What is Equivalent Wattage?
CFL bulb ‘brightness’ is often stated in terms of the Equivalent Wattage of an incandescent bulb. For example, a 60W incandescent bulb gives off about 800 lumens (an optical power measurment), however these bulbs are usually refered to by their electrical power (60W in this case) instead of optical power. The table below gives some common examples. Note that the CFL Wattage is typical only 25% of the Equivalent Wattage- a big power savings for the same brightness!
