How Many Lumens is a 60-Watt Bulb?
While Watts determines the electrical power of the bulb, the lumens determine how actually bright the bulb is.
60-Watt incandescent bulbs are very popular light bulbs, or at least they were - they are being replaced with more energy-efficient light sources, mostly highly efficient LED light bulbs. But, how many lumens have an ordinary 60-Watt incandescent bulb,s and what is the wattage of the equivalent LED bulb...
Published: October 4, 2022.
Luminous Flux (Lumens) vs. Wattage
The following comparison chart lists typical luminous flux (lumens) for various light sources and their electric power consumption (given in Watts):
| Lumens | Incandescent (Tungsten) |
Halogen Incandescent |
Fluorescent | LED |
| 90 | 15 | 6 | 2-3 | 1-2 |
| 200 | 25 | 3-5 | 3-4 | |
| 450 | 40 | 29 | 9-11 | 5-8 |
| 800 | 60 | 13-15 | 8-12 | |
| 1100 | 75 | 53 | 18-20 | 10-16 |
| 1600 | 100 | 72 | 24-28 | 14-17 |
| 2400 | 150 | 30-52 | 24-30 | |
| 3100 | 200 | 49-75 | 30-36 | |
| 4000 | 300 | 75-100 | 40-45 |
As one can see, an average 60-Watt incandescent light bulb provides about 800 lumens of light.
On the other hand, an equivalent LED bulb consumes 8-12 Watts with a typical power consumption of ~10 Watts - that means that the LED light is, on average, 6x more energy efficient than incandescent lights, leading to significant energy savings.
And energy savings means money savings, right?
Energy and Money Savings
For example, if the 60-Watt incandescent bulb operates 8 hours per day, 30 days per month, then:
E = 60W * 8h * 30 days = 14400 Wh / month = 14.4 kWh / month
With the average price of 0.15 $US per kWh of energy, that means that a 60W bulb running 8 hours per day, every day during the month, spends energy worth 2.16 $US.
Obviously, this is not much, but to light up a single mid-size room, one needs several of these light bulbs.
If such 60 Watt incandescent light bulb is replaced by 10W 800 lumens LED light bulb, then:
E = 10W * 8h * 30 days = 2400 Wh / month = 2.4 kWh / month
and with an average price of 0.15 $US per kWh of electric energy, the cost of running such LED light is 0.36 $US.
So, if we replace a 60W 800 lumens incandescent light bulb with a 10W 800 lumens LED light bulb, we may save ~1.8 $US per month.
Since single 60W 800 lumens LED light bulb costs slightly more than a dollar, such an LED light bulb pays for itself after less than a month.
Note: when looking for LED lights, be sure to get the color/temperature that best suit your needs. For example, 2700K LED lights may appear too yellow, while 4500K LED lights may appear too white/bright. LED lights with a temperature of around 3000-3500K are the best choice for indoor use for most people; but again, we are all individuals...
However, if You are still using incandescent bulbs at home, consider switching to LED lights - they are very energy efficient, and even with moderate use, they pay for themselves in under the month...
