How to Calculate LED Light Output

LED lights are an energy efficient type of lighting. Unlike incandescent bulbs, they produce very little heat so nearly all of the energy supplied to the bulb is converted directly into light. The amount of light produced by an LED (light-emitting diode) varies depending on the type of semiconductor chip it has, the overall bulb design, and the amount of current supplied to the bulb. Light output is measured in candelas. A candela is the standard international unit for measuring luminous intensity. Candela output for an LED is calculated by using the information supplied by the manufacturer.

Instructions

- 1
  Determine how many lumens the light produces. Lumens are a measurement of luminous flux and are closely related to candelas. Most LED manufacturers print a light's lumen output directly on the packaging or specification sheets. Be sure to use the value for lumens and not lux, which is a completely different measurement.
- 2
  Convert lumens to candelas. Take the number of lumens produced by the light and divide by 12.57 to get the total light output in candelas.
- 3
  Use lumens per watt. A few manufacturers don't list lumens but instead list lumens per watt. To convert lumens per watt to candelas, multiply the number for lumens per watt by the total watts used by the bulb. Then divide the quotient by 12.57.

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