Learning LED Language: The New ABC of Lighting

Technology is evolving more and more every day. Emails, text messages, mobile applications, and tablets have become part of our lives and new way of living. Checking emails from our cell phone, text messaging our friends, and searching for our favorite restaurants around the area using a mobile application has become a daily routine. The reality is that we are living in a global world lead by technology and is moving forward every day more and more.

This new evolving technology has caused many industries to begin creating products and services that can be adapted to this new life trend; being able to satisfy a very demanding consumer generation.

The lighting industry is one of the industries that have evolved enormously in the last few years, developing a new technology that has changed completely the concept of illumination.

Boring lighting fixtures and regular light bulbs have already become part of the past, and LEDs have become the new language of light.

Lumens, watts, correlated color temperature, and color rendering index are some of the terms we constantly hear when we visit a lighting showroom or when we read a light bulb label; but do we really understand what these terms mean? Are we really familiar with the new lighting language?

Today, let’s learn about the new language of light.

What are Lumens?

LUMENS = THE AMOUNT OF LIGHT PRODUCED. IT MEASURES BRIGHTNESS.

Lumens measure brightness. The higher the number, the more light is emitted.

For years, we have bought light bulbs based on watts, believing that more watts is more light. The truth is that wattage only tells us how much energy a bulb uses; so it’s no longer a reliable source to determine a light bulb’s glow.

What about Watts then...

WATTS = AMOUNT OF ENERGY USED.

The lower the wattage, the less energy used.

Lumens = brightness
Watts = energy


CORRELATED COLOR TEMPERATURE (CCT) = MEASURES LIGHT COLOR. The warmer or yellow the light is, the lower the color temperature, and the more bluish the light, the higher the temperature. Color temperature is measured in kelvins.

“Cool” colors have higher Kelvin temperatures (3600-5500 K)


“Warm” colors have lower color temperatures (2700-3500 K)

COLOR RENDERING INDEX (CRI) = MEASURES COLOR ACCURACY. Any number higher than 80 is considered acceptable, so make sure to check this number when reading a light bulb label.

Ok... Now we have reviewed all these different terms, and there is no excuses for not getting an LED light bulb. We are absolutely sure that these terms won’t look awkward to you anymore...But if you still have questions and need a detailed answer, come in to our showrooms, Farrey’s experts are here to help you to choose your right LED light!