We get this question a lot and one main concept has been driven into many people’s heads due to old, conventional lighting ideas: Many believe that the way to measure the brightness of a light source is by looking at the watts. This, in fact, is not the case; watts are a great measure of power used, but are not a measure of luminosity. It no longer makes sense to look at all lights and base their brightness on how many watts are used. Incredibly energy efficient lights, such as LED lights, are throwing this whole idea out the window.
“How many LEDs will compare to my 60watt incandescent bulb?”
“What length of light strip do I need to equal a standard bulb?”
Many times it is difficult to compare your standard light bulb to our LED lights. While incandescent and fluorescent bulbs emit light in all directions, LEDs focus their light in one direction. Light bulbs are rated for total lumen output whereas LED’s output is a linear measurement, i.e. lumens per foot. LEDs output light in a 120 degree cone, 1/4 the size of an incandescent or fluorescent bulbs output. So while nearly 100% of every lumen output by an LED ends up where it is pointed, almost 3/4 of the output of incandescent or fluorescent lights end up everywhere else. This is why incandescent and fluorescent bulbs are almost always installed inside a reflector when they need to be used for directional lighting– which may not be practical under a cabinet.
A 60W incandescent bulb outputs 800-1000 lumens – while 60W of our LED strips will output ~5000 lumens, spread out over an extended length. So you get upwards of 5 times as much light for the same amount of power.
In the end, you are getting a lot of lumens, using a little power, with the light being directed to where it needs to go. This is also a great example of why LED strips can never replace your overhead lighting.
For more information on our products, please visit our website: http://inspiredled.com/products or email us at info@inspiredled.com
