Save energy without compromising the quality of light
April 22, 2013 - How do you choose your home lighting? Probably, according to how many Watts you see on the package. But did you know that Watts only indicate how much energy a lamp consumes and not the brightness or the amount of light it offers? As the efficiency of the lighting sources was improved, a new way to select them was born. Now, when we go shopping appear too, because lamps that use different amounts of energy can produce the same amount of light.
To save money and energy, the first thing you have to know and understand is the concept of lumens. This unit of measure describes the amount of light or brightness perceived by the human eye. More lumens mean higher brightness and a higher brightness level in the environment. For example, a standard 60 watt incandescent bulb, a 15 watts CFL and a 12 watts LED may all generate the same 800 lumens.
What are lumens?
The lumen (symbol: lm) is the unit in the International Units System to calculate the luminous flux, a measure of the perceived light power. Lumen can be understood in a less rigorous way as a measure of the "quantity" of total visible light in a certain angle, or emitted from a light source.
Lumens can be used to compare the brightness of any light source, regardless of the technology used and whether it is an incandescent, a CFL or LED. The use of lumens allows comparing the brightness of different light sources when buying. This table shows the number of lumens produced by traditional incandescent bulbs and its equivalence in CLF and LED technology.
How to know which lamp to buy?
Once we choose the desired brightness, we can compare other factors to maximize the savings in our energy bills. Lighting is used to highlight objects, help in activities and even to increase concentration and productivity. The information printed on the products packaging is the best ally when choosing the ideal product because several factors can influence the desired result. Beside the amount of lumens, you must bear in mind:
1- Expected product life (in years): An incandescent lamp can last a thousand hours, or about a year, while a LED system reaches 25 thousand hours or more, reducing the replacement frequency.
2- Light color (how warm or cold the light will be): The color temperature is measured in Kelvin degrees. The higher the value of the temperature, the whiter or colder the light. Furthermore, the lower this value, the warmer or more yellow the light. Lighting solutions with white colors (high temperature) are ideal for places where people perform tasks or activities, such as the kitchen or the bathroom. The more yellow the light, the more “welcoming” the environment.
3- Watts (energy consumed): The smaller the amount of watts consumed, the lower the energy bill.
On this International Day of Earth change your energy consumption habits the global efforts to take care of our environment. It's a brilliant idea.
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