How many lumens do you need in a head torch for work?

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For close work, such as wiring a consumer unit, working in a loft or under a sink, 50 to 200 lumens is plenty, and more just bounces off the insulation and blinds you. For walking a site, checking a roof or working outside at night, 300 to 600 lumens is the useful range. The 1,000-plus figures on the box are a boost mode that runs for minutes, not hours. What decides whether a head torch is any good for work is how long it holds a useful level, how evenly it spreads, and whether it has a red or low mode for close tasks.

Lumens by job

Job	Useful output	Beam
Consumer unit, terminals, reading labels	30 to 100 lumens	Wide flood, high colour accuracy
Loft and under floor work	100 to 250 lumens	Flood
Ceiling void, cupboard, under a sink	100 to 200 lumens	Flood with a little spot
Walking an unlit site or plant room	300 to 500 lumens	Mixed spot and flood
Checking roofs, gutters, a field at night	500 lumens and up	Spot, focusable
Driver walk-round at a dark depot	200 to 400 lumens	Mixed

These are rough guides rather than rules, and they assume a reasonable quality beam. A cheap 1,000 lumen torch with a harsh hot spot can be less useful in a loft than a 200 lumen flood.

What the numbers on the box mean

Most reputable brands quote figures to the ANSI/PLATO FL 1 standard. Three of them matter.

Lumens is total light output, measured 30 seconds to two minutes after switching on, depending on the version of the standard. It is a peak figure. Many torches drop from their highest setting within a few minutes to stop the LED overheating.

Runtime is measured from switch-on until output falls to 10% of that starting figure. So a torch that claims 1,000 lumens for two hours may only be giving you 100 lumens for a lot of that time. Some brands publish an output graph, and that graph tells you more than the headline number.

Beam distance is how far away the light falls to 0.25 lux, about the light of a full moon. It tells you about the spot, not how well the torch lights the area around your hands.

Flood, spot and colour

Close work wants flood: a wide, even beam so you can see the whole terminal block or the whole run of pipe without turning your head. Distance work wants spot. Torches like the Ledlenser H7R Core and H8R have a focusing ring that slides from one to the other. The Petzl Actik Core and the Fenix HM65R have separate flood and spot LEDs.

Colour matters for electricians in particular. Cheap cool white LEDs make brown and grey look alike, and on old installations with faded sleeving that is a real problem. High CRI or neutral white LEDs show colours closer to daylight. The Nitecore NU25 UL has a high CRI mode and the HC33 uses a neutral white LED.

Red light, lock, and the other things that matter

Red mode. Handy outside at night because it does not wreck your night vision, and you can talk to a customer on the drive without blinding them. In a loft you will hardly touch it.

Lockout. Without one, the torch gets knocked on in the tool bag and you find it flat at the next job.

Tilt. A head that tilts down lets you light your hands without bending your neck. It sounds small. After a full day under floors it is not.

Weight and balance. Torches with a battery pack at the back of the head, like the Ledlenser H14R.2, balance well on a hard hat. Lightweight front-only torches like the Petzl Bindi suit short jobs and pockets.

IP rating. IPX4 means protected from splashing from any direction, which covers rain. IPX6 means protected from powerful water jets. IPX8 means it can be submerged, to a depth the maker states. For outdoor trades in British winters, IPX4 is the minimum and IPX6 is better.

Head torches on our list for electricians

The Petzl Actik Core at around £55 gives 450 lumens with flood and spot beams, red light and IPX4, and runs on its own rechargeable battery or three AAAs. It is the one we would put in an electrician's bag. The Nitecore NU25 UL at around £35 weighs 28 g, gives 400 lumens and has a high CRI mode for reading cable colours. The Ledlenser H7R Core at around £65 is a 1,000 lumen focusable torch, listed as IPX6, for sparks who also do outside work and street lighting. The Petzl Bindi at around £50 gives 200 lumens from 35 g and is the pocket backup.

The head torches for electricians page has the full list, and the best head torches for electricians post covers mounting on a hard hat. Plumbers have a slightly different set of problems, covered in head torches for plumbers.

Frequently asked questions

How many lumens do I need for a work head torch?

Less than you think for close work. A loft, a cupboard or a consumer unit needs 100 to 250 lumens, and anything brighter tends to glare back off the insulation. Walking a dark site or looking at a roof from the ground is where 300 to 600 lumens and a spot beam earn their keep.

Is 1,000 lumens too bright for a head torch?

Up close, yes. At arm's length that much light bounces off white walls, foil-backed board and bare metal, and you see less, not more. It does help outdoors at distance. Bear in mind most torches sold as 1,000 lumens only hold that for a few minutes before they step down to stop the LED cooking.

What does head torch runtime actually mean?

It is the time until the torch drops to 10% of its starting brightness, under the ANSI/PLATO FL 1 standard. So a 500 lumen torch with four hours of runtime might be down near 50 lumens by the end. If the maker publishes an output graph, read that instead of the headline figure.

What IP rating should a work head torch have?

IPX4 at least if you ever work outside. That means splashes from any direction, so rain is fine. IPX6 copes with heavy jets of water, which is the better pick for roofers, groundworkers and anyone out all winter. IPX8 is for torches you can drop in water, and hardly any trade needs that.