How to Determine How Many Lumens You’ll Need to Properly Light Your Space
Have you ever wondered how many LED lights, or LED lumens, you need to light a room?
A lumen is a lumen. So, strictly speaking, 600 LED lumens provides the same amount of light as 600 incandescent lumens.
Though it’s true that a lumen is simply a unit of measurement of light, LED lights provide a higher Color Rendering Index (CRI), so one could see with better clarity in a room lit with LED lumens compared to one lit with the equivalent number of fluorescent, incandescent or halogen lumens.
How much light is enough?
The question itself may be challenging and, when faced with having to calculate how much LED lighting you need to create a well lit space, it can get even more complicated. Here’s how to determine how many lumens you need to properly light a space.
Table of Contents
Key Terms
Lumens
Lumen output, also known as brightness or light output, is a measure of the total quantity of visible light emitted by a light source per unit of time, weighted according to the human eye’s sensitivity to wavelengths of light, the study of which is known as luminous efficiency function. The reference point: a standard 100-watt incandescent light bulb produces about 1,500 – 1,700 lumens.
Watts
Not a measure of brightness; instead, it’s a measure of how much electricity (or energy) a light bulb consumes to reach its claimed brightness. Each type of light source, LED, fluorescent, halogen or incandescent has a different lumen-per-watt ratio. Below we’re going to use lumens as a measurement to make sure we have enough light for a space.
Wattage Equivalence
Since we’ve conflated watts and lumens, it’s easier to talk about bulbs in terms of watts. So if a 100-watt incandescent produces 1,500 lumens, and a 10-watt LED does the same, the 10-Watt LED may advertise “100-watt equivalent” on its label.
Here’s a wattage equivalence chart, but note that lumen-per-watt ratios can range mildly, even from LED to LED products.
Efficacy
The number of lumens a bulb produces for each watt it consumes. The higher the number, the more efficient the bulb. For example, lighting products that have been designated with the ENERGY STAR label are deemed high efficacy, meaning they have been determined to deliver the same features while using less energy.
The Breakdown—How Much Light is Enough?
Determine Room Square Footage. Multiply the length times the width of the room to get the room square footage. For example, if the room is 10 feet wide and 10 feet long, the room square footage will be 100 square feet.
Determine the Foot Candles by Room Type or Room Purpose. A foot-candle is how bright a light is one-foot away from its source. Lighting requirements/needs vary depending on the type of room being lit. For example, a bathroom or kitchen will require more foot-candles than a living room or bedroom.
Suggested Foot Candles Needed By Space
| Commercial Requirements |
| Room | Foot Candles Needed |
| Offices: Average Reading and Writing | 50-75 |
| Offices: Hallways | 10-20 |
| Offices: Rooms with Computers | 20-50 |
| Auditorium / Assembly | 15-30 |
| Hospitals: General Areas | 10-15 |
| Labs / Treatments Rooms | 75-100 |
| Libraries | 50-100 |
| Schools | 30-100 |
| Residential Requirements |
| Room | Foot Candles Needed |
| Living Room | 10-20 |
| Kitchen General | 30-40 |
| Kitchen Stove | 70-80 |
| Kitchen Sink | 70-80 |
| Dining Room | 30-40 |
| Bedroom | 10-20 |
| Hallway | 5-10 |
| Bathroom | 70-80 |
Determine the Needed Lumens A lumen is a unit measurement of light. To determine the needed lumens, you will need to multiply your room square footage by your room foot-candle requirement. For example, a 100 square foot living room, which needs 10-20 foot-candles, will need 1,000-2,000 lumens. A 100 square foot dining room, which needs 30-40 foot-candles, will need 3,000-4,000 lumens.11 See PDF and complete foot candle index.
Summary
For the average space of 250 square feet, you’ll need roughly 5,000 lumens as your primary light source (20 lumens x 250 square feet). In your dining room, you’ll want about 30 lumens per square foot on your dining table (to see, not examine, food), so if your table is 6 x 3 feet, that’s 540 lumens.
Keep in mind, however, that these numbers are for typical conditions. If you have especially dark colored walls and furniture or if you’re using fixtures with shades, you’ll need roughly an additional 10 lumens per square foot. We based our calculations on 8-foot ceilings. Finally, personal preference will play the largest part in your decision. If you like the room to be especially bright, you may want to add an additional 10 to 20% to our numbers. In fact, the best approach for most spaces is to aim high and install dimmers to bring the light level down to desired levels.
Comments
I saw some lights with 60 watt bulb capacity and want a well lit dining room. Would three pendant lights work or would 4 be better for a space with no outside light coming in?
Hi Sue, without knowing the square footage of your space, including your ceiling height and the color of the walls, it’s hard to say. Alcon Lighting generally recommends going with odd numbers for design aesthetics, however, in this case, I suggest you consider going with four fixtures and use a… Read more »
It is basically 9×15 with a jut out on one end of the room. It is an interior room with NO windows. The ceiling is 9 ft high and no paint color has been decided on yet.
Do you know the lumen output of the fixtures you’d like to install?
I’m not sure if the manual calculation or the calculator is incorrect, but when I compare results, they differ. I checked and recheck so I don’t know which result to believe!
Hi Edward, thanks for reading the lumen output post. Please clarify and describe what you’ve identified as the discrepancy and I can look into it.. What are the numbers you’re plugging in?
I have looked at my figures again and I realise where I was going wrong; I was converting from m sq to ft sq using an incorrect calculation.
Now that I’ve corrected, there’s not so much of a difference between the calculator and my workings out!
Thanks
Edward
In a roughly 20×20 office space we have 6 2×2 flush led ceiling lights. They are 4,000 lumens. Is this too much?
Hi Jami!
(1) What’s the ceiling height?
(2) Does the office have windows?
(3) Are the lights dimmable?
I am finding your answers to others thoughtful and beneficial so I decided to throw my questions out there. We were at a store today looking at lighting and I found myself getting quickly overwhelmed. We are building our house and are just beginning the wiring phase and no light… Read more »
Hi Jennifer,
It sounds like you may be overwhelmed by the project. I’ll try to help, if only by referring you to resources. Do you have a specific question?
Hi there,I have a 13 x18 kitchen with 1 window,light colored walls and 8′ ceilings
Want to use led lighting,os 5200 lumens good?
Doug, good luck with your project. Yours is a project-specific information request. We certainly welcome general requests and would love to help. However, it’s easier for Alcon Lighting to help when you send a message. Please feel free to send a detailed message so we can try to help. Thanks… Read more »
I have a shop that is 16 x 32 x 14 high I bought 8 2×2 4 tube led lights which are 5000 lumens each I believe 4000k. I plan on hanging them in 2 straight lines, in each line they will be @ 4 foot apart and @ 8… Read more »
James, good luck with your project. Yours is a project-specific information request. We certainly welcome general requests and would love to help. However, it’s easier for Alcon Lighting to help when you send a message. Please feel free to send a detailed message so we can try to help. https://www.alconlighting.com/support/
How much LED light would I need for a 25 foot flagpole
Hi,
Please reference:
https://www.alconlighting.com/blog/newsfeed/lighting-americas-flag/
Is 2300 lumens enough light to properly illuminate a 12 x 15 foyer with 16 foot ceiling?
Hi Amy,
Based on the details you provided, I recommend around 3000 lumens but 2300 lumens should be sufficient light for your foyer as well. Good luck!
Many thanks!
Wow! Thank you so so much I really needed to read this and know more. Also I have a question if you can help, so you know the deference between the led light and the grow light for plants? Can I use the normal led let ( with high Lumen)… Read more »
Great.
Perhaps I missed it, but if a measured kitchen space needs 4000 lumens and has 6 recessed ceiling lights, do you divide 4000 by 6 to get a per-fixture lumen level ? Or buy 6, 4000 lumen recessed (retrofit) fixtures (with dimmer?)? Thank you in advance.
Hi Scott,
You divide 4000 by 6 fixtures to get the needed lumen level per fixture.
Good luck!
Thank you for this helpful article. There is a diagram at the end entitled “Preferred LED Lighting Layout” that suggests LED lights should not be placed in corners. Does this apply to any type of LED lights or only to downlights?
Hi Elizabeth,
Good question!
The suggestion is for recessed downlight layout designs.
Wow. Consise factual and easy to understand. Plus imbedded calculator.
Good job
This is great information. My wife and I are struggling right now trying to get the right lighting in a home we bought. We just recently had installed 4x LED can lights but we are unsure of the Lumens but are pretty certain it is not enough. Our estimation is… Read more »
I have a 3200 sq ft large party room (an almost square space) with 10-12 ft ceilings (slight vault). I’d like to do recessed downlights as the main source of light. The walls are a light color. If my fixtures each provide 1200 lumens, how many fixtures will I need?… Read more »
Hi Kathy! Multiply the 3,200 by the recommended foot candles for a party room to get the total number of lumens you’ll need for the space. I recommend 15-30 but that’s ultimately up to you and your designer. Reference the chart in the post. Aim for 30 foot candles with… Read more »
thanks- that helps 🙂
Thanks very much for this resource! I am trying to light a basement art studio that has no natural light. It’s about 14′ x 20′; the ceiling is between 6′ and 7′, depending whether one measures from the top or bottom of the beams across it. Your calculator says I… Read more »
Yes, Alice!
You could also add an adjustable ceiling mount spot light or a directional floor lamp. Good luck!
Thanks again. I really appreciate it.
What kind of lighting is best for overhead tube light in kitchen….Cool, Warm, Bright? is 4000K too bright?
Hi Ann,
A cooler, 4000K light color temperature serves as a better work light. In this case, cooking or baking.
Good luck!
Hello,
If I want to install in-ground well lights (2) to shine up at a 5′ x 8′ flag on a 35 foot pole, how many lumens should each light fixture be?
Hi Duane,
Please refer to this post:
https://www.alconlighting.com/blog/newsfeed/lighting-americas-flag/
Good luck!
Hi,
I understand this is rough estimate as there are other factors. My question is, if I determined my needed lumens on the entire room, should I divide it to number of fixtures/downlights?
Yes, Richard. You’re exactly right.
What a wonderfully well-written, informative piece. I’m a picky, writer-type, from the technical and non-fiction arenas, and I love finding such good writing scattered around the web, in non-obvious places.
Nice explanation
So enjoyed your article on ‘How to Determine how many Lumens you’ll need to properly light your space’. So clear, so brilliantly explained…..at least 100,000 lumens worth!
Thank you for such crystal clear text and the usefull tool available that allow us to do quick calculations.
I found this article while researching about IES profiles for a game developer. We have the ability to use IES profiles for each light source in our development tools, but I needed to find a good source on how much lighting to use in each “room” to help narrow down… Read more »
Hi David, This is such a helpful and well-written blog entry. Perhaps you can offer me a suggestion. I am looking for a lamp for a bedside table, specifically to have enough light to be able to do light reading or paperwork (eg, paying bills) before going to sleep. I… Read more »
Hi Terry,
If you would like to use the lamp with all other lights off in the room, and still be able to read, I’d double that lumen count to 400 at least. 400-500 lumens to be safe.
Glad you found the post useful. Good Luck.
I just wanted to say what an absolute gem of a website you have here. I live abroad and am not able to purchase from yourselves, but just wanted to say thank you for such as awesome blog and help.