How bright is 1600 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.
1600 lumens means the light has the intensity of 1600 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 1600 lumens has the brightness of 1600 candles.
1600 Lumens is a very good level of light for LED, CFL or incandescent lighting. It’s suitable for recessed lighting, downlighting, up lighting and within pendants.
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The brightness of a flashlight is rated in lumens. A standard flashlight will have around 50 to 100 lumens.
For general use, a torch with 400-600 lumens should be bright enough but if you are looking for a flashlight for tactical use then 1600+ lumens is ideal and still small enough to easily carry. However, this is classed as a ‘turbo’ setting for some models and the battery life will be shorter than other settings.
The brightness of a 1600 lumen torch (UK for flashlight) is the power of light of 1600 candles. This level is regarded as a very bright level of torch suitable for most outdoor tasks. The throw of light can be up over 250m distance.
The brightness of a 1600 lumen bike light is far reaching and bright enough to see approximately 50m ahead when cycling, with a wide spread for excellent all round vision.
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 which emits 1600 lumens then it can illuminate that area to roughly 160 lux (depending on the reflectivity of surfaces in the room).
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 creates a brighter intensity on a surface than 1600 lumens from other technologies.
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, using the same amount of light.
For an average sized room in your home, a 1600 lumen LED is a good choice to be the main ceiling light. It will provide enough brightness for general activities such as reading, working on a computer or watching TV. However, although 1600 lumens may be alot 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.
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1600 lumens are bright for a single source of light but not necessarily for a room. The amount of light you need depends on the size of the room and the activities you’ll be doing in it.
A general rule of thumb for enough light to see and do basic tasks is 400 lumens for small rooms, 800 lumens for medium-sized rooms, and over 1500 lumens for large rooms. In reality, the total lumens for a room with good lighting design are added to from multiple light sources and are not dependent on a single bright light source.
For example, a 1600lm total would be sufficient for a bedroom with an 800 lumen LED bulb in a ceiling light together with 2 x 400 lumen LED bulbs in table lights on each side of the bed.
We have more on How Much Lighting Do I Need for A Room?
Growing plants under artificial light is a specialism that requires specific lumen levels according to how large the room is, how plants are growing and how far away the light source is from the plants.
Guided by 300 to 800 lumens per square foot within a room to grow plants well, 1600 lumens would be enough for a single plant but be aware of potential losses of light level.
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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, a flashlight with 1600 lumens with a tight beam angle has a peak illumination of 96,000 candela delivering light up to around 620 metres at no less than 0.25 lux. (using throw = SQRT (candela * 4)
A 1600 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 light weight size.
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When you look for a camping lantern the brightness of 1600 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. A good output for use inside a large tent.
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An 1600 lumen security light is bright and will easily illuminate the spaces surrounding your property. It’s a good option for lighting up where you need it most, with additional features such as PIR motion sensors available to choose from depending on how much control or automation you require. It is however amongst the lower brightness levels for an LED security floodlight.
A 1600 lumen LED bulb is typically 14W and equivalent to over a traditional 100 watt incandescent light bulb.
The brightness of a 1600 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.
Comparing soft white vs daylight LED light color, 1600 lumens of daylight will feel brighter than the equivalent in soft white.
1600 lumen smart bulbs are available and offer this level of output at their maximum setting.
As well as the brightness, you’ll be able to take advantage of the other features that a smart bulb offers such as remote control, scheduling and color-changing if that’s something that would be useful for you.
An LED strip light with 1600 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 and mostly in the cooler whites of 4000K or 6500K.
LED strip lights are a versatile lighting solution which can be used for a variety of purposes such as under cabinet lighting, in coves, to highlight features or simply to add some extra light into a room
A 1600 lumen LED downlight is too bright for most residential applications and is regarded as a very bright lumen output for a recessed light, providing an intense beam of light.
This level of It’s a great way to get more light in your room without the hassle of having many individual sources dotted around however, the brighter the source the more potential glare will be created so be sure to choose a recessed light that has designed in some glare protection.
Although wattages are often used when describing how bright a bulb is, lumens are a better measurement. When comparing 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.
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.
A 1600 lumen LED is approximately equal to a 100-watt incandescent light bulb or 19 watts per metre for an LED strip.
Useful comparative measurements often asked:
Lux can only be measured by knowing the distance and the area the lumens have to travel to.
1600 lumens is 1600 candles.
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 1600 lm would be less than 1600 candela with the candela only quantified if the angle of beam width is known.
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