What is the Incandescent Equivalent of an LED?
LED light sources, and Solid State Lighting in General, is a unique light source and cannot be directly correlated to an Incandescent light source. Incandescents emit visible light 360 degrees from the light source and LEDs only 180 degrees. The most important factor is where you put the light. Most incandescent A-lamp style products utilize a painted reflector housing where more efficient Halogen fixtures utilize polished aluminum reflectors to direct the light onto a task plane (ie. worksurface). LEDs require sophisticated optics between the LED and the task plane to accomplish the same feat. Incandescent sources produce U/V light, IR light and Visible light. LED’s produce only visible light and are therefore more efficient. A good-quality LED will place 90% of the light generated onto a task plane at 18″. LED task lights must cover a worksurface large enough to be the sole-source of task lighting. CRI – The accuracy of the color of a light sensor is often measured in CRI, or Color R
