Light bulb equivalent converter
Find the LED, CFL or halogen bulb that replaces an old incandescent one, or turn lumens into “watt equivalents”.
That's about the same as a room light. Swapping that incandescent for an LED saves about 16.8 a year.
What it means
How bright is that?
LED and CFL efficacies vary by model (LEDs from 80 to over 150 lm/W); check the lumens on the box. The saving assumes 3 hours a day at 0.30 per kWh.
Every unit
That light from every kind of bulb
Learn
Three things worth knowing
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Divide by 7
An LED needs about a seventh of an incandescent’s watts: 60 W → 8–9 W, 100 W → 14–16 W.
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The Lighting Facts label
Since 2011 US bulb boxes must show lumens first; the EU did the same with its 2009 ban on most incandescent bulbs.
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More watts, more light?
A 15 W LED is brighter than a 60 W incandescent. Compare lumens, not watts.
Shortcuts
Popular light conversions
Background
About lumens and watts
Watts measure the power a bulb uses, lumens the light it gives. With incandescent bulbs the two went together, so people learned to shop by watts. A 60 W bulb gives about 800 lumens; an LED gives the same light with about 9 W.
Shop by lumens: 450 for a reading lamp, 800 for a room light, 1,600 for a bright kitchen.