Lumens or Wattage? Which Metric Should I Use In Selecting An LED Product?

Lumens, Wattage???

Remember the good old days when a Light bulb or Light fixtures brightness was simply a measure of wattage. The higher the wattage or Power (P=EI for you electrophiles) the Brighter the Bulb or Light Fixture. While Color Temperature was a viable concern, thing just were all so simple then. If you wanted more light simply increase the wattage.

Now, It's not that simple. With the advent of Induction Lighting and LED Lighting Technologies one must be concerned with the Lumens per Watt ratio. We have all come to understand that the price of Electricity will never come down. It is on a continuing trend upward , causing the bean counters to recognize the tremendous monetary saving realized in the utilization of LED and Induction Lighting Technologies. This coupled with the technological increases in the efficiency of LED's, causes us to have to reexamine how we select our Light fixtures and Bulbs, with the goal being, to provide the required light at the lowest possible energy consumption.

Lumens / Watts

Instead of Asking about Wattage we need to start asking about how many Lumens/Watt. The Lumens per Watt Metric is a measure is a ratio to assist you in determining the most energy efferent LED light Fixture or Light Bulb. The Higher the amount of Lumens per Watt, The more energy efficient the LED Fixture is. Therefore we need to start thinking in terms of Lumens instead of simply wattage. And in the Case of LED's it can Be Directional Lumens.

It's About Lumens

To demonstrate the point we have provided a simple list below highlighting the estimated Lumen output of standard Incandescent lamps.

150 W= 2600 lm
100W= 1600 lm
75 W= 1100 lm
60 W= 800 lm
40 W=450 lm
25 W= 200 lm

The list below will show the power requirements of an LED Bulb With 100Lm/Watt Ratio that would provide the same lumen output.

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