How bright is 1 lumen? Just what is that level of light good for? We give you real-life applications and comparisons to help you understand what levels of brightness certain quantities of lumen will deliver.
Table of Contents
A Lumen is a measure of the total amount of light emitted from a source.
1 lumen means the light has an intensity of 1 lumen of light.
When you are looking for how bright a certain light bulb or lighting product is, the number of lumens is what you need to use as your comparison.
Lumens is the unit measurement of brightness, with 1 lumen equalling the brightness of 1 candle, so 1 lumen has the brightness of 1 candle.
As 1 Lumen is a very low level of light it’s suitable for only the softest of lights, such as very gentle night lights and LED tea light candle replicas.
1 Lumen is also the approximate brightness of a cell phone screen on full power in a dark room.
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Low Lumen Output |
Some flashlights offer an ultra-low mode known as a moonlight mode, which is usually set at around 0.5 lumens. By comparison 1 lumen would be twice that and useful for close up work like reading a map or checking gear in a tent without fully waking yourself up at night.
To compare how much light you get with different lumen levels, imagine a one-by-one meter room. If the room has an incandescent bulb that emits 1 lumen then it can illuminate that area to roughly 0.01 lux (depending on the reflectivity of surfaces in the room).
1 lumen will produce a beam of light about the size of a quarter from a distance of three feet.
As 1 lumen LED products are predominantly decorative candles, they replicate the extremely warm white of fire at around 1000K and do not feel bright.
LED light with a cooler white color temperature that increases above candlelight to around 4000K to 6100K, will feel brighter when compared to the warmer yellowish tones of candles although using the same amount of light.
The following are examples of 1 lumen brightness in various products.
The LED tea light is a very low energy battery operated single candle replica, providing decoration in the home and intimate lighting for dining and bathing.
These are low-level lights, and 1 lumen will give the same level of brightness as an actual tea light candle.
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The brightness of a flameless flickering candle recreates the 1 lumen level of a real candle.
These battery operated faux candles offer a candle light experience safely, with no risk of fire or dripping wax, and can be controlled remotely and timed to turn off automatically.
The brightness of the light inside a Halloween pumpkin is also 1 lumen.
A single battery operated LED inside a carved out pumpkin gives a spooky, safe light for Trick or Treaters.
1 lumen is a typical level of brightness for a light to guide you at light, low enough not to disturb sleep but bright enough to prevent you from stubbing your toe in the dark!
1 lumen to watts is a 0.01W LED light source.
To convert 1 lumen to watts you need to consider the type of light source being used as the greater the efficiency the higher the lumen level created per watt of power used.
Although wattages are often used when describing how bright a bulb is, lumens are now a better measurement and the only one to truly quantify brightness.
For example, an incandescent light bulb will emit around 11 lumen per watt while LED gives approximately 100 lumens per watt.
Useful comparative measurements often asked:
Lux can only be measured by knowing the distance and the area the lumen have to travel to.
1 lumen is 1 candlepower.
The degree of kelvin is the unit of measurement for color temperature, therefore there is no direct comparison between kelvin to the lumen. However, an impression of brightness will increase with a high degree of kelvin as the light seems colder and brighter to the viewer.
Lumens and Candela. Lumens are the total amount of light from a fixture. Candela is how much of that light from a fixture shines in one direction. So 1 lm would be less than 1 candela with the candela only quantified if the angle of beam width is known.
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