Lumens vs Watts
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Lumen is a measurement of light power.
Watts is the measurement of energy used to create power
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Power can be many different things but when it comes to lights the light output is the power
and Watts simply tell you how much energy is required to make a certain output of light
power. With new technology (LED’s) there is less energy (watts) required to produce
the same power output (lumen output). It is the same as replacing a 60w incandescent
bulb in your home with a 12w compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). They both put out the same
Lumen of light with the CFL consuming less energy and also will burn many times longer
compared to the incandescent bulb, similar to HID compared to LED technology. We use
Lumen to state our output as it is the correct measurement to state light output.
LUMEN (LM)
The international (SI) unit of luminous flux or quantity of light and equals the amount
of light that is spread over a square foot of surface by one candle power when all
parts of the surface are exactly one foot from the light source. For example, a dinner
candle provides about 12 lumens. A 60-Watt Soft White incandescent lamp provides
840 lumens.
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PHOTOPIC LUMENS
A type of light measured in lumens that is generally detected by common light meters
and accounts for part of the human eye’s perception of brightness.
Lumens vs Watts
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Historically Codes reflected ½ Watt to 1 Watt Per Square Foot of pool
water surface area.
Typical 50,000 Pool – 50’ x 30’ = 1500 Watts – 3 – 500 Watt Lights
4300-4700 Lumens Per Incandescent = Total = 12,900 – 14,100
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The International Code Council and The Association of Pool and Spa
Professionals have tried to address this in the 2012 ISPSC International
Swimming Pool and Spa Code. In the Public version 1.0, February 2011,
section 321.2.3 Underwater Lighting, it states “Underwater lighting shall
provide a minimum of 8 lumens per square foot of pool water surface
area.”
4300(Lumens) ÷ 500(Watts) = 8.6 Lumens Per Watt
http://www.waterparks.org/pdfFileUpload/ISPSC-PV1.pdf
321.2.3 Underwater lighting. Underwater lighting shall provide a minimum of 8
lumens per square foot of pool water surface area
CrystaLogic 500W equiv’ LED White
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1st White LED Light that Actually does what it says?
Please note these are Hayward #’s from Hayward UL Approved Tests
Brand
Product
Lumens
GE Mexico
Bulb
Hayward
500W Incan' 500W equiv'
CrystaLogic
4,386
4,303
Pentair
Hayward
Pentair
Hayward
500W
300W equiv' 300W equiv' UCL Cloud
equiv'
CrystaLogic Intellibrite
White
Intellibrite
5G
5G
2,951
3,274
2,815
2,220
Pentair
Hayward
Intellibrite 100W equiv'
5G Color CrystaLogic
818
1,118