How do I choose the best LED?
- Make sure it's ENERGY STAR. Be cautious of LEDs that haven't earned ENERGY STAR certification. ...
- Find the right bulb for your fixture. ...
- Choose your color and brightness. ...
- Read the Lighting Facts label.
Determine the needed lumens
A lumen is a unit measurement of light. To determine the needed lumens, you will need to multiply your room's square footage by your room's foot-candle requirement. For example, a 100-square-foot living room, which needs 10-20 foot candles, will need 1,000-2,000 lumens.
A high color temperature is connected to optimal studying performance and focus. Cool white light is the best LED light color for studying.
Choosing LED Lights
For instance, soft white LED bulbs give off a warm, comfortable light that is great for bedrooms or dens. Bright white LED bulbs have a cooler appearance that helps to accentuate appliances and plumbing fixtures, making it ideal for kitchens or bathrooms.
LED Brightness
To determine how bright an LED light will be, look for the lumens measurement — a higher number means a brighter light. Wattage, the traditional way of considering how bright a light will be, isn't the best way to determine LED brightness relative to an incandescent light.
Higher Lumen and lower Wattage lamps, especially with LEDs, will provide the best lighting with the lowest energy costs. Editor's Note: This post was originally published in July 2014 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Forget watts…
Lumens equal brightness; watts measure energy used. LEDs use much fewer watts than incandescents with the same brightness. As a rule, you'll replace a standard 75W bulb with an energy-saving bulb of about 1100 lumens. On the low end, replace a 40W bulb with an LED bulb of about 450 lumens.
A 1500 lumen LED flashlight is a very bright and powerful flashlight that is suitable for most tasks. Nevertheless, the number of lumens you need in your room depends on the application.
Watt is a measure of power, it depends on how much power you want your light bulbs to use. Most LED light bulbs are between 5 and 8 watts, so a good range for home use would be between 40 and 80 watts.
One of the optimal, more neutral settings for a classroom is an LED set at around 4200 Kelvin (K). This color temperature lends more towards the white/blue end of the color spectrum and is also an optimal setting for group projects and discussion.
What color light is best for eyes?
Therefore, the best color temperature LED for your eyes is anything in the warm white color temperature range (2700-3000K). Since clarity and contrast is a big part of lessening eye strain, a color-corrected type like our warm white Chromalux® LED might also be a great option!
At high intensity of light—as in a well-lit office—nearly 80 percent of patients reported intensification of headache with exposure to all colors but green. Unexpectedly, the researchers found that green light even reduced pain by about 20 percent.
Yes, new technology LED lighting can and will get hot, but when compared to the lighting of the past, temperatures are much safer. The heat from the lighting will also warm your surrounding environment but in comparison to old incandescent lighting, this ambient heat is greatly reduced when using LED lighting.
Even the best LED light bulbs will lightly warm up because of the internal components that create the light. The base of the LED bulb acts as a heat sink and allows the surface of the bulb to maintain a safe temperature. However, if these components are not adequately ventilated, it will produce more heat output.
It is an industry standard that cool white LEDs are brighter than warm white.
Look at the colors of your walls, floor, ceiling and furnishings. If your home mostly consists of cool colors like blacks, greys, blues, greens, and crisp whites, a cool LED color temperature such as 3000K or 3500K might be the best choice for complementing your decor.
LED light bulbs for general use around the home will typically have a wattage between 5W-15W, and will emit between 300-500 lumens. Some outdoor floodlights emit in excess of 20,000lm.
So, a 30 watts LED if compared to a 30 watts incandescent bulb will give you far more light or brightness, in fact, a 60-watt LED may just blind you with its light. Hence, we use lumens as an indicator of brightness in LEDs.
Wattage is still important, but the rise of LEDs with their drastically lower power consumption, it's becoming a less important factor. Now it's more significant to have the right amount of light, making the number of Lumens a better gauge of what to buy.
For most applications,LED bulbs with lumen ratings of between 800 and 1,100 lumens are fine. A 60 watt incandescent bulb gives off 800 lumens, while a 75 watt incandescent gives off 1,100 lumens.
Does more lumens mean brighter?
Lumens measure how much light you are getting from a bulb. More lumens means it's a brighter light; fewer lumens means it's a dimmer light.
To summarize, higher wattage lights are not always brighter, since wattage is associated with energy consumption. It is possible for a low-wattage light, such as LEDs, to consume less energy, while outshining a high-wattage incandescent light.
Let's recap how to gauge how much light you need for a space. Multiply your room square footage by the footcandle requirement. For example, a 100-square foot living room, which needs 20 foot candles, will need 2,000 lumens. A 100-square foot dining room, which needs 40 foot-candles, will need 4,000 lumens.
| Area | Lumens/Sq M |
|---|---|
| Kitchen (Task) | 700-800 |
| Living Room | 400-500 |
| Hallway | 300 |
| Bedroom | 300-400 |
80 lumens is considered bright enough for most walkways — including commercial properties. For garden lights used as accent lighting, 50 lumens is generally sufficient to add safety, dimension, color and interest in your yard.
From getting ready for the day to easing your way into the night for some rest, the bathroom should be well-lit with no dull lighting. A level between 4,000 and 8,000 lumens is ideal.
For example, if you wanted to replace a 60-watt incandescent bulb, what wattage LED bulb would be roughly equivalent? Using the 7:1 ratio, simply divide 60 watts by 7 to get roughly 9 watts.
LEDs are designed to use less energy and naturally have a lower watt rating. This means it's useless to use watts to determine brightness. To fix the problem, bulb companies have started using lumens to rate bulbs. This gives you a more accurate indication of how much light to expect from an LED.
Using a light bulb with too high of wattage can lead to overheating of the light bulb. This heat can melt the light socket as well as the insulation of the wires. Once that happens, you put yourself at risk of arc faults, and this is something that could even lead to property fires.
However, daylight LED offers an instantaneous warm glow just like the natural light of the sun. It has full spectrum LEDs which emit bluish-white color.
What is the happiest LED color?
Cool white light also helps with energy levels and can be used to boost your mood. It can also help to boost your mood and make you feel more alert. If you want to relax then white light is not the best choice, it's better to go for a red or yellow light instead.
Currently, white light is most often achieved with LEDs using phosphor conversion, but color-mixed systems that use a combination of colored LEDs (typically red, green, and blue [RGB]) are also available.
Choose a bulb with a color temperature of 2700K or lower, preferably 2400K. These bulbs are usually labelled "warm white" but confirming the exact color temperature can be preferable.
Blue light is a particularly beneficial part of the light spectrum, helping us regulate our biological clock so we know when to sleep and when to wake up. Blue light therapy can also assist with SAD, a type of depression resulting from lack of daylight, and can even be effective as an antidepressant.
The best night light colors for sleep are red and amber, as they are warm and soothing colors that promote a good night's sleep. It's thought that colors close to red on the light spectrum stimulate melatonin production. Red light has a lower color temperature than regular sunlight, making it ideal for sleep.
Research studies discovered red to be the best color light to help you sleep, because it increases production of melatonin as well as full darkness. On the other end of the spectrum, blue is the worst.
Amber light. This light is an appropriate calming light color for better sleep. Amber light helps us feel calmer and promotes the secretion of melatonin. It may also be related to an improved overall mood and mental health.
Blue light therapy is the most effective for anxiety and other mood disorders. This treatment aims to correct both physiological and psychological imbalances. When the body is stressed, blue light can effectively calm it. Blue light has the most energy of any color in the electromagnetic spectrum.
Technically speaking, yes, you can leave LED lights on 24/7.
This is because, unlike traditional bulb types, LED bulbs give off very little heat during operation.
Unlike incandescent light bulbs, LEDs don't produce light using heat. This is part of what makes them so energy efficient. The downside is that their components can be sensitive to overheating, which can cause them to burn out prematurely.
Do LED lights attract spiders?
Usually, LED strip lights and LED lighted mirrors may run cooler than other lighting options. But it emits bright light and attracts spiders and bugs easily. Spiders usually need warmth, food, and shelter to survive. LED lights offer these elements perfectly and become a home for them.
Avoid Small, Enclosed Spaces: If your lights are concealed in a small space, the chances are that area will become hotter much quicker than if the lights were out in the open. Prevent hot lights by always making sure your light sources have some space to breathe.
You probably know that LED bulbs run a lot cooler than their incandescent cousins, but that doesn't mean they don't produce heat. LED bulbs do get hot, but the heat is pulled away by a heat sink in the base of the bulb.
LED bulbs are sure to reduce the amount of heat they produce but that isn't to say that no heat is produced. Keeping an LED bulb in an enclosed fixture means it will shorten the lifespan of the bulb. But there are bulbs designed specifically for enclosed fixtures that are meant to combat this and slow the process down.
| Product | Lumen | Power |
|---|---|---|
| Philips 27W Cool Day White Round B22 LED Bulb, 929002030613 | 3000 lm | 27 W |
| Philips Stellar Bright 20W Cool Day Standard B22 LED Bulb, 929001256814 | 2000 lm | 20 W |
| Philips Ace Saver 2.5W Warm White B22 LED Bulb | 230 lm | 2.5 W |
| Philips 2.7W Yellow Standard E14 LED Bulb, 929001141723 | 250 lm | 2.7 W |
300 watt Aries 3 E39 LED Light Bulb: This is the brightest Light bulb made. It has almost 40,000 lumens with a high efficiency of 138 lumen/watt. It also provides 360 degree lighting and is ideal for replacement of 1000 watt HID/HPS/Metal halide or CFL fixtures.
If they have the same lumen count, they will be equally bright. However, you may perceive the daylight bulb as brighter of the two because it lies in the cooler temperature range of blue. Colour temperatures are measured in Kelvin on a scale of 1,000 – 10,000.
As a general guide, lower kelvin bulbs give you warm white colour, while medium K bulbs deliver neutral whites, and higher K bulbs are close to daylight quality. For example, to replace a 60-watt filament bulb, you could select an LED with a lumen rating of 800, kelvin of 3000 and 8-12 watts.
| Light Output | LEDs | Incandescents |
|---|---|---|
| 750-900 | 6-8 | 60 |
| 1100-1300 | 9-13 | 75-100 |
| 1600-1800 | 16-20 | 100 |
| 2600-2800 | 25-28 | 150 |
The answer: generally, yes, it is safe as long as the actual wattage of the LED bulb is within the limits of the socket or fixture.
What is the best LED color for a room?
Pure red and amber light bulbs are best as they help to create a relaxed and ambient environment that is conducive to sleep. Warm colors like red and amber are similar in color temperature to the light emitted from the sun when it is setting.
You should go for LED light bulbs having a colour temperature of 2700 to 3000K. That's because these are just ideal for creating a cozy, relaxing ambience, which can make all the difference when you are looking to wind down after a hectic day.
Choosing the suitable efficiency and wattage
Typically, LED bulbs are six times as efficient as incandescent bulbs; where an incandescent bulb produces around 15lm/watt, a LED bulb produces around 75-100lm/watt. So to match a 60W bulb, you will need a 10W LED Bulb, and so on.
Excess voltage wears out LED drivers and distribution panels prematurely. It also increases service interruptions to the LED lighting. LEDs are also high-powered. The more voltage you increase, they will create excess heat, which is not favorable.
A standard 40W bulb is equal to 400+ lumens, which represents the brightness of a bulb. Typically, the higher the wattage, the higher the lumens, and the greater output of light.
Putting a 100-watt bulb in a 60-watt fixture could cause intense heat, melting the light socket and the insulation on the fixture's wires. Any time you have that kind of damage on wires, you're at a big risk for arc faults, where an electrical current falls off its intended path— a leading cause of home fires.
Many fixtures contain a warning not to use anything higher than a 60-watt bulb because the fixture can't take the heat higher wattage bulbs generate, and it would therefore be a safety hazard.
Let's recap how to gauge how much light you need for a space. Multiply your room square footage by the footcandle requirement. For example, a 100-square foot living room, which needs 20 foot candles, will need 2,000 lumens. A 100-square foot dining room, which needs 40 foot-candles, will need 4,000 lumens.