So, I’m working on a light bar to run in the winter when I have the plow mounted. Because with the plow raised all the way up, you can’t see the stock headlights and turn signals. I calculated the wire size I’d need by dividing the advertised Wattage of the lights, by ten. (I know it should e 12.6. But, I can divide by ten in my head really well. 12.6 is a bit harder, and takes more time. Plus, dividing by ten gives me a comfortable safety margin.). Anyway, the amps for the headlights indicates I need a 10-guage wire. The lights have a 20, or possibly even a 22-guage wire, which is really undersized for the Wattage, they are advertising. So, I’m not sure what is going on. I don’t mind running oversized wire, it isn’t that expensive. But, if I total out the wattage of all the lights, and divide by ten, I’m at 37-amps, with a 35-amp alternator, and will need to upgrade it one with a higher output. I checked out one of the “Denso Mini Alternators” at the parts house, and it looks like a bolt in on my Hijet S110P, with only the upgrading of the output wire to the battery feed wire from the alternator. So, the question I have is: Are the LED light wattages, really accurate? Or, are they doing some kind of equivalence rating similar to how the house hold LED replacements are listed as a “60Watt”, even though they are actually only 10-Watts, because the lumen output is equivalent to that of a 60-Watt incandescent bulb?
LEDs are rated by the equivalent wattage output for example a 60 watt led light bulb uses only 9 watts.
Some are and some aren't. I know if you buy them off of ebay all bets are off. I saw one guy had a 4 pack of 36watt leds and declared them to be 144w each even though that was the total watts. Others are advertised in watt equivalent as David said.
