Lumen or Watt?

Anyone still looking at watts when deciding on buying a lamp will be left in the dark. The one measurement that counts in modern LED lighting technology is the lumen – a unit of measurement that is a much better indication of the brightness off a lamp than wattage.

Lumen is a more precise measurement for the brightness of a lamp than wattage.

Modern lamps display significantly lower wattage values than traditional incandescent light bulbs. The technical information on the packaging usually includes values between 5 and 10 watt. The wattage of modern lamps doesn’t tell you much about brightness you can expect.

Conventional wattage x 10 = lumen value

Lumen (lm) is the unit of measure for luminous flux and is therefore the decisive value for the brightness of a lamp.Think about the purpose of the space you wish to light up, what kind of ambiance you want to create and how much light you will need to do that.

We recommend the following values for basic lighting. These are based on averages measured over years of field experience and a range of tests which we conducted independently.

Basic lighting living area/hallway       100 lm/m²

Basic lighting kitchen/bathroom              300 lm/m²

You should also consider the light colour of any new luminaire you buy, as it describes the type of light it will give out – choose from a yellowish (warm) to a bluish (cool) colour. The cooler light colours may appear brighter than warm ones, but may not be as cosy.