Let's face it. Many consumers purchase light bulbs based on their Watts rating, thinking that this number stands for the amount of light delivered and do not really understand that Watts means the amount of power consumed. Before the days of CFL's, however, the amount of Watts was a fairly good indicator of light performance, as a 75W incandescent A lamp did put out proportionally more light than a 60W, etc. Following the introduction of CFLs, it was initially difficult for many consumers to translate what it meant to buy a 13W, or other fluorescent version, in terms of equivalent light performance, and consumers were not sure if they would still get the same amount and quality of light vs. the familiar incandescent bulbs. A similar challenge now applies to LED, except to a greater degree, as the terminology has been expanded. For the consumer, determining which product is the right one for their application now demands knowledge of not only the energy savings in terms of power consumed, but also lumen output, color temperature, and even CRI. Fortunately and over many years, the industry did finally manage to educate the consumer on how CFLs compare to the common incandescent bulbs and most of the population now understands it, at least in terms of Watts, but there is a host of new words to learn in order to pick the right product off the shelf in this world of LED lighting.
Never before has it become so important to educate the consumer on the basics of lighting. The average homeowner has not been exposed to terms like lumens, color temperature, efficacy, and color accuracy or CRI. The Lighting Facts label is extremely helpful in validating the manufacturers' claims on LED products, but isn't the consumer still confused about what it all means? The Home Depot and Lowe's, as two of the top retail leaders in light bulb sales, have already taken some steps to communicate more effectively at point of sale. Of course, a major focus of this effort is to impart an understanding of lumens and color temperature. Lumens are actually the true measurement of the light out of a bulb or fixture, and color temperature represents the warmth or coolness level of the light. But I am personally wondering if the explanations for these terms should also be standardized. Maybe along with their respective labeling, the Department of Energy or the FTC should require specific wording or graphics on how these terms are defined to the consumer at the retail location? Is there really any sense to making this a point of differentiation and competition among the sellers of bulbs? Shouldn't the broader industry objective be to build a clear understanding of these terms across the consumer market?
LED lighting offers an opportunity to dramatically reduce energy consumption in this country, and the world. The sooner that the average consumer understands what these terms mean and how to select the right product to replace their incandescent or fluorescent bulb, the faster we will be able to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to save our natural resources.
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