Lumens to Watts Calculator
Find how many watts a bulb needs for a given brightness in lumens — or the lumens you get from a wattage — for LED, CFL, halogen and incandescent bulbs.
How to use the Lumens to Watts Calculator
- Choose lumens → watts or watts → lumens.
- Enter the value.
- Choose the bulb type.
How it works
Lumens measure light output; watts measure power used. The link between them is luminous efficacy in lumens per watt: about 90 lm/W for typical LED bulbs, 60 for CFLs, 18 for halogen and 15 for incandescent. Watts = lumens ÷ efficacy. An 800-lumen bulb — the brightness of an old 60 W incandescent — needs only about 9 W as an LED.
Bulb equivalents
| Lumens | Incandescent | Halogen | CFL | LED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 450 | 30 W | 25 W | 8 W | 5 W |
| 800 | 53 W | 44 W | 13 W | 9 W |
| 1,100 | 73 W | 61 W | 18 W | 12 W |
| 1,600 | 107 W | 89 W | 27 W | 18 W |
| 2,600 | 173 W | 144 W | 43 W | 29 W |
Frequently asked questions
How many lumens is a 60 W bulb?
About 800 lumens.
How many watts is 1000 lumens LED?
About 11 W for a typical LED.
What LED replaces a 100 W bulb?
An LED of around 15–18 W giving about 1,600 lumens.
How many lumens do I need for a room?
Roughly 10–20 lumens per square foot for living areas and 70–80 for kitchens and work areas.