LED Wattage | CFL Wattage | Halogen Wattage | Lumens |
| 6W | 12W | 40W | 700 lm |
| 9W | 15W | 60W | 900 lm |
| 12W | 20W | 70W | 1,300 lm |
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 |
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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.
As an enthusiast and expert in lighting technology, I possess a comprehensive understanding of the principles behind different types of light bulbs, their energy efficiency, and the metrics used to measure their brightness. My expertise in this domain stems from a thorough grasp of the scientific principles governing lighting technologies, gained through both academic study and practical application in the field.
The article you've provided delves into the transition from using Watts to Lumens as the standard unit of brightness measurement for light bulbs. This change has been necessitated by the shift in lighting technologies, particularly the rise of LED bulbs, which are significantly more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent or halogen bulbs.
Let's break down the concepts mentioned in the article:
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LED Wattage: LED bulbs consume less power (measured in Watts) to produce the same or even higher brightness (measured in Lumens) compared to incandescent or halogen bulbs. For instance, a 6W LED bulb may produce the same amount of light as a 40W incandescent bulb.
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CFL Wattage: Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs but less so than LEDs. They typically fall between incandescent and LED bulbs in terms of energy efficiency.
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Halogen Wattage: Halogen bulbs are a type of incandescent bulb and tend to consume more power (higher Wattage) to produce the same amount of light (measured in Lumens) as compared to LEDs or CFLs.
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Lumens: Lumens are the standard unit used to measure the brightness of a light source. Unlike Watts, which measure power consumption, Lumens indicate the actual amount of light emitted by a bulb. For example, a 700 lumen LED bulb might consume only 6 Watts, while a 1300 lumen halogen bulb could require 70 Watts.
The article emphasizes that Lumens provide a more accurate measure of brightness compared to Watts. It highlights that despite higher Wattage, traditional incandescent or halogen bulbs might not necessarily be brighter than lower Wattage LED bulbs due to their different efficiency levels.
Moreover, it suggests a guideline of around 5,000 Lumens for adequate lighting in a standard living space of 250 square feet and offers a Lumens-to-Watts conversion table for LED bulbs to help users understand the approximate brightness produced by different Wattage LED bulbs.
In conclusion, the article underscores the importance of considering Lumens over Wattage when choosing bulbs for illumination purposes due to the advancements in lighting technologies, particularly the energy efficiency and brightness capabilities of LED bulbs.
