older gents, lites

i didnt want to hijack jeffs thread, but before i buy a set of these new led work lites, im older, i dont know what a lumen is, i measure in candlepower, now, my lites are measured by the power of my 40 year old kc day liters on the front of my winch truck , they lite up with usable lite for a whole pasture at nite, [ they also make the alternator sing!], compared to that how good are led's and what should i get for usable nite running? prices are all over, so i know there's junk meant for looks,[ show 4x4 vehicles that never were, and never will be off road] and not for using out where there is no road, but there is work to be done, or a steer to be found

The difference between candlepower and lumens is in how each is measured. Lumens tells the total amount of light output from the light, whereas candlepower "only" measures the brightest part of the beam.

Using candlepower, a 150 watt floodlight would have a very low rating compared to a 150 watt spotlight, and even the spotlight would have a tiny rating compared to a 150 watt laser!!

With lumens, you would have the same amount of total light output between the three types.

It took me a LONG time to finally get the change in my pea-brain to work halfway decent, so I don't go by CP anymore. Still, there are times when my brain gets confused and tries to go back to the older way of measurement.

They tried the "lumens" thing with common, ordinary incandescant light bulbs. They have since gone back to watts.

Go take a look at Jeff's. I just added a whole deal about LEDs and pictures.

I still don't get the whole candle power, watt, or whatever, to lumen thing either. That aside I will say this.

I've got two 12V DC 300 lumen lights on my service truck, and it's amazing how much area they light up. I can get them up about 10 feet and have enough light to work on a machine after dark.

I've got two more that are 120V AC, 3750 lumen that I use with a small inverter. I c put on my crane and get them about 25 feet up. They easily light up a huge area like it was the middle of the day.

The main thing to look for, beyond the lumens, is the heat/color. The lower numbers, like 3000k are going to have a more yellow light, like a standard incandescent bulb. The higher numbers, like 5000k or 6000k are going to be a much brighter, whiter, light...closer to sunlight.

For working in the field, a couple of 12V 300, or 500 lumen lights would be plenty to see like it was the middle of the day. Too, due to the low amp draw I'd LEDs, you can always get a small inverter like I did, and get a couple of the much larger, and typically cheaper for their size, AC units to really light things up.



The best, and cheapest, place I've found to get LED stuff is Lighting Ever. Look for a coupon code before you order and it's typically easy to get at least 15% to 20% off the top of the already low prices.
Lighting Ever

I have used superbrightleds.com they have a great selection and are very helpful and I forgot some of there lights have a lifetime guarantee