Wattage vs candlepower?

From: Jon Steiger (jon@dakota-truck.net)
Date: Tue Apr 10 2001 - 20:12:42 EDT


  I'm a bit confused about wattage vs. candlepower when referring to lights.
There doesn't seem to be a correlation between the two. I'm eventually
planning to build a "roll bar / light bar" for my 4x4 Ram, and I'd like to
mount some lights on the top. The brighter the better. However, this is a low
buck effort. :-) A little while back, I saw some of those handheld
spotlights that plug into the cigarette lighter at Wal-Mart. They had a handle
that was just held on with a bolt and a butterfly nut, so it would be real easy
to mount them on a light bar. They had 1 million candlepower, and were less
than $10 each. Unfortunately, by the time I decided to give it a try, they
were gone. :-( I figured I could have 4 million candlepower (4 lights) which
would be "really really bright". I may be missing something though, like the
effect that would have on my alternator? The "standard" lights you see mounted
on prerunner bars and light bars are wimpy in comparison. Well, most don't
give a candlepower rating, just wattage, but I've seen some of them in use and
no way do they have 1 million candlepower. Plus, they cost anywhere from $40-
$200, and more, I'm sure. I just want a lot of light without spending a lot
of cash...

  Stupid idea, or could it work?

-- 

-Jon-

.---- Jon Steiger ----- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@twistedbits.net ------. | Affiliations: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA; Rec & UL Pilot - SEL | | '92 Ram 150 4x4 V8, '96 Dakota V8, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly 447 | `------------------------------ http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ----'



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