Purchase LED lighting
What do i need to look for when purchasing LED lights?
Watts
Normally we speak by incandescent bulbs about the amount of watts. Because of this watts is seen as an indication of this emitted light, but the light emitted (light output) is actually shown in lumens.
Lumen
The lumen (lm) is a measured by the total amount of emitted light into a lightbeam. For example a 25 watt bulb gives a lightbeam of 200 lm, for the same number of lumens you only need 4 watts from a LED-light. Here's an overview:
Powerusage: |
Light output: |
Incandescent bulb |
LED-light |
|
15 W |
2 W |
100 lm |
25 W |
4 W |
200 lm |
40 W |
8 W |
400 lm |
60 W |
12 W |
700 lm |
75 W |
16 W |
900 lm |
100 W |
23 W |
1300 lm |
(The chart above is based on averages, the actual data may be different depending on the type of LED-light and the manufacturer.)
Color Temperature
The color temperature of a lamp thats emits a lightbeam is indicated in Kelvin (K). An ordinary light bulb emits about 2700K. When purchasing LED-lights watch for the right color temperature, and where you want to use the lamp for.
- For extra warm white <2700K is the right choice.
- 3000-3200K is for warm white the right choice.
- For neutral white 5000K is the right choice.
- For coolwit > 8000K is the right choice.
Fitting
If you want to replace a lamp check what kind of fitting you need. The most common fittings are:
- E27 screw fitting
- E14 screw fitting
- GU10 fitting (220V)
- GU5.3 fitting (12V)
Dimmability
Note that the LED bulb is suitable for 220 ~ 230 volts. There are also 12-volt LED lights that are working with a transformer, but you should watch if a transformer is working properly because some transformers only work (boot) with a minimal consumption of ± 20 watts. Most LED lights don't meet the minimum consumption of 20 watts, therefor a 12-volt LED transformer is needed.
Radiation Angle
The size of the angle at which the light from an LED bulb radiates is expressed in degrees. With a smaller angle, the radiation intensity is greater (more focused, for example in case of reading) because the amount of light does not change. So when purchasing LED-lights watch for the radiation angle!
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