> But it begs the question ... how much power do I really need?
> Everything is rated in power, but I'll guess that it does not directly
> correspond to heat output, as there are a lot of other factors that
> determine that.  But since most every iron is measured in watts.... ?
> I find 12W quite fine for everything I do (PICs and discretes, wires <=
> 16ga, no power resistors), but will say 10W work?  Or less?  I'd like
> to get away with less, since I'm going to be playing with smaller (SMT)
> components nowadays.

That's why you want a temperature controlled soldering iron.  It will send
only the power to the tip that is needed to maintain the desired
temperature.


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