Lumens to Kelvin

[Murminator]

Is there such a formula to convert Lumens to Kelvin?...I have seen lots of lights and bulbs out there that list Lumens.....Just curious :smile:

[Tarolisol]

I think they are compleatly differnt things, kalvin is the temp of the bulb produces the colour of the light. A lumen is a way of measuring how much light gets to what you want to light. I know a higher kalvin penetrates deeper into the water so maybe there is some realationship but im not sure about conversion.

[Bob I]

The short answer to your question is NO. Sean you are partly right, but mostly wrong. :mrgreen:

[Tarolisol]

So, what parts am i wrong on?

[StirCrazy]

So, what parts am i wrong on?

a lumen is the amount of light over a given surface area. no relation whats so ever to kelvin which is the color a black body gives off when heated to a specific temperature.

Steve

[danny zubot]

Steve, Can you provide a thread for us to read about this. Apparently I had some misconceptions as well.

[Doug]

If you guys check out some old Aquarium Frontier issues or perhaps,
www.advancedaquarist.com

and look for lighting articles by Craig Bingham, Dana Riddle or Sanjay Joshi. Everything your looking for.

[StirCrazy]

Steve, Can you provide a thread for us to read about this. Apparently I had some misconceptions as well.

I'll see what I can dig up.. shouldn't be to hard to find them out.

OK I screwed Lumen and LUX up again :rolleyes:

a Lux is lumen/meter^2

a lumen is the direct measurement of light power, or
"A unit of light flow or luminous flux. The lumen rating of a lamp is a measure of the total light output of the lamp. The most common measurement of light output"

for further info the Lumen is a rating for for which the standard is light of 555 nm wave length only.

So in simple terms, a lumen is a instantaneous reading of the intensity of light at a 555 nm wave length.

as for Kelvin, it is a direct relationship between the temperature of a black body object (a lot of metals behave like a true black body) and the color it emits due to its temperature. like when you heat up a chunk of metal with a torch, it goes through color changes that correspond with the temperature it is at and the temperature is measured in Kelvin not Celsius or Fahrenheit.

here is a page to play with to see how it works.
http://cat.sckans.edu/physics/black_body.htm

Steve