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How bright is 300 lumens? A common question for those who are considering buying lighting for their home or choosing a flashlight. We give you real life applications and comparisons to help you understand what levels of brightness certain quantities of lumens will deliver.
When you are looking for how bright a certain light bulb will be, whether it is LED, CFL or incandescent – the number of lumens is what you need to use as your comparison.
Table of Contents
A Lumen is a measure of the total amount of light emitted from a source. 300 lumens means the light has the intensity of 300 lumens.
Lumens is the unit measurement of brightness, with 1 lumen equalling the brightness of 1 candle. So 300 lumens has the brightness of 300 candles.
300 Lumens is a relatively low level of light for LED, CFL or incandescent lighting. It’s suitable for reading and accent lighting and in the region of lower output poorer quality GU10 LED lamps. For more practical uses you would want to go up to around 400-500 lumens to be more effective.
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The brightness of a 200 lumen flashlight will provide a far reaching beam of light as all the illumination is focused and directed forwards and efficiently by it’s design. If the beam width can be adjusted then the wider the beam the less intense the light will be and feel less bright. The tighter the concentration of light from a narrower beam, the same amount will feel brighter and travel further.
Most tactical torches are in the range of 100 to 1000+ lumens nowadays with 200 being one of the most popularly requested models
The brightness of a 300 lumen torch (UK for flashlight) is the power of light of 300 candles. A typical 300 lumen torch is regarded as a bright level of torch suitable for hunting, sailing, hiking and tactical tasks. The throw of light can be up to a 50m distance.
The brightness of a 300 lumen bike light is a super bright level of cycle headlight. You will always see where you are going with that amount of light concentrated through it’s focused beam angle.
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 300 lumens then it can illuminate that area to roughly 30 lux (depending on the reflectivity of surfaces in the room).
LED light is directed very efficiently especially compared to other lighting sources. This amount of light is therefore distributed with little wastage and creates a brighter intensity on a surface than 300 lumens from other sources.
LED light when a cool white color temperatures of 4000K to 6500K will feel brighter with the same amount of light when compared to the warmer yellowish tones of warm white.
For reading purposes a light of around 300 lumens will be enough to read by especially if an LED source. However this will depend on how far away the light source is from the book. Close up sources at 300 lumens could be too bright for more sensitive eyes. If this amount were originating from within a shade of a table light then the light lost when coming through the fabric may reduce it too much to read by.
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 300 lumens with a tight beam angle has a peak illumination of 18,000 candela delivering light up to around 268 metres at no less than 0.25 lux. (using throw = SQRT (candela * 4)
Solar lights that emit around 300 lumens are good enough to light your garden path or driveway up well at night, but not bright enough alone if you want to illuminate large spaces like gardens with trees and shrubs.
A 300 lumen head torch is excellent for outdoor activities such as camping and hiking, even DIY projects. With a penetrating throw of light it will suit most applications.
When you look for a camping lantern the brightness of 300 lumens is one to bear in mind as it will be bright enough for close up tasks and comfortable on the eyes, with much higher outputs becoming blinding when positioned near to you.
An energy efficient 300 lumen LED bulb is a gentle low level of light, not quite replacing a 40W incandescent light. Suitable for candle shaped LED bulbs in chandeliers and wall lights.
An 300 lumen LED strip is around a 5W/m 60 LED strip on a reel of 5 metres. Suitable for accent lighting and close up task lighting from under kitchen cabinets.
When considering how bright a light is in watts you need to consider the type of bulb or light source.
Commonly asked comparative measurements:
Lux can only be measured by knowing the distance and the area the lumens have to travel to.
300 lumens is 300 candles.
A degree of kelvin is the unit of measurement for color temperature, therefore there is no direct comparison with kelvin to 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 300 lumens would be less than 300 candela with the candela only quantified if the angle of beam width is known.
Lumens are additive, meaning they can be added together to get a total output of light.
For example; 2 x 300 lumen lights = 600 lumens
Comparisons between other lumen levels are therefore possible but there are more variables to consider, such as the angle or beam width and colour temperature can alter the perceived brightness of a light source.
The deciding criteria between brightness levels depends on their application and the desired results.
The primary difference between 300 lumens and 500 lumens is of course the brightness intensity, with 500 lumens being 66% brighter than 300 lumens.
In recessed ceiling lights, 300 lumens is a weaker less effective light compared to the more common GU10 bulb of 500 lumens. Choose 300 lumens bulbs in decorative chandeliers and feature lights that expose the bulb, where 500 lumens would create too much glare.
When considering a camping lantern, 500 lumens would be more suitable than 300 lumens as it will provide a brighter light for those activities that require good lighting and visibility. For example cooking or cleaning up later in the evening. A 300 lumen lantern is good for bedside lighting but not for a general area.
The primary difference between 300 lumens and 800 lumens is the brightness intensity output, with 800 lumens being 166% brighter than 300 lumens.
In recessed ceiling lights, a 300 lumen bulb is not bright enough for general lighting purposes whilst 800 lumens can be used as task lighting in ceiling lights for bathrooms and kitchen areas.
In a flashlight, 800 lumens is much brighter than 300 lumens and would provide a brighter illumination particularly when used with a wider beam.
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