How bright is 1300 lumens? 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 lumens will deliver.
Table of Contents
A Lumen is a measure of the total amount of light emitted from a source.
1300 lumens means the light has an intensity of 1300 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 1300 lumens have the brightness of 1300 candles.
1300 Lumens is a good level of light for LED, CFL or incandescent lighting. It’s suitable for recessed lighting, downlighting, uplighting, and pendants but a little too bright for table lamps.
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For general use, a flashlight with 400-600 lumens should be bright enough but if you are looking for a flashlight for tactical use then 1300 lumens is very bright but still lightweight to easily carry and store.
The brightness of a 1300 lumen torch (UK for flashlight) is the power of light of 1300 candles. This level is regarded as a very bright level of torch suitable for most outdoor tasks. The throw of light can be over a 250 m distance.
1300 lumens from an LED bulb is bright enough to light a small room.
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 1300 lumens then it can illuminate that area to roughly 130 lux (depending on the reflectivity of surfaces in the room).
LED light with a cool white color temperature of 4000K to 6500K will feel brighter when compared to the warmer yellowish tones of warm white 3000K or soft white 2700K, using the same amount of light.
LED light is directional and very efficiently delivers light compared to most other light sources. This amount of light is distributed with minimal wastage and therefore generally creates a brighter intensity on a surface than compared to other technologies.
For an average-sized room in your home, a 1300 lumen LED is a good choice to be the main ceiling light but not necessarily bright enough for the whole room as the size of the space and type of light source are influencing factors.
It will provide enough brightness for general activities such as reading, working on a computer, and even cleaning. However, although 1300 lumens may be a lot of light, some output will be lost in the light fixture so you may have to compensate with a higher output or find a fixture with multiple bulbs.
We have more on How Much Lighting Do I Need for A Room?
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The distance light will travel depends on how the light is being delivered, particularly the beam angle of the light and it’s intensity. The more compactly the lumens are delivered the further the distance will be.
For example, the Energizer 1300lm flashlight can throw light approximately 230m on at no less than 0.25 lux.
A 1300 lumen head torch is very bright for outdoor activities such as camping and trekking, with a penetrating throw of light it will suit most applications and be a real asset from a surprisingly small and lightweight size.
A 1300 lumen bike light is powerful and will give you a bright, clear beam to see by when riding at night or in low light conditions. You’ll find that this is one of the brightest options available and should suit most cyclists’ needs.
When you look for a camping lantern the brightness of 1300 lumens is effective, achieving the balance of enough light to illuminate your surroundings without too much glare, commonly experienced from the high lumen lanterns, especially when used outdoors in very dark surroundings.
An 1300 lumen security flood light is bright and will easily illuminate the spaces surrounding your property. It is however amongst the lower brightness levels for an LED security floodlight but still with a useful throw of light.
Outdoor solar lights with a light output at 1300 lumens or more and will provide a good level of brightness for most applications. A solar flood light with this output is perfect for lighting up an area such as a driveway, garden shed or large tree.
A 1300 lumen LED bulb is typically 14W and equivalent to over a traditional 100 watt incandescent light bulb.
The brightness of a 1300 lumen LED bulb is very bright and suitable for most home lighting applications. This level is the brightest output you can get from a non-specialist LED light source that still has the aesthetics of a standard bulb.
When comparing soft white vs daylight LED light color, 1300 lumens of daylight will feel brighter than the equivalent in soft white.
An LED strip light with 1300 lumens is around 19W/m 240 LED strip on a 5m reel. This is very bright, and you’ll find that this is one of the highest output levels available.
1300 lumens to watts is a 13W LED light bulb, approximately 120-watt incandescent light bulb or 18 watts per metre for an LED strip.
To convert 1300 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 were often used when describing how bright a bulb is, lumens are now the only accurate measurement as light source efficacies differ greatly.
For example, an incandescent light bulb will emit around 15 lumens per watt while a fluorescent lamp can reach up to 100 lumens per watt.
Useful comparative measurements often asked:
Lux can only be measured by knowing the distance and the area the lumens have to travel to.
1300 lumens is 1300 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 is the total amount of light from a fixture. Candela is how much of that light from a fixture shines in one direction. So 1300 lm would be less than 1300 candela with the candela only quantified if the angle of beam width is known.
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