Wattage and Brightness

Wattage is often confused with brightness. With traditional lightbulbs, we relied on wattage to indicate brightness. However, with LEDs, wattage does not measure brightness, but it does measure power consumption. LED bulbs emit the same amount of light as traditional light bulbs but at a lower wattage. When selecting LED bulbs, look at light output, which is measured in lumens – it’s indicated on the packaging. For your convenience, the equivalent wattage of traditional bulbs is also shown, because many consumers are still familiar with this – but you need to disregard it in terms of the brightness of the product. As a guideline, a 35W conventional will have an output of 280-300lm and a 50W will be 380-400lm.

Please see chart below for a basic guide fo choosing the right LED bulb to replace your existing bulb type.