Lumen est Omen

Not only that traditional 75 watt incandescent light bulbs will be banned inside the EU from 1st September 2010 onwards, but also the packaging of all lamps has to be completely changed.

We all have to rethink, because in future "Lumen est Omen".

Until today the wattage was the main indication for which lamp to buy, but shortly we will be overwhelmed with information on the packaging. a few of these are already on the packaging now:

A more detailed explanation of the new terms can be found further down, but to the term "Lumen" close attention should be paid from now on, because it does indicate the brightness of a light bulb. The more Lumen, the brighter a light bulb shines and this effect is independent from the type of bulb used. Only with this information in mind you can compare different light bulbs (incandescent, halogen, energy saving, ...) and further check, whether the saving of watts will reduce the brightness, that is whether the Lumen figure will keep it's level even if the watts go down.

For a better understanding, we have summed up all the new product infos which will be found on the packaging:

LUMEN (lm): Measuring unit for the luminous flux. Lumen describes the output of a lamp in all directions, means how bright a lamp will be viewed by a human eye.

Lumen comparision for Energy Saver Products by Osram as used by us:
  E27 Halogen Ball Lamp as well as E14 Halogen Candle Lamp: 42 W (= 60 Watt incandescent lamp old) = 630 Lumen, 28 W (40 Watt incandescent lamp old) = 345 Lumen
  E14 Halogen Ball Lamp: 42 W = 580 Lumen, 28 W = 320 Lumen

WATT(W): Unit of the power consumption of a lamp, which will function for comparision reasons only in future and printed on the packaging very small only.

ECONOMIC LIFE TIME: indicated in hours and years (assumed operation of 3 hours per day)

COLOUR TEMPERATURE: incidates in Kelvin (K) an either warmwhite light (2700 K) up to a coldwhite light (6500 K)
  day light: approx. 5000-5600 K
  traditional incandescent lamp: 2700 K
  classic energy saver lamp: 3000 K

START-UP TIME: indicates how long the lamp will need to reach 60% of the full brightness.

Further the packaging will show, whether the lamp is dimmable or contains mercury (has to be disposed at special garbagge places).

For any questions regarding you already existing or future crystal chandeliers and decorative lightings, our staff will be happy to answer everything at any time.

Dotzauer Decorative Lighting manufacturers Crystal Chandeliers, Crystal Light Fittings and Decorative Lighting upon your request.