Is that perhaps due to LED R7 replacements for 500W halogens giving
less than half the light that the halogens gave (2000 - 2400 against
6100 lumens)?


Possibly. But I really cannot remember the last time I saw a real
blaster - the lights I do see seem to be better aimed, and (often) not
left on so much.


The arrival of LED versions of outdoor floodlights seems to have spurred
people to add more and leave them on longer. Some huge ones on the front of
some houses - aimed almost horizontally.