Watts, Lumens and Kelvins Explained - Let's remove the jargon!
It is so easy to get confused when looking at bulbs for festoon lighting so let's help and remove some of the confusion.
Festoon lights come in a range of brightness levels (lumens), power consumption (watts) and colour levels (kelvins) and these are what you should be looking at when reading tech specs.
The most popular bulbs all have the following in common:
- Type: LED Bulbs
- Brightness: Lumen range from 110 - 360 lumens
- Power: Wattage range from 1w - 5w
- Colour: 2700K Warm White Colour
#1 Brightness Of The Festoon Light Bulb
Light brightness is measured in Lumens not watts.
On our tech specs you will read for example, 200 Lumens. That means the light bulb puts out 200 lumens of light. To put it in perspecitve, our solar bulbs and our G40 bulbs all put out 110 lumens of light yet our larger ST58 and G80 globes put out 360 lumens of light.
Watts is the amount of power the bulb uses. The old incadesent and halogen bulbs had watt numbers like 25watts, 40watts and 60watts. These days with LED bulbs, the watts are much lower because the bulbs are way more efficient. Our festoon light bulbs range from 1w to 5w.
Our brightest bulb is 5Watts and 360 lumens which will give a great amount of brightenss. That is also why these bulbs are dimmable. You will not always want a bright light. The dimmer for will allow you reduce brightness from 100-75-50-25%. So if a bulb is 360 lumens, at it's lowest setting you will have 90 lumens which gives a beautiful, soft, ambient light over a task light.
#2 Colour Of The Light
Light colour is measured in Kelvins. You’ll see numbers like 2200k or 3000k or higher. This is a light scale.
Our Festoon Light Bulbs are all 2700k on the light scale. Why? Because that makes them a warm white ambient colour and we find this colour is by far the most popular!
Once you reach beyond 2700k and closer to 3000k on the light scale, that bulb is getting into the Cool White colour area which we don't recommend for festoon lighting. Ultimately you want an inviting, warm, ambient setting not a stark, cold, uninviting area.
#3 Type of Bulb
You can get Halogen, Incandescent or LED bulbs. While you can go to some cheaper DIY stores and get large Halogen or Incandescent Bulbs for a reasonably low price, in the long run you will paying for it. They chew through the power, run hot and are old world technology.
Buy right and buy once. Choose LED as these are the most cost effective, economical choice in the long run.
All our bulbs are LED Filament bulbs because they don’t produce heat, will look beautiful, are durable and will use much less power than the Halogen or Incandescent Bulbs.
We strongly support sustainable products! That's why we only range high quality products that are durable and provide longevity while still looking stylish and elegant. Your bulbs are just as important as your festoon cables. You want the entire light to last the distance and give you years of beautiful lighting.