# How bright is 2 million candlepower? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385 "2005-01-30T05:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/1 "2005-01-30T05:06:36Z")
So, I was going through Sears today and while looking at all the tools I thought would be cool to have even if I never used them, I saw a 2 million candlepower spotlight. The damn thing was only $30 so it was just expensive enough that I figured I wasn’t going to blow any money on it. I can’t think of any application for the thing, so I likely will not get it, but I do have some questions: 1. How bright is 2 million candlepower? Give me a reference point I can understand. 2. How far will the light shine that it will be useful to me? The packaging said that it could be seen from miles away, but I have no need to signal the other battleships in the flotilla. 3. This may be a bit to IMHO for GQ, but what could a dude who lives in an apartment in the city use this for? I don’t go camping or boating, don’t have a car and already have two dinky lights for my bike. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/2 "2005-01-30T05:15:37Z")
I had one. It is really bright. I would say that it seems about as bright as 100 mid-sized flashlights but that is just my perception. You can easily blind cars with it badly if you stood beside the road and flashed it at them suddenly. It is much brighter than headlights. The beam is pretty focused but if you stand in a large, dark room and turn it on and point it at a white ceiling, it will light up the whole room, maybe not as much as the normal lights (because that is not the way it works) but plenty for everyone enough to read by. This part is illegal so don’t do it. You can used them to spotlight deer. That means shining a really bright light at a deer at night and causing it to freeze. You can imagine the rest. You could easily signal high flying planes with it in a dark area. You can also temporarily blind people with it if you wish. Have fun! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/3 "2005-01-30T05:21:44Z")
I found a few sites that will give you a fairly good reference point. Modern headlights range from about 5,000 candlepower up to 35,000 candlepower for high-powered halogen models. You can see that 2,000,000 candlepower is just a little beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/4 "2005-01-30T05:28:31Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > 1. This may be a bit to IMHO for GQ, but what could a dude who lives in an apartment in the city use this for? Do you have a heater? I’ve only played with an 800,000 candlepower spotlight, but if it was pointed at you, you could feel the heat coming off it from a few feet away. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/5 "2005-01-30T06:05:19Z")
[quote] How bright is 2 million candlepower? Give me a reference point I can understand.\* Well, imagine one million candles all in one place… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/6 "2005-01-30T17:21:06Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] > [@](#): > > How bright is 2 million candlepower? Give me a reference point I can understand.\* > > Well, imagine one million candles all in one place… > > 😃 27 minutes too late. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/7 "2005-01-30T17:40:36Z")
Sportsman’s Guide has a 10m candlepwr unit. ---
**Author:** ![kezami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eb8c5e/32.png) [@kezami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kezami)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/8 "2005-01-30T18:59:55Z")
Gets me to thinking - what is the brightest man-made lamp? Isn’t the spotlight at the top of the Luxor in LV the brightest? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/9 "2005-01-30T19:30:14Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Sportsman’s Guide has a 10m candlepwr unit. I couldn’t find their 10 million candlepower unit, but I just ordered the 6 million candlepower one. It was only $25. Seems like a pretty good deal. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/10 "2005-01-30T19:32:10Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > 1. How bright is 2 million candlepower? Give me a reference point I can understand. When I used to stand watch on the fo’c’s’le of my ship I was equipped with a some-odd million candlepower flashlight. Let me tell you, that thing was friggin bright. You _don’t_ want to shine it at your eyes. In the middle of the night I could light up the supports of the coronado bridge from about 1/4 mile away. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/11 "2005-01-30T20:54:26Z")
Here’s a 2-page pdf describing a ship’s searchligth that puts out up to 91 million candlepower: [http://www.norselight.no/pdf/XS%201000%20-%20%203000%20RS2.pdf](http://www.norselight.no/pdf/XS%201000%20-%20%203000%20RS2.pdf) It’s in norwegian, but the specs are easy enough to figure out. This unit’s lamp has roughly a 14" barrel and is 18" long. There are bigger ones out there but I couldn’t readily locate them. alterego: I fly over the Mississippi a lot, and often see the tugboats operating at night with their searchlights. It’s pretty surprising the first few times you see it. Out in the rural blackness suddenly a bright beam reaches out 5 or 10 miles (no exaggeration). As the tugboat crewman moves the light, this thing sweeps an amazing area at astonishing speed. I’m not suggesting the operators could usefully illuminate something 10 miles away with it, due to the weak refleetion and return attenuation, but I can see the beam itself illuminatng the haze & bugs in the air from my perch 2-4 miles above it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/12 "2005-01-30T21:03:32Z")
It’s bright enough to kill the alien parasites controlling your nervous system. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/13 "2005-01-30T21:18:40Z")
I found a surprisingly heavily populated “[CandlePower Forums](http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php)” ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/14 "2005-01-30T21:25:26Z")
PS check out this google search: [“500…10000 million candlepower”](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=%22500..10000+million+candlepower%22&btnG=Search) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/15 "2005-01-30T21:45:26Z")
That brings up the question, is it illegal to shoot one of those 800+ million candlepower beams straight up from your front yard? If not, why not? What about my “little” 6 million candlepower one that I will be proudly receiving soon. I was thinking about it, and my new light might make a surprisingly effective home defense device if nothing else is available. The intimidation factor is extremely high and you it would be hard for someone to charge you all that well because you could temporarily blind them especially if they had to come straight down the hall. On the other hand, I can imagine that you could cause all kinds of mayhem with such a device if you were a little creative and so inclined. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/16 "2005-01-30T23:47:32Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > 1. How far will the light shine that it will be useful to me? The packaging said that it could be seen from miles away,… As far as you have any praactical need, up to a mile or so. Even a modest 60 or 100 w bare bulb can be seen that far. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I couldn’t find their 10 million candlepower unit, but I just ordered the 6 million candlepower one. It was only $25. Seems like a pretty good deal. Good deal if you really have a need for it rather that a ‘I just want it.’ When I have a need for a tool or similar item I buy a quality item rather that junk on the premise it will likely have use for it again. Otherwise I abstain. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/17 "2005-01-31T00:34:01Z")
> [@galt](#): > > Do you have a heater? I’ve only played with an 800,000 candlepower spotlight, but if it was pointed at you, you could feel the heat coming off it from a few feet away. > > 🙂 Were these available in, say 1920? 😉😃 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/18 "2005-01-31T00:38:16Z")
I have a 1 million cp light on my fishing boat. It is startlingly bright. Pointed at the bank, it lets you see everything you’d see at noon. Once, as I was trying to put my boat on its trailer at night, some helpful guy at the dock pointed one at me instead of the trailer. I couldn’t see a bloody thing, and it’s a wonder I didn’t run aground. It’s about 6 inches across and about 4 inches deep, and it has a handle underneath. It gets hot quickly. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/19 "2005-01-31T00:57:58Z")
I think the SDUnlimited store carries a 13,383,816 candlepower spotlight. Can’t seem to find the link though… ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385/20 "2005-01-31T06:24:08Z")
I have a 1,000,000 candlepower light, and it’s very bright. If I hear disturbing noises in the dark of the night, I can check on my horses even when they’re at the farthest reaches of my property (close to 1/2 mile from the house). It lights them up like daylight. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-2-million-candlepower/287385.md?page=2)