate several buildings in changing over to 6500K LED T5 lamps, including the indoor tennis facility above. As with all linear LED lamps, there are the ballast compatible and ballast bypass styles with T5’s as well.

GE Current again comes through with the only Type A 6500K 4′ T5HO replacement, with their 19488 LED26ET5/G/4/865 lamp. 25.5W 6500K 3800 lumens with this lamp and simply plug it in with a compatible ballast.

But most go the ballast bypass route here again. Extra energy savings are had by cutting out the ballast not to mention not having to worry about ballast compatibility. Keystone and Satco have similar 25.5W LED T5HO replacement lamps in 6500K with single/double-ended install. Keystone though has a 13W 4′ T5HE 6500K LED T5 as well.

Keystone KT-LED25T5HO-48GC-865-DX2
Satco S39720 25T5/LED/46-865/BP/HO/SE-DE
Keystone KT-LED13T5HE-48GC-865-D
Keystone KT-LED16T5HO-36GC-865-D

6500K LED Troffer

Maybe instead of retrofitting the fixture you want to get a new 6500K LED Troffer. TCP is known for carrying lamps and fixtures of all colors, shapes and sizes. Their Direct Troffer line has fixture with dedicated color temps anywhere between 2700K to 6500K and in 1×4, 2×2 and 2×4.

6500K LED A-Lamp

Now it gets even tougher. You may come across 50W, 68W and 104W CFL lamps that occasionally are in 6500K. Most high wattage CFL lamps like this are in E39 mogul base but some are still E26 medium base. Nonetheless, Satco has 6500K LED A23 and A25 lamps that do the job, replacing 200W-300W incandescents. If you need something more simple like a 60W or 100W equivalent 6500K LED A-lamp, those are available below too.

Satco S13107 25WA23/LED/65K/100-277V/EX39
Satco S13111 35WA25/LED/65K/100-277V/EX39
Norman Lamps LED-A21OM15W-65

How did we do? Was there anything else in 6500K that you needed? Send us a message or post a comment to let us know. We will continue to add to this page as more 6500K lights become available.