Chroma The Bulb, 3-in-1 Circadian Light Bulb V1 (SKU CHROMA-BULB-V1)

The Bulb is a $30 A19 LED that cycles through three fixed modes, 660 nm deep red, 1600K amber and 3800K day, every time you flip the wall switch. Leave it off for more than six seconds and it always comes back on red. Chroma publishes a flicker index of 0.0036 at 2 feet and a melanopic ratio of 0.002 for the red mode, but no lumens, no rated life and no CRI.

The Bulb is the only screw-in bulb in Chroma's live catalog as of 3 September 2026, published on getchroma.co on 1 September 2026 at $30 for a single bulb. It is a standard A19 shape with an E26/E27 base that runs on 100 to 240 VAC, so it fits any standard E26/E27 socket you already own. There is no hub, app or remote. Flip the switch off and on within six seconds to step from Night Mode (660 nm red, 7 W) to Amber Mode (1600K, 7 W) to Day Mode (3800K, 9 W). Chroma publishes melanopic daylight efficacy ratios of 0.002 for red, 0.153 for amber and 0.81 for day, and states the day channel measures SSI 80, TM-30 Rf 87.4 and Rg 93.7. The brand says the amber mode mimics the tones of a natural sunset and the red mode has no artificial blue light, and that the red default exists so a 2am bathroom trip never starts on the day spectrum.

Where it gives ground. Chroma does not publish lumens, rated life in hours, CRI, beam angle or physical dimensions, so you cannot compare brightness or longevity against a hardware-store LED on paper. The V1 does not dim; in a dimmer socket it only works with the dimmer at full power, and the amber and red modes are pre-dimmed by design. The 3800K Day Mode is warmer than the 5000K and up that most bulb makers label daylight. Every flicker-free, zero EMF and circadian claim on the page is the brand's own; the flicker index is brand-published, not third-party certified, and the listed compliance marks are CE, RoHS and WEEE with no UL or ETL stated. The 5-year warranty page names nine Chroma devices, Ironforge through Skylight, and not The Bulb; the product page cites only the 100-day money-back guarantee, and the refund policy page's own covered-products list has not been updated to name The Bulb either. And as of 3 September 2026 the product page shows The Bulb as sold out with a notify-me form in place of the add-to-cart button, and the homepage teaser for it reads Get on the waitlist, even though the Shopify variant still reports as available, so treat it as a waitlist until Chroma reopens orders.

This is for someone who wants Chroma's day, amber and red logic in a hallway, bathroom or bedside lamp without paying $290 for a Sky Portal 2.1 or learning an app. Chroma's range runs from this $30 bulb through the Sky Portal 2.1 at $290 to the Ironforge red and near-infrared light at $1,250. The math favors multiples: 1 bulb is $30, 3 are $75 ($25 each), 6 are $120 ($20 each) and 12 are $234 ($19.50 each), though the tiers sit in a bundle widget with a 24-hour countdown, so treat them as promotional. A lone bulb pays shipping because free US shipping starts at $350. In the Vault sleep category it sits under the Hatch Restore 3 at $169 and the Loftie Lamp at $279.99, both complete bedside devices with sound and alarms; The Bulb only changes the light. The product page states The Bulb is included in the 100-day money-back guarantee, though free return shipping applies only to contiguous US and Canada orders over $200.

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