What to know about LED light bulbs
You've heard a lot about them but how do you go about choosing LED bulbs since they're quite different to what you were used to.
Ping! Another incandescent light bulb just blew. You've been saying you will switch to LED bulbs when your current ones burn out but as you start searching for LED bulbs online or in store you quickly realise how much lighting has changed. To help, we will provide a simple guide as to what you should look out for in your new LED bulbs.
What's a Watt?
The first thing to know is that a Watt is a measure of energy consumption not a measure of brightness! Incandescent bulbs used to come in standards such as 40W, 60W and 100W and although they did imply a brightness they technically only indicate how quickly they are running up your electricity meter.
Now things have changed and LED bulbs are much more efficient; you can expect LED bulbs to produce a similar brightness as incandescent bulbs for just a fraction of the Watts. So how should you compare bulbs' output now?
Forget Watts - it's Lumens
Lumens are a measure of light intensity and so a perfect way of measuring the brightness of your bulbs. But how many Lumens should you look for in a bulb?
| Incandescent Watts | Lumens | LED Watts |
|---|---|---|
| 100W | 1600 | ~18W |
| 75W | 1100 | ~11W |
| 60W | 800 | ~10W |
| 40W | 450 | ~8W |
The table above shows a general comparison you can use to convert incandescent bulb Wattage into Lumens. It also shows a rough conversion into the expected Watts that will be used by the new LED bulb, although this varies between manufacturers as it depends on the efficiency of their bulb.
What's warm white and cool white?
Incandescent bulbs naturally produce a "warm white" which is a white that has a yellowy glow where as "cool white" is a brighter white much closer to white. You've probably not thought about it but imagine the kind of warm glow the bulbs in your lounge emit compared with the bright lights you find in a fancy shop.
I find the cool white colours are great when making things look clean and sparkling so you would probably like these in your kitchen or bathroom for example. You might like to reserve warm white for rooms such as your lounge or dining room where you wish to relax.
Will they work with a dimmer switch?
For a bit extra you can buy dimmable LED bulbs that will be compatible with your dimmer switches. However I have found you can place a normal LED bulb into a light fitting with a dimmer switch and it will work great but without any dimming, just on or off.
They are a great investment
They are more expensive than your traditional bulb but these bulbs are in it for the long term. They last 20 odd years and use about 10% of the power so when you add it all up you stand to save a fortune!
