Why are LED lights measured in lumens?
LED lumens to watts conversion chart
How many lumens do you need for different places?
Gone are those days when light bulbs are measured through the wattage. Today for lights, the new unit of measurement is the lumen. For decades consumers have bought light bulbs and tube lights as per the wattage. The concept of light measurement has come a long way along. With the more focus on energy-efficient lights in the market, low-watt lights or bulbs such as LEDs and CFLs have become more readily available. Today instead of focusing more on energy and power usage of a bulb, manufacturers are focusing more on lumens to indicate the brightness of these energy-efficient bulbs. Therefore though as consumers we are more comfortable shopping bulbs and other lights as per wattage, the reality is lumens are more accurate to measure the brightness of the bulb.
In the case of LED lighting, lumens are the unit of measurement of the brightness of the light. The concept of lumens is different from watts. While watt measures the amount of energy consumption, lumens measure the brightness of the light. Lumens equal to light output. The higher the lumen the brighter is the percentage of light.
Unlike lumens, watts have nothing to do with the brightness or overall output of the light. Watts are nothing but a unit of measurement for energy consumption. For instance, when we pay electricity bills, we pay it as per the no. of watts used by using the lights and bulbs at our home. Therefore no easier terms 100watt bulbs have 100 watts of energy consumption. Similarly 60 watt light will consume 60 watts of energy. As we have been using 60-watt bulbs for decades, we associate the level of certain brightness with the same amount of watts.
Today the introduction of energy efficient-bulbs like CFLs or LEDs has changed the whole watt concept. With the introduction of LED technology, today when you go to buy a bulb or light, your focus is on the brightness offered by the bulb. LED technology helps to provide more by using fewer watts. Therefore while buying bulbs we check the lumens of the bulb and not the wattage of the bulb.
Well practically speaking, today when people go shopping for a bulb, the first thing they will consider is how bright or luminous the bright is. The brightness of the light is much more important than the power or energy measurement of the light. Traditionally, bulbs were mainly measured as per the wattage, the concept was the more the wattage the more the brightness. But the introduction of energy-efficient technologies has changed the whole concept. A bulb that offers more wattage does not mean that the brightness will be equal. Rather it is somewhat the opposite. When a consumer looks for an energy-efficient LED light, he will pick up the one with more lumens and fewer watts. This means though the bulb is more luminous it does not need to consume an equal amount of energy since it has in-built energy-consumption technology.
If you check a LED lumen chart you will understand the concept better. Lumens are helpful units to measure how much light you require for a particular space. For instance, every space requires a minimum amount of light for clear visibility. To calculate the amount of light required for a particular space you will need to calculate the amount of lumen required to brighten up the space. When you are planning to lighten up a space you need to know the exact the no. of lumens required per square foot. Next, you can choose the light or bulbs as per the no. of lumens the bulbs produce. By calculating these two things you can easily the right number of bulbs to brighten up a space.
The conversion of lumens into watts is important when you are planning to replace older bulbs and lights with new innovative energy-efficient LED lights. One of the most common questions asked by several people is how many lumens is a 60 watt led light bulb?
Here is a detailed explanation of how to convert lumens into the chart. Old technology bulbs had an efficiency of 15 lumens per watt. Now LED bulbs typically offer 70 to 100lumens per watt. Therefore LED bulbs are five to six times more efficient in producing lights compared to old incandescent bulbs. So you can use 5:1/ 6:1 ratio while replacing old incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient modern LED bulbs.
Now coming to the main question how much lumen is a 60 watt led light bulb? To replace a 60 wattage traditional bulb with a modern LED bulb you need to divide the 60 watts/ 5, and the result is 12 watt. This is a standardized method. A 60 watt bulb will produce 700 to 800 lumens. If you want to replace a 60 watt bulb then go for a LED bulb that offers 800 lumens.
Note that since lumens measure brightness & watt measure energy consumption, converting watts into lumens is not that easy. The number of lumens in a 60 watt bulb depends solely on the lumen output and not on its energy usage.
Here is a standardized led lumens chart that will help you to determine the no. of lumens required per square foot of your rooms' settings. For the kitchen you require 60-80 lumens, dining 30-40 lumens, for living room 40-50 lumens, for bedroom 30-40 lumens, for study room/ offices 60-80 lumens, for bathrooms 50-80 lumens (depends on your preference) and for garage 60 to 80 lumens will work efficiently.
Note that this is a standardized chart, but the number of lumens you require for different places in your home also depends on your personal preference. For instance, some people like their bedrooms to be a little gloomy while some want their bedrooms to be bright and shiny. While some people do not require much light in their bathroom, some require high visibility in the bathroom.
After reading this article we hope now the lumen watt led concepts and comparisons are pretty much clear to you. Illuminate your space with the right light!
