Not the brightest tool in the box?

As mentioned before (See Lumens vs Watts 26^th Nov 12) we are interested in two key elements of a light source, 1. How much power does it consume (Power in watts) and 2. How much light it produces (In Lumens) for us to complete our daily chores.

Let’s face it we really don’t care if it is the most energy efficient lamp (Bulb) on the planet, if we can’t find the beer fridge in the garage because it produces less light than a firefly we are not going to bother. So as an indication see the chart below which trades off our old incandescent (Tungsten filament) lamps against output in lumens.

My thanks to the American DoE for such a helpful and easy to understand chart.

The US is also several steps ahead of the European Union having a very helpful and easy to understand ‘Lighting Facts’ label. As a consequence of Europe’s failure to copy this it and other legislation it is a dumping ground for many products which just couldn’t cut the grade elsewhere in the world.

At time of writing a decent quality 7-8 watt LED will give about 400lm but be watchful.

To be building control compliant in the UK for domestic use, they have to give at least 45lm/W,  from the above example 400/8=50lm/W. These might take getting used to but can certainly light a kitchen to acceptable levels.

Brightest tool in the box? Probably not but its not far off and with the constant rapid advancement they soon will be!

~ by futurelamps on November 28, 2012.