When talking about LED lighting there are a number of terms that are essential to understanding which solutions are perfect for you:
- Lumens – Measure of the total amount of light being put out. The higher the lumens are, the brighter the lamp appears. To get the same amount of light output as a conventional 60W bulb, an LED lamp will typically need to be at 800-850 lumens. You will need a different lumen rating depending on your situation – things like the size and shape of the room, the color of the walls, and the type of fixtures will affect how many lumens you need.
- Watts – For many of us, Watts are incorrectly linked with brightness. Watts actually measure how much power the bulb consumes.
- Voltage – Measures the rate at which energy is drawn from a source that produces a flow of electricity in a circuit. An analogy to help understand this term is a system of plumbing pipes – the voltage is equivalent to the water pressure.
- Color Temperature (or CCT) – This is a measure of the color of the light. The lower the number the “warmer” or more red-yellow the light. The higher the number the “cooler” or more blue the light. For example, incandescent lights have a low color temperature (approx. 2800K), and warm white LED Lamps have a color temperature between 2700-3500K. Lamps rated between 5000K and 6000K are viewed as white, while lamps above 6000K tend to have a blue cast.
- Color Rendering Index (CRI) – This is an indicator of how accurately colors appear while lit by the lamp. The higher the CRI the sharper, crisper, and more natural colors look. Higher CRI also typically means less glare
- View Angle – This degree expresses the width of the light beam produced by a bulb. The angle also affects how bright the bulb appears. View angles range from 8 to 360 degrees.
- Operating Life – This refers to the number of hours a specific bulb is expected to be operational. LEDs have a higher operating life than conventional bulbs, and also don’t burn out or fail the way incandescent bulbs do. Instead they experience lumen depreciation, which means the amount of light produced decreases and the color of the light can shift over time. As a result, LEDs lifetimes are set based on when the light output decreases 30%.