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How bright is 12 lumens? Just what can you do with that level of light? We give you real-life applications and comparisons to help you understand what 12 lumens of brightness will deliver.
Table of Contents
A Lumen is a measure of the total amount of light emitted from a source.
12 lumens means the light has an intensity of 12 lumens 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 12 lumens have the brightness of 12 candles.
12 Lumens is a low level of light. It’s suitable for night lights and marking a change of floor level or edges of paths, decks or walls.
12 lumens is a low level of light useful for accent lighting when used in interior spaces and a useful light to gently illuminate outdoors.
To compare how much light you get with different lumens levels, imagine a one-by-one meter room. If the room has an incandescent bulb that emits 12 lumens then it can illuminate that area to roughly 0.12 lux (depending on the reflectivity of surfaces in the room).
Because LED light is directed, it doesn’t waste as much light as other 12 lumens sources, potentially making the surrounding surfaces appear brighter with LED.
When choosing between LED light colors, know that a cool white color temperature of 4000K to 6600K will appear brighter than the warmer yellowish tones of warm white 3000K or soft white 2700K.
12 lumens will therefore give the greater impression of brightness with the cooler tones of white light.
The brightness of a flashlight is rated in lumens. A standard EDC flashlight will have around 15 to 60 lumens.
For general use, a torch with 400-600 lumens should be bright enough but if you are looking for a flashlight that is powerful then it needs to be over 1200+ lumens.
We have more on How Many Lumens Are Good for a Flashlight.
A 12 lumens keychain light is a small, handy flashlight that can be easily carried with you for general tasks or emergencies. It is bright enough to light up a dark area or to find something in your bag, but not so bright that it will be blinding.
A LED penlight emits a soft light, making it ideal for work that requires close attention to detail.
12 lumens is a typical level of brightness for a night light. It’s not too bright to be disruptive at night but still emits enough light to see where you are going if you need to get up in the middle of the night.
Marker lights are used as an auxiliary light to help indicate the location of something in the dark, such as on the side of a boat or caravan.
While entertaining guests or relaxing outdoors in the evening, a decking light with 12 lumens can provide enough light to see your way around the garden.
If you’re looking for a way to light up your front entrance or backyard, 12 lumens path lights give off enough light so that you can see where you’re going without being blinded.
Low output solar lights are a great way to light up your garden without using any electricity, creating enough illumination to light up the adjacent area around the source. Good for decorative solar lanterns. .
Fence post lights are perfect for lighting your garden or driveway. They provide just enough light to see where you’re going without being too bright and help improve safety in the dark.
Overall, 12 lumens is not very bright, but it still has many uses. It is bright enough for most general tasks that are up close, but not so bright that it becomes disruptive or blinding.
12 lumens to watts is approximately a 1W LED light source.
To convert 12 lumens 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 a better measurement.
For example, an incandescent light bulb will emit around 15 lumens per watt while LED can reach 120 lumens per watt or even more.
Useful comparative measurements often asked:
Lux can only be measured by knowing the distance and the area the lumens have to travel to.
12 lumens is 12 candlepower.
The degree of Kelvin measures color temperature, so there is no direct correlation between Kelvin and lumens. However, a high degree of Kelvin will generally create the impression of brightness because the light appears colder and brighter to the viewer.
Lumens and Candela. Lumens is the total amount of light from a fixture. Candela is how much of that light from a fixture shines in one direction. So 12 lm would be less than 12 candela with the candela only quantified if the angle of beam width is known.
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