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Candlepower (abbreviated as cp) is an obsolete scientific measure for luminosity based on the light emitted from a candle made to a specified formula.

One candlepower represents the radiating capacity of a light with the intensity of one "international candle".

The candlepower as a scientific measure was replaced in 1948 by the international unit (SI) known as the candela. However, the idea of Candlepower persists as a legacy term in common use in many languages. This may be because of its intuitive nature, in a similar way to the survival of the also scientifically obsolete term "horsepower". In current English usage, candlepower now means the number of candelas radiated.

The term candlepower was originally defined in England by the Metropolitan Gas Act of 1860 as the light produced by a pure spermaceti candle weighing one sixth of a pound and burning at a rate of 120 grains per hour. Spermaceti is found in the head of Sperm Whales, and once was used to make high quality candles.

At this time the French standard of light was based upon the illumination from a Carcel Burner. The unit was defined as that illumination emanating from a lamp burning pure colza oil (obtained from the seed of the plant Brassica campestris) at a defined rate. It was accepted that ten Standard Candles were about equal to one Carcel burner.

In 1909 a meeting took place to come up with an international standard. It was attended by representatives of the Laboratoire Central de l’Electricité (France), the National Physical Laboratory (UK), the Bureau of Standards (United States) and the Physikalische Technische Reichsanstalt (Germany). The majority redefined the candle in term of an electric lamp with a carbon filament. The Germans, however, dissented and decided to use a definition equal to 9⁄10ths of the output of a Hefner lamp.

In 1921, the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (International Commission for Illumination, commonly referred to as the CIE) redefined the international candle again in terms of a carbon filament incandescent lamp.

In 1937, the international candle was redefined again against the luminous intensity of a blackbody at the freezing point of liquid platinum which was to be 58.9 international candles per square centimeter.

Since 1948 the term candlepower was replaced by the international unit (SI) known as the candela. One old candlepower unit is about 0.981 candela. Less scientifically, modern candlepower now equates directly (1:1) to the number of candelas[1] -- an implicit increase from its old value.

The candlepower of a lamp was measured by judging by eye the relative brightness of adjacent surfaces, one illuminated only by a standard lamp (or candle) and the other only by the lamp under test. The distance of one of the lamps was adjusted until the two were judged to give equal brightness. The candlepower of the lamp under test could then be calculated from the two distances and the inverse square law.

• Rowlett, Russ (July 13, 2001). How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
• International candle at Sizes.com Last revised: June 27, 2007. Accessed July 2007
• Candle History - Candlepower 2003 Bob Sherman at Craftcave . Accessed July 2007.
• Brief History Of Lighting 2004 by The Wolfstone Group. Accessed July 2007.
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• Coaton, J. R. (February 2002). The genesis of incandescent lamp - manufacture. Engineering Science And Education Journal page 21. IEEE. Retrieved on 2007-07-10. “Measurement of the candlepower of lamps”
• Cottington, Ian E. (February 2002). Platinum and the Standard of Light - A Selective Review Of Proposals Which Led To An International Unit Of Luminous Intensity (pdf) 30, (2). Platinum Metals Review. Retrieved on 2007-07-10. “Metropolitan Gas Act of 1860”