How to Convert 1500 Lumens to Watts
A lumen is the unit of measure used to enumerate the amount of light coming out of a lightbulb. A watt is a unit of power. The wattage required to generate a lumen varies depending on the type of bulb. Incandescent bulbs are the least efficient of the household bulbs.
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Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) and LED bulbs are significantly more expensive, but they are more efficient and last longer. Divide a bulb's lumen output by the watts used to get a lumen-to-watt ratio. From there, you can calculate usage cost.
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Divide 1,500 by the wattage of your bulb. As benchmarks, for an incandescent bulb, an average wattage for 1,500 lumens is 100; for a CFL, the average is around 25 watts; for LEDs, the average is 18 watts. Thus average lumens per watt figures are 15 for an incandescent bulb, 60 for a CFL and 83 for an LED. Different brands of bulbs may have slightly different ratios.
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Determine the wattage for a single lumen in 1,500 lumen bulbs by dividing the wattage by 1,500. For the above-rated bulbs, the incandescent weighs in at 0.067 watts for one lumen. The CFL needs 0.017 watts for a lumen. The LED requires only 0.012 watts for a single lumen of light.
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Calculate the cost per 1,500 lumens by figuring in power costs. You need to add in a time factor to measure consumption. Use one hour, as that is the time base for the kilowatt-hour measurement used by utilities. Divide the watt figure by 1,000 and multiply the answer by your utility's kilowatt-hour price. For an average incandescent, at 16.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, 1,500 lumens for an hour runs 1.65 cents. A CFL and an LED would average around 0.41 cents and 0.30 cents, respectively.
The Drip Cap
- A lumen is the unit of measure used to enumerate the amount of light coming out of a lightbulb.
- Incandescent bulbs are the least efficient of the household bulbs.
- Divide a bulb's lumen output by the watts used to get a lumen-to-watt ratio.
- From there, you can calculate usage cost.
- Determine the wattage for a single lumen in 1,500 lumen bulbs by dividing the wattage by 1,500.
Writer Bio
Bill Brown has been a freelance writer for more than 14 years. Focusing on trade journals covering construction and home topics, his work appears in online and print publications. Brown holds a Master of Arts in liberal arts from St. John's University and is currently based in Houston.
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