The purpose of this study is to find out the effects of light‐emitting diode (LED) lighting on elderly people's color discrimination and preference, to improve the lighting environment for elderly people. In this study, experiments were conducted under LED lighting with two different spectra (with color‐correlated temperature [CCT] of 2800K and 6000K), and three different illuminance levels (30lx; 100lx; 1000lx). Six elderly observers (aged 55–65 years) participated in the experiments and were exposed to each lighting condition to finish one trial of a color discrimination test (Farnsworth–Munsell 100‐Hue Test) and a 7‐scale, 6‐item preference evaluation test. We conclude that elderly people perform better in color discrimination with higher CCT of LED light sources, which compensate for their decreased lens transmission at short wavelength. Their performance also increases with higher illuminance (30lx‐1000lx) of LED lighting. Meanwhile, they prefer higher illuminance, which makes them find the lighting environment more comfortable, brighter, and better for reading; but for CCT, although they feel a higher CCT is better for reading, they still have different tastes regarding CCT of light sources. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.