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Watts ↔ lumens bulb equivalence

Enter the wattage of the old incandescent bulb: the tool gives the lumens to look for on an LED, halogen or CFL box. Or start from the lumens to find the equivalent wattage.

W

From 15 to 200 W.

Lumens to look for

806lm

Halogen: 702 lm · CFL: 741 lm

Table from European Regulation 244/2009 (repealed in 2021), still used on many boxes.

Quick challenge

Streak 0Best 0

Test yourself: every answer is computed by the tool, and the wrong choices are the most common traps.

How it works

Formula: Linear interpolation between two rows of the table

An LED's watts tell you what it uses, not how bright it is: light is measured in lumens. To compare with old bulbs, the tool follows Table 6 in Annex II of European Regulation 244/2009, which pairs each incandescent wattage (15 to 200 W) with a luminous flux per lamp type. Between two rows, the value is a linear interpolation, as the text requires.

Worked examples

  • Replacing a 60 W bulb

    LED: 806 lumens (halogen: 702, CFL: 741).

  • An LED of 1,055 lumens

    Equivalent: 75 W incandescent.

  • A 50 W bulb, between two rows

    Between 40 W and 60 W: 638 lumens for an LED.

Common mistakes

  • Looking for a "60 W" LED to replace 60 W.

    An LED's watts are what it uses: look for 806 lumens on the box.

  • Thinking every lamp type needs the same lumens.

    At 60 W equivalent, the table asks for 702 lm for halogen and 806 lm for LED.

  • Multiplying the watts by 10.

    60 W × 10 = 600 lumens, while the table gives 806 lumens for an LED.

What the calculation leaves out

  • The table comes from European Regulation 244/2009, repealed on 1 September 2021 by Regulation 2019/2020. It is still often used on packaging.
  • It covers non-directional lamps from 15 to 200 W equivalent; spotlights have their own table. Packaging outside Europe may use other figures.

Lumens by bulb type for each incandescent wattage

Lumens by bulb type for each incandescent wattage
IncandescentLEDHalogenCFL
15 W136 lm119 lm125 lm
25 W249 lm217 lm229 lm
40 W470 lm410 lm432 lm
60 W806 lm702 lm741 lm
75 W1,055 lm920 lm970 lm
100 W1,521 lm1,326 lm1,398 lm
150 W2,452 lm2,137 lm2,253 lm
200 W3,452 lm3,009 lm3,172 lm

Frequently asked questions

How many lumens replace a 60 W bulb?

806 lumens for an LED, 702 for a halogen and 741 for a CFL, from the European table.

How many equivalent watts are 1,521 lumens?

100 W for an LED: it is a row of the table.

Why are watts no longer enough?

An LED gives as much light as an old bulb while using far less power: only lumens let you compare.

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