
What do we need to know before purchasing an LED?
Watt
The amount of energy consumed by a light source.
Lumen
"A unit of luminous flux, a measure of the total quantity of visible light emitted by a source."
The total amount of visible light. The higher the lumen output, the greater the amount of light spread over a larger area.
Incandescent - LED - Lumen Output
25W - 3W - 250 lm
40W - 5W - 450 lm
50W - 7W - 500 lm
60W - 9W - 800 lm
75W - 12W - 1100lm
100W - 20W - 1600 lm
Candela
"A unit of luminous intensity, luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a point light source in a particular direction."
The light intensity from any point in a single direction from the light source. Compared to lumens, candelas focus in single directions, points, and beam.
LM/W
Refers to the energy efficiency of the bulb. The higher the lumen output per watt, the more efficient the bulb is.
Life-span
LED bulbs have longer life-spans compared to traditional light bulbs. They last up to 50.000 hours.
CRI
Color rendering index, measures the ability of a light source to reveal the colors of objects in comparison with an ideal or natural light source or the sun. This is measured in a scale from 0-100, 100 indicating that the colors under that bulb appear the same as they would appear under direct sunlight.
CRI>90 is recommended for retail applications.
CCT
Is the color temperature measured in Kelvin. Bulbs offer a range of colors, the lower the Kelvin, the warmer (yellower) the light will be.
Warm white 2700-3000K - Most similar to incandescents, offers a relaxing and warm light
Neutral white 3500-4100K - Energetic, good for retail applications
Day - cool white 5000-6500K - Refreshing light, enhances the blue color. Ideal for office, school, hospitals
IP
Ingress Protection. This classification tells against what lamps & luminaires are protected.
IP20 - Dust proof
IP21 - Dripping water
IP23 - Spraying water
IP44 - Splashing water
IP54 - Dust + splashing water
IP65 - Powerful water jets
IP67 - Dust proof + immersion for 30 min.
IP68 - Dust proof + long periods of immersion
Dimmable or non-dimmable?
Non dimmable bulbs can not work with dimmers. Dimmable bulbs on the other hand, can be adjusted and dimmed. You can control the light.