How bright is 600 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.
600 lumens means the light has the intensity of 600 lumens of light.
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.
Lumens is the unit measurement of brightness, with 1 lumen (lm) equalling the brightness of 1 candle, so 600 lumens has the brightness of 600 candles.
600lm is a good level of light for LED lighting. It’s suitable for recessed lighting, downlighting, up lighting and within pendants.
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The brightness of a 600 lumen LED bulb is in the highest region of light output for GU10 LED lamps. It provides a bright light and can be used in recessed lighting for most general lighting needs around the home.
Spotlight
The brightness of a 600 lumen spotlight will depend on how the light is delivered. The spotlight using integral LED or LED bulb is the most efficient at delivering the light and therefore the brightest. It offers a high light output and can be used to illuminate specific areas both inside and outside the home.
A 600 lumen flashlight is great for close up work both indoors and outdoors, particularly suitable for outdoor walking, fishing, hunting and for keeping in your car ready for emergencies. As with all lighting, the wider the beam of a light the less intense the illumination will be and therefore feel less bright and not travel so far. The narrower the beam the more concentrated the light will be and at it’s midpoint can feel brighter.
The brightness of an 600 lumen torch (British for flashlight) is the power of light of 600 candles. This level is regarded as a medium level of output for a torch and suitable for most indoor and outdoor tasks.
The brightness of a 600 lumen bike light is a decent level of cycle headlight and suitable for cycling in lit and unlit areas. Commuting cyclists will benefit from this brightness level particularly with that amount of light concentrated through a focused beam angle. It is also a good level of light for running with or walking the dog at night.
To compare how much light you get with different lumens levels, imagine a one by one meter room. If the room has a light bulb which emits 600 lumens then it can illuminate that area to roughly 60 lux (depending on the reflectivity of surfaces in the room).
LED light is directional and very efficiently delivers light compared to other lighting sources. This amount of light is distributed with minimal wastage and creates a brighter intensity on a surface than other technologies producing the same amount of illumination.
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 600 lumens directly onto a page is probably too bright if the reading light is positioned close but it will depend on how far away the light source is from the book. Around 400 lumens is the ideal output for a bedside reading light.
For an average sized room in your home, anything up to around 600 lumens is not going to feel bright enough as a good general level of light, but rather the required output to be repeated multiple times at various heights in and varying lighting products.
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, a flashlight with 600 lumens with a tight beam angle has a peak illumination of 36,000 candela delivering light up to around 379 metres at no less than 0.25 lux. (using throw = SQRT (candela * 4)
A 600 lumen head torch is a good level of brightness for outdoor activities such as camping and hiking. This level of output provides an effective illumination balanced to be bright enough and remain efficient in power consumption for longer lasting rechargeable battery life.
A 600 lumen projector is regarded as a mini projector size or pocket projector, bright enough for most business presentations and will provide a clear image on screens or walls in well lit rooms. In dark rooms, the output may appear dimmer due to light being absorbed.
Solar lights are becoming more popular as they are a great way to light up the garden without running any electrical cables. A 600 lumens solar light is one of the brighter types available and will provide good illumination for lighting paths or features in gardens.
An 600 lumen LED downlight is a good level of light bright enough for most homes and regarded as the average recessed light output providing a good general beam of light. This level of output is recommended up to ceiling heights of 9ft high.
600 lm requires approximately 10 watts of power when using LED as the light source.
When considering the conversion of lumens to watts you need to consider the type of bulb or light source you are using. The greater the efficiency of energy spent (Watts) to create the light (lumens) the less power will be used and therefore a lower wattage as the result.
Brightness in LUMENS | 220+ lumens | 400+ lumens | 700+ lumens | 900+ lumens | 1300+ lumens |
LED | 4W | 6W | 10W | 13W | 18W |
CFL | 6W | 9W | 12W | 15W | 20W |
HALOGEN | 18W | 28W | 42W | 53W | 70W |
INCANDESENT | 25W | 40W | 60W | 75W | 100W |
Useful comparative measurements often asked:
Lux can only be measured by knowing the distance and the area the lumens have to travel to.
600 lumens is 600 candles.
600 lumens to kelvin cannot be calculated. A degree of kelvin is the unit of measurement for color temperature and not brightness. 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 600lm would be less than 600 candela with the candela only quantified if the angle of beam width is known.
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