“LEDs are too bright,” some skeptics say. And they are, but they aren’t. They are both.
So before you start your search for a new LED (Light Emitting Diode) light fixture or light bulb, let’s talk about brightness.
When you are shopping for LED lighting, look at the product description for the word ‘lumens.’ A lumen is the amount of visible light. The higher the number, the brighter the light you’ll see.
If you are thinking that lumens are the same as watts, it’s not. Watts are how much energy is needed to create lumens. A 60-watt incandescent light bulb can create about 800 lumens. A 10-watt LED light bulb will create about the same about of lumens. The reason? LEDs are more efficient than incandescent light bulbs, so they need fewer watts to create the same brightness.
LED light bulbs can create light from 50 lumens to more than 2600 lumens, which means LED light bulbs aren’t just for holiday string lights, work lights, and security lights. They can produce a giant range of brightness.
While lumens can help you compare brightness between light bulb types, there are also factors like the color of the light that can affect our perception of the brightness. If the color is on the warm end, it can seem less bright than if it’s on the cooler side of color temperature. For more details about color, check out this blog post on LED color temperature.
If you are more familiar with brightness based on incandescent watts, check out the conversion chart from Energy Star. It will give you the lumen number to look for in the lighting descriptions.
Just for fun, here are a few products and their lumens.
Like one, or all of the products in the lumen round up? Use the links below to find out more information.
So LED brightness can be too bright and not. The choice is yours.