{"id":114721,"date":"2026-07-21T22:21:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/teadmiskeskus\/lumens-and-watts\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T22:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:21:46","slug":"lumens-and-watts","status":"publish","type":"teadmiskeskus","link":"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/en\/teadmiskeskus\/lumens-and-watts\/","title":{"rendered":"Lumens and watts: how much light do you need?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lumens (lm) and watts (W) measure two different things: <strong>lumens measure the amount of light, watts measure energy use<\/strong>. In the LED era you can no longer judge brightness by watts \u2014 look at lumens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The difference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Lumen (lm)<\/strong> \u2014 the higher the number, the brighter the light.<\/li><li><strong>Watt (W)<\/strong> \u2014 the lower the number, the less electricity the lamp draws.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brightness used to be linked to watts because incandescent lamps were all about equally efficient. LED produces the same light at a fraction of the power, so watts say nothing about brightness any more. Rough conversion: <strong>old lamp watts \u00d7 10 \u2248 lumens<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Old lamp<\/th><th>~Lumens<\/th><th>LED power<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>40 W<\/td><td>~470 lm<\/td><td>5\u20136 W<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>60 W<\/td><td>~800 lm<\/td><td>7\u20139 W<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>75 W<\/td><td>~1100 lm<\/td><td>10\u201312 W<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>100 W<\/td><td>~1600 lm<\/td><td>13\u201316 W<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many lumens does a room need?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The formula is simple: <strong>lumens needed = floor area (m\u00b2) \u00d7 recommended lm\/m\u00b2<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Room<\/th><th>Recommended level<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Bedroom<\/td><td>150\u2013200 lm\/m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Living room<\/td><td>200\u2013300 lm\/m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Kitchen, ambient<\/td><td>250\u2013350 lm\/m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Kitchen worktop<\/td><td>500+ lm\/m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bathroom<\/td><td>300\u2013500 lm\/m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Home office, desk<\/td><td>300\u2013500 lm\/m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Hallway, utility room<\/td><td>100\u2013150 lm\/m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Example:<\/strong> a 20 m\u00b2 living room \u00d7 250 lm\/m\u00b2 = ~5000 lumens. Spread that across several fittings (ambient plus task light) rather than one lamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What else to consider<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Dark surfaces absorb light \u2014 add 20\u201330 %.<\/li><li>High ceilings need more output.<\/li><li>Colour temperature does not affect brightness: <a href=\"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/en\/teadmiskeskus\/how-to-choose-colour-temperature\/\">how to choose it<\/a>.<\/li><li>Light is best distributed in layers: <a href=\"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/en\/teadmiskeskus\/lighting-layout\/\">lighting layout<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related products<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"tdk-products wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/pood\/sisevalgustid\/laevalgustid\/suvistatavad-laevalgustid\/regular-round\/laevalgusti-gu10-11\/\">Ceiling light GU10<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/pood\/ribad\/ribad-led\/soft\/led-riba-soft-24vdc-9-6w-m\/\">LED strip SOFT, 24VDC, 9.6W\/m<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list \">\n<div id=\"faq-lw-en-1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">What is the difference between lumens and watts?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Lumens measure the amount of light; watts measure energy consumption.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-lw-en-2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">How many lumens per square metre do I need?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>It depends on the room: 150\u2013250 for bedrooms and living rooms, 300\u2013500 for kitchens and bathrooms.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-lw-en-3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">How do I calculate the lumens I need?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Multiply the floor area in m\u00b2 by the recommended lm\/m\u00b2 for that room.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-lw-en-4\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">How many lumens does an old 60 W bulb give?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Roughly 700\u2013800 lumens.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-lw-en-5\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">How do I convert watts to lumens?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>As a rough rule, multiply the old incandescent wattage by ten.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lumens (lm) and watts (W) measure two different things: lumens measure the amount of light, watts measure energy use. In the LED era you can no longer judge brightness by&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"teadmiskeskus_kategooria":[12181],"class_list":["post-114721","teadmiskeskus","type-teadmiskeskus","status-publish","hentry","teadmiskeskus_kategooria-lighting-basics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/teadmiskeskus\/114721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/teadmiskeskus"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/teadmiskeskus"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"teadmiskeskus_kategooria","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ledekspert.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/teadmiskeskus_kategooria?post=114721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}