Watt, Lumen, Kelvin, what do these lighting indicators correspond to?
Lighting is an essential element of any room, influencing the ambience, functionality and comfort of a space. Its quality and proper calibration have a considerable impact on the health and mood of the inhabitants. Your lighting choices are therefore important. Fortunately, there are simple-to-understand principles and measurements for determining the right amount of light. We'll explore the key concepts of lighting, explaining terms such as Lux, Lumens and Kelvin degree. You'll soon know how to assess the ideal amount of light for each room in your home.
Some lighting notions
Before diving into the calculations in detail, it's important to understand that each room has specific lighting requirements, depending on its use and the atmosphere you want to create. For example, a kitchen and bathroom generally require more light than a living room or bedroom.
The room's design style also plays an important role in the amount of lighting required. Lighting will look different in an uncluttered living room with a light floor and white furniture compared to a busier living room with imposing furniture and a dark floor.
The power of the lighting should also be adapted to the activities performed in the room. For example, tasks requiring concentration, such as homework or meal preparation, call for bright lighting, while moments of relaxation, such as watching a film, call for softer, diffused lighting.
Now, let's get into the details of the specific units of measurement, used to quantify the amount of light.
What are Watts (W)?
Watts measure the electrical power generated by a light source, in other words its energy consumption. The higher the number of watts, the more electricity the bulb will consume.
In their glory days, watts were the only criterion indicated and understood by all on light bulb boxes: for a long time, this information remained the only one available to us to determine the type, rendering, intensity and quantity of lighting needed to properly illuminate a room.
Today this is no longer as true with low-energy bulbs like LED bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs, Watts no longer really reflect a bulb's luminous efficiency, they simply indicate its power consumption.
And who is this Kelvin (K), anyway?
In the world of Kelvin (K), the higher the degrees, the colder the temperature! He's like that, dear Kelvin (K), but you get used to it very quickly.
Especially if you understand that it's not someone but something, a unit of measurement expressed in degrees, used to assess the color temperature of light.
The higher the Kelvin value, the cooler the light will be, bluer and bluer white. On the other hand, the lower the Kelvin value, the warmer the light will be, less and less yellowish orange.
To help you find your way around, here are a few pointers:
- A very warm light, like the soft orange glow of a fire at night or that of a candle, hovers around 1,500 K.
- A brighter warm light features an orange-yellow hue that's around 2,700 K.
- A soft light, a more neutral white like that of a halogen lamp, evolves around 4,000 K.
- Finally, a cool light, closest to daylight, sports a bluish tint and is around 6,500 K.
Nowadays, most light sources on the market display a value between 2,700 and 3,000 Kelvin. This is the color temperature produced by our good old incandescent bulbs. Anchored in our visual references and habits, this light is considered neutral, being neither too hot nor too cold.
To sum up, Kelvin degrees will help us choose the color temperature that best suits our needs, our preferences, and above all the mood we want to create.
After wattage and color temperature, let's now move on toluminous intensity, with lumens.
What are lumens?
Lumens are a unit of measurement that indicates the total amount of light emitted by a light source. In simple terms, lumens measure the brightness of a bulb or fixture. The higher the number of lumens, the brighter the light source produces.
To choose the right bulbs or fixtures, it's useful to know the recommended amount of lumens for each type of space. Here are some approximate values to guide you:
- Living room and dining room : 1,500 to 3,000 lumens
- kitchen : 3,000 to 6,000 lumens
- Adult bedroom : 1,500 to 4,000 lumens
- Children's room : 1,000 to 3,000 lumens
- Office : 3,000 to 6,000 lumens
- Circulation areas (entrance, corridor): 500 to 1,000 lumens
- Garage and laundry room: 2,000 to 4,000 lumens
These values are provided as a guide and, as we specified in the introduction, may vary according to room size, wall or floor color, furniture and personal preferences.
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How to choose the wattage of your lighting according to the room?
Choosing interior lighting fixtures according to their location is essential for creating a pleasant atmosphere suited to every room in your home. Whether ceiling lights, suspension luminaires, recessed or ceiling spotlights, wall sconces, floor lamps or lamps, there's a wide variety of luminaires to suit all your desires and needs.
In fact, each room requires specific lighting depending on the activities taking place in it. When choosing lighting for a room, it's important to consider the amount of light needed. The light intensity of a room depends on its use.
For example, for tasks requiring attention, such as studying or cooking, powerful lighting is necessary. On the other hand, for relaxing or reading activities, softer, diffused lighting is preferable. In addition, the color of the light also plays an important role: cold light is stimulating, while warm light promotes rest.
We'll look at this in a future article.
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