11 LED bulbs that bump up the brightness (pictures)

Most 60W and 60W replacement light bulbs will give you around 800 lumens' worth of light output -- but what if you need a little more? Fear not: you've got a growing number of options built to give you just that, and if you go with an LED you'll be able to get the brightness you crave without sacrificing on efficiency. Click through for a look at what's available right now.

Brightness is relative -- sure, I might have mentioned aiming higher than that 800-lumen benchmark that you'll get at the 60W level, but what if you're just looking to upgrade a 40W bulb's 450 lumens? I'd suggest going with this $5 bulb from Ikea. We clocked it at 658 lumens in our test lab, and were impressed with how well it illuminates colors. It's a solid step up in brightness for a side-table accent lamp.

If you want something a little brighter than a standard 60W bulb, but think that a 75 or 100W bulb would be overkill, then consider this 60W replacement from Osram. With 852 lumens to its name, it's one of the brightest 60W replacements we've tested.

Jump from the 60W to the 75W level, and you'll see a big jump in brightness, too. This 75W replacement from Philips claims a light output of almost 1,200 lumens.

Philips also makes a 75W replacement version of the flattened-down SlimStyle LED, which distributes the diodes along the horseshoe-shaped perimeter of the bulb. This approach helps with thermal management, and actually eliminates the need for heat sinks altogether. If you need more brightness in an enclosed fixture, where heat buildup can be problematic for LEDs, the 75W SlimStyle is the bulb you should go with.

Like Philips, Cree offers a 75W replacement LED (there it is, on the right). It shines with 1,100 lumens, and as you can see, that's not quite as bright as what you'll get from Philips (left). It's still a nice step up from the 60W level, though.

Cree also sells a three-way LED with a trio of brightness settings for use in compatible lamps. The brightest of the three gives you 1,620 lumens -- roughly what you'll get with a 100W bulb.

Of course, if you don't need the other two settings, you could just stick with Cree's standard 100W replacement. It's a well-rounded pick for brighter household lighting.

Less well-rounded: this 100W replacement from Sylvania. It's a bright bulb, for sure, but the non-omnidirectional design doesn't cast enough of that brightness downward, which isn't ideal if you want to sit beneath it and read a book.

This 100W replacement from GE was one of our favorites, with solid across the board performance, including on dimmer switches like the one in this GIF. That means you don't have to worry about flicker or buzz if you want to dial the brightness back a bit.

The same can't be said for this 100W replacement LED from Utilitech -- it went into full-on strobe mode when we tried to dim it down.

If brightness is really all that matters, then you'll be happy to have the Philips 100W Replacement LED lighting up your living room. Rated at 1,680 lumens, it's one of the brightest bulbs we've ever reviewed, and while it doesn't come cheap, it doesn't have any real weak spots, either.