![]() Watts are nothing but a unit of measurement for energy consumption. Unlike lumens, watts have nothing to do with the brightness or overall output of the light. The higher the lumen the brighter is the percentage of light. While watt measures the amount of energy consumption, lumens measure the brightness of the light. The concept of lumens is different from watts. In the case of LED lighting, lumens are the unit of measurement of the brightness of the light. 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. 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. 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. The concept of light measurement has come a long way along. For decades consumers have bought light bulbs and tube lights as per the wattage. Today for lights, the new unit of measurement is the lumen. Gone are those days when light bulbs are measured through the wattage. Take a look at the table below for a breakdown.How many lumens do you need for different places? For an LED, running over the course of 10 years the actual cost would be only $18 to operate. The energy consumption to use a bulb like this would cost about $90 over the course of 10 years. To examine the cost comparison, let’s take a look at a standard 60-watt replacement incandescent bulb in this example. When shopping for your next light bulb, simply find the lumen output you’re looking for (the bigger the brighter) and choose the bulb with the lowest wattage (the lower the better). Labels on the front of light bulb packages now state a bulb’s brightness in lumens, instead of the bulb’s energy usage in watts. Lumens, not watts, tell you how bright a light bulb is, no matter the type of bulb. To compare different light bulbs, you need to know about lumens. The lower the wattage needed, the better. How to understand this table – look at the lumens (brightness) in the far left column, then compare how many watts of power each light bulb type requires to produce that level of brightness. LED bulbs require much less wattage than CFL or Incandescent light bulbs, which is why LEDs are more energy-efficient and longer lasting than their competitors. The chart below illustrates the amount of brightness in lumens you can expect from different wattages of light bulbs. Fast forward to new LED generations, and we see the little light-emitting diodes surpassing CFLs in overall energy consumption, color and even becoming more competitively priced in the marketplace. In most recessed lighting (ceiling), however, the LED would have greater efficacy. For example, in a floor lamp, a CFL would perform better because of the light coverage was, at the time, much broader. Many LED bulbs in the past were not omnidirectional which gave the upper hand to CFL in various scenarios. A single CFL and LED bulb might have the same lumen (brightness) output but vary greatly in the amount energy needed to generate that level of brightness. Lumens is best described as the measurement of light. ![]() In short, LED and CFL as technologies do not have a difference in brightness intrinsically. Are LED lights brighter than or equal to Compact Fluorescent (CFL) bulbs? The trick is to understand the technology.
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