How bright is 800 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.
800 lumens means the light has the intensity of 800 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 equalling the brightness of 1 candle, so 800 lumens has the brightness of 800 candles.
800 Lumens is a 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 an 800 lumen flashlight is very good in it’s class and will provide a far reaching beam of light as all the illumination is focused and directed forwards and efficiently by it’s design. The wider the beam of a flashlight the less intense the light will be and therefore feel less bright. The narrower the beam the more concentrated the light will be.
The brightness of an 800 lumen torch (UK for flashlight) is the power of light of 800 candles. This level is regarded as a very bright level of torch suitable for most outdoor tasks. The throw of light can be up to a 200m distance.
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The brightness of a 800 lumen bike light is a a very 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. It will need a decent sized rechargeable battery.
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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 800 lumens then it can illuminate that area to roughly 80 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 ,inimal wastage and creates a brighter intensity on a surface than 800 lumens from other technologies.
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 an average sized room in your home, anything up to around 800 lumens is not going to feel overly bright. If you are looking for a brighter light then it will be necessary to consider more than one bulb or lamp which would give the equivalent of 800 lumens brightness.
For reading purposes a light of around 800 lumens directly onto a page would be too bright. However this will depend on how far away the light source is from the book. If in an adjacent table light or localised wall light, then this level would be acceptable for reading without glare.
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A 800 lumen head lamp is very bright for outdoor activities such as camping and hiking, with a penetrating throw of light it will suit most applications and be a real asset.
When you look for a camping lantern the brightness of 800 lumens is effective and in the region of most good output lanterns. This level achieves the balance of enough light to illuminate your surroundings without too much glare which can be common from the high lumen lanterns.
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An 800 lumen security light is bright and will easily illuminate the areas around your home. It’s a good option for lighting up where you need it most, with additional features such as motion sensors available to choose from depending on how much control or automation you require. It’s amongst the lowest light outputs for an LED security floodlight.
The brightness of an 800 lumen LED bulb is very bright and suitable for most home lighting applications. This level is one of the brightest outputs you can get from a non-specialist LED light source which will emit enough illumination to replace traditional halogen bulbs providing more efficient savings on energy costs
An 800 lumen LED strip is around a 10W/m 60 LED strip on a reel of 5 metres. Suitable for accent lighting and close up task lighting from under kitchen cabinets.
An 800 lumen LED downlight is bright enough for most home or office lighting applications and regarded as a very good recessed light output, providing an intense beam of light. It’s a great way to get more light in your room without the hassle of having many individual sources dotted around or using halogen down lights which are energy hungry and have short lives.
When considering how many lumens is a bulb, the comparison of 800 lumens to watts must consider the type of bulb or light source.
As Watts is the measurement of power used, the more efficient the source of light the less power will be used, with a lower the wattage required to create the same amount of light. For example;
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 800 lumens with a tight beam angle has a peak illumination of 48,000 candela delivering light up to around 438 metres at no less than 0.25 lux. (using throw = SQRT (candela * 4)
Useful comparative measurements often asked:
Lux can only be measured by knowing the distance and the area the lumens have to travel to.
800 lumens is 800 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 800 lm would be less than 800 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 400 lumen lights = 800 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.
An 800 lumen light source is around 70% of the brightness of a 1100 lumen one. 800 lumens are better than 1100 lumens in rooms where a softer or more ambient lighting effect is desired, whereas 1100 lumens is more appropriate for overhead lighting or task lighting, such as reading.
800 lumens is twice as bright as 400 lumens, which is a common output for LED strip lighting and torches. It’s the equivalent of two 400 lumen lights combined.
Use 800 lumens from a single source like a table lamp in larger rooms like a living room or office space, and 400 lumens for more comfortable on the eyes accent lighting or close up LED reading lights.
800 lumens is half the brightness of 1600 lumens and a common output for LED downlights. It’s the equivalent of two 800 lumen lights combined. A 1600 lumen light source is better for ceiling lights and outdoor flood lights, with 800 lumens more acceptable in table lamps, floor lights and recessed ceiling lights.
The primary difference between 800 lumens and 1000 lumens is the brightness intensity, with 1000lm being 25% brighter than 800lm. 1000 lumens is too bright for close up light sources, like a table lamp and more appropriate for overhead lighting or bright task lighting. 800 lumens is better suited to ambient lighting, recessed ceiling lights and wall washers.
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