That s the measure of power the light bulb consumes.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs wattage comparison.
The luminous efficacy of a typical cfl is 50 70 lumens per watt lm w and that of a typical incandescent lamp is 10 17 lm w.
For example a correct replacement for a 60w incandescent bulb would be a 15 watt cfl bulb 60 1 4 15.
A fluorescent light bulb s longevity is significantly higher from 6000 to 15000 hours.
An incandescent light bulb s longevity is 2 000 hours on average.
Using the chart we can see that if you want to replace a 40w incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent cfl you will likely need a 7w cfl.
Can last 3 25 times longer.
It produces a similar light output of 900 lumens uses 13 watt of electricity and up to 78 less energy than a standard incandescent light bulb.
A standard a line incandescent bulb uses 50 watts.
Compared to traditional incandescents energy efficient lightbulbs such as halogen incandescents compact fluorescent lamps cfls and light emitting diodes leds have the following advantages.
An led a line bulb uses 9 watts a 41 watt savings for each bulb.
Because fluorescent lights are often installed in high ceilings in commercial sites there are additional savings because the frequency of changing bulbs is greatly reduced.
To help give you a little perspective let s compare the wattage between an incandescent light bulb and an led light bulb.
This compact fluorescent light is ideal for ceiling fans chandeliers table lamps or wall sconces.
Led bulbs require much less wattage than cfl or incandescent light bulbs which is why leds are more energy efficient and longer lasting than their competitors.
In general a simple rule to follow to replace an incandescent with an equivalent in light output cfl bulb is to select the cfl bulb that has 1 4 watts compared with the replaced incandescent bulb.
Similarly if you want to replace your 53w halogen light bulb with a modern led the led will probably use between 9 and 13 watts of energy.
Cfl bulbs have much lower wattage numbers than their incandescent cousins but don t let that fool you.
Lumen wattage comparison.
Designed to replace fluorescent tube bulbs these led tubes are available in 8 and 16 watts which replace traditional 25 watt and 40 watt t8 t10 t12 fluorescent tubes.
The chart below illustrates the amount of brightness in lumens you can expect from different wattages of light bulbs.
We are accustomed to choosing bulbs by how much electricity they use.
For example a 40 watt incandescent bulb is on the dim side and uses less power while a 100 watt bulb is bright and uses a lot of juice.