If you have recently purchased a light bulb, you may have noticed a switch on the packaging from Watts to Lumens. But what are lumens? And why has Wattage been abandoned as the standard unit of brightness? How are we supposed to gauge which bulb to use? Luckily, we’ve put together a Lumens to Watts chart, because Lumens are the new measure of brightness and they’re here to stay.
What are Lumens?
Firstly, Wattage measures power not brightness. The greater the Wattage, the higher the power supply to the bulb (which technically says nothing about the expected brightness). So why did we ever use Watts to measure brightness in the first place? We didn’t. Wattage has always measured power. The reason for the confusion is that traditional - and now largely obsolete - incandescent bulbs emitted light by means of passing electricity through a suspended filament that burned at a higher temperature and brightness in correlation to the greater amount of Watts being passed through it. Therefore, Watts naturally became an indication of brightness. However, bulbs have moved on, and this is no longer the case. Due to the overwhelming longevity and energy efficient benefits of installing LED lights throughout the home, LEDs have quickly taken over as the savvy choice of domestic bulb. This presents some consumers with something of a puzzle when faced with a choice between a 13W LED bulb, a 15W CFL bulb, and an 18W Halogen bulb. In this scenario, the increasing Wattage means nothing, as the brightest bulb is actually the lower Wattage LED, and the most dim bulb is the highest Wattage Halogen bulb. Quick Answer: Lumens give an accurate measure of light, regardless of Wattage. In contrast, Wattage gives an accurate description of the power supplied to the bulb and says nothing of the bulb’s luminosity. How many Lumens do I need? In order to provide adequate lighting for a standard living space of 250 sq ft, you should invest in lighting solutions that emit around 5,000 Lumens.
Convert Lumens to Watts
The Lumens to Watts conversion table shows LED bulb Wattage in relation to approximate Lumens produced:
LED
Lumens
10W
900 lm
12W
1,125 lm
15W
1,500 lm
20W
2,250 lm
30W
3,000 lm
Contact us today
For further information on selecting the best fit LED lights to suit your needs, speak to a member of our expert LED lighting team today. Call 0333 77 22 111 or visit the LED Hut blog page for social media details. We look forward to hearing from you.
