View Full Version : Candle Power/wattage?
YT2095
February 6th, 2004, 4:49 AM
I was bought a 1,000,000 candle power flashlight as an early valentines present.
I was wandering what percentage of the power output is actualy light?
I seem to rem that an ordinary incandescent bulb is only 2% efficient (a 100w bulb will give you 2 watts of light output).
LEDs are 5% IIRC
this is a 55w Halogen bulb and I`ve no idea what the efficiency is for that type.
I`de like to know how much of this 55W is actualy light power and not heat or EM.
so I can work out how many candles it takes per Watt.
anyone know?
Radical Edward
February 6th, 2004, 5:48 AM
what is the solid angle in steradians that it emits at?
YT2095
February 6th, 2004, 6:03 AM
I work it out to about 2 watts of light making 1w = 500,000 candles.
based ENTIRELY upon the assumption that a Halogen bulb is twice as efficient as an ordinary bulb but not quite as good as a semi conductor.
it`s little more than a guess though tbh.
edit: "what is the solid angle in steradians that it emits at? "
erm... what`s that when it`s at home? LOL, I`ve got no idea man.
all I know is that it`s a 55W halogen working off a 6v SLA battery.
the focus is a concave mirror 4inch diameter.
5614
September 5th, 2004, 11:28 AM
power output depends soley on the bulb itself.... and the bubls energy efficiency rating.
swansont
September 6th, 2004, 5:17 AM
This (http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Light_bulb#Efficiency) site gives some efficiencies. 2% for incandescents is pretty close. But LEDs aren't much more efficient, according to the list. Halogens are.
Halogens run hotter, which means they give a whiter spectrum - normal incandescents look yellow - and hotter means a larger fraction of the total energy is in the visible. Which also explains why lower power incandescents are less efficient; they should be a little cooler.
Another advantage of halogens is that they redeposit the tungsten on the filament, and the bulb lasts longer.
Note that the link I give is the ratio of visible to total radiated power - it ignores any inefficiency in generating the EM spectrum in the first place.
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