Light is a very important facet of
your interior decorating scheme. Color and light go hand in hand, so using the
correct bulb in your fixtures will make the colors in your room really shine! Depending on the
type of light – ambient, task, or accent – the bulb brightness will vary from soft and subtle to bright. The
information listed below will assist you with bulbs types. Light bulbs differ
in a number of ways – wattage, lumens, expense of use – so I’ve provided some
basic terminology and a bulb comparison.
Light Bulb Terms
Watt – how much energy the bulb uses to operate. The higher the watts, the greater the cost to use. Wattage has nothing to do with the brightness of the bulb.
Lumens – the amount of
light a bulb provides, the brightness; one lumen equals one foot-candle falling
on one square foot of area. If your room is 100 square feet, the bare minimum
you need is 100 lumens of light power to sufficiently light the room - this is not watts! The greater the lumens, the
brighter the bulb.
Incandescent Bulb – provides light by heating the filament inside; casts light in the red-yellow spectrum, the light can become dimmer and more yellow toned as the bulb ages. This type of bulb gets extremely hot when operating, and is the most expensive type of bulb to use.
Halogen – a different type
of incandescent bulb based on the use of a special gas inside; more efficient
than standard incandescent bulbs, but still as hot; casts a whiter, brighter
light with a longer life span.
Fluorescent – uses mercury and gas to provide light; typically used for plants, aquariums, and black lights; they come in soft white, cool white, and ‘natural sunlight’ types. They can get warm to the touch while working. They are the most efficient type of bulb to use, and can take a few minutes to come up to full light brightness.
60-Watt (60W) Bulb Lumen Comparison
Compare lumens and bulb ‘life’ when purchasing light bulbs, not just the wattage. The fixture requiring the bulb will specify the maximum wattage. Never exceed the recommended maximum wattage, this could result in a fire hazard!
Halogen
60W - 650 lumens - 3000 hours
60W - 840 lumens - 3000 hours
60W - 900 lumens - 3000 hours (This one is the brightest in this group)
Incandescent
60W - 680 lumens - 1000 hours
60W - 900 lumens - 1500 hours (This one is the brightest in this group)
3-Way
Bulb Comparison (Various wattages)
30/70/100W - 285/920/1205 lumens - 1500 hours
30/70/100W - 305/995/1300 lumens - 1750 hours
50/100/150W - 450/1150/1610 lumens - 1200 hours
50/200/250W - 573/3120/3695 lumens - 1750 hours
Fluorescent Bulb Basics
Switching to fluorescent bulbs will make a definite difference in your electric bill. They are much more efficient to use and they have come a long way as far as light value goes. To replace your standard wattage bulbs with fluorescent bulbs, here is the light wattage equivalency information you'll need.
Standard 40W (450 lumens) - is now a 9 to 13 watt fluorescent
Standard 60W (800 lumens) - is now a 13 to 15 watt fluorescent
Standard 75W (1100 lumens) - is now a 18 to 25 watt fluorescent
Standard 100W (1600 lumens) - is now a 23 to 30 watt fluorescent
Standard 150W (2600 lumens) - is now a 30 to 52 watt fluorescent