Lumens/watt (or how much lighting does a room need)

[BillyMac]

Is there a resource anywhere that will tell me the amount of light I get out of any type of bulb.

I'm told LED lights generate about 20 lumens/watt, and incandescent about 12 L/W, but not sure if that applies to all bulb types. Halogens in particular convert a lot of the input power to heat, and fluorescents very little.

Or, to ask the question the other way .... In assessing how much lighting you need in a room, how do you do it, since apparently the total wattage is a pretty useless indication.

TIA
Billy

 

[ban-all-sheds]

All about lamps:

http://members.misty.com/don/light.html

http://members.misty.com/don/bulb1.html

For more practical design advice, you could try the Philips Lighting Forum:

http://forums.lighting.philips.com/index.php

 

[kendor]

Is there a resource anywhere that will tell me the amount of light I get out of any type of bulb.

I'm told LED lights generate about 20 lumens/watt, and incandescent about 12 L/W, but not sure if that applies to all bulb types. Halogens in particular convert a lot of the input power to heat, and fluorescents very little.

Or, to ask the question the other way .... In assessing how much lighting you need in a room, how do you do it, since apparently the total wattage is a pretty useless indication.
TIA
Billy

Many more factors like distance (inverse square law) come into play, if you are using the light for photography video, then a program called LD Calculator (freebie) may be useful, for general household lighting look on manufacturers websites for Application Data

 

[ban-all-sheds]

See also the various items in the Lighting section here http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/index.html