You may have come across these terms as you shop for your light fixtures. They can be confusing to the layman, as it isn’t very often that you have to grapple with these technical terms.
We’ve put together a handy explainer breaking down what each of the terms actually mean!
Watt
This refers to the amount of electricity the bulb consumes. There’s a general misconception that you can use this figure as a gauge to figure out its light output too. Whilst it used to be true (older incandescent lights produced a light output to wattage ratio that is close to 1:1), LED technology has rendered this an ineffective way of working out a bulb’s actual light output.
You’d want to shop for bulbs with as low a wattage rating as possible, for obvious reasons!
Lumens
This refers to the amount of light a bulb produces. You do not necessarily want an excessively bright bulb, though it can be useful for task lighting. Again, LED bulbs are very efficient, often producing similar amounts of light to older bulb technologies with much lower energy usage.
Our advice is to always plan for a good mix of task and general lighting in your space!
Kelvin
Kelvin refers to the colour temperature of the light fitting, usually measured on a scale from 1,000 to 10,000. You’ll hear the terms Warm White (2000K to 3000K), Cool White (3100K and 4500K) and Day Light (4500K>) being used at your lighting shop.
The bulbs give off yellowish, white and daylight coloured lights respectively. Warm White lights are useful to create a cosy ambience, though you’d really want either Cool White or Day Light bulbs for task lighting!
A Handy Guide to Bulb Shopping
We hope that this guide has been useful for you in your home renovation journey! Even if you opted to engage an Interior Designer to handle the renovation for you, it is a good idea to still have additional knowledge of what goes into the making of your home!
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