What you need to know beforehand: lumens, lux, and light color.
The number of lumens indicates the light output of a light source. So, when you want to determine whether a lamp should be bright or more subdued, lumens are always important. But the amount of lux is also important; the number of lux is the light intensity per m². Lux is the amount of lumens per square meter. (number of m² x amount of lux = …… lumens of light intensity required). But how many lumens or lux does a particular space need? We'll explain that in this blog!
PLEASE NOTE: You also need to consider the light color. A warm light color (2200 – 3000K) provides less bright light than the whiter light colors (4000 – 6000K), even if they have the same number of lumens.
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Number of lumens per room:
The amount of lumens per room depends on the activities and purposes for which you will use the space. Some rooms require more light than others. A bathroom or kitchen typically needs more light than, for example, a bedroom or a living room.
Nowadays, much more is possible with LED lamps. You can dim the lighting, control it via an app, or dim it wirelessly. These are all ways to adjust the light intensity. This is very useful for when you need a little more or a little less light, depending on the situation.
Therefore, we have created a table below with the usual lumen and lux values per room.
| Number of Lumens and Lux per room | ||
| Room | Number of Lux (per M2) | Number of lumens (per M2) |
| Kitchen | 50 Lux | 500 Lumens |
| Dining room | 40 Lux | 400 Lumens |
| Office | 60 Lux | 600 Lumens |
| Bedroom | 30 Lux | 300 Lumens |
| Bathroom | 40 Lux | 400 Lumens |
| Hallway | 30 Lux | 300 Lumens |
| Living room | 15 Lux | 200 Lumens |
Factors to consider when determining the number of lumens per room
- Ceiling height: For higher ceilings, it is important to choose lamps with a wider beam angle or a higher light output to ensure the light is distributed evenly throughout the room.; As a rule of thumb, you can use approximately 500-700 lumens per square meter for ceiling heights up to 2.4 meters. This is 50 lux. For higher ceilings, you might consider increasing the number of lumens by about 100-200 lumens for each additional half meter.
- Beam Angle: The beam angle of the lamp determines the spread of the light. A wide beam angle provides greater coverage, while a narrow beam angle offers more focused lighting. If you have a lamp with a narrow beam angle, you may need a higher light output to achieve sufficient illumination.
- Specific characteristics of a room: A particular room may require more or less light. This depends on the situation for which the room is used.
| Number of lumens at ceiling height | ||||||
| Ceiling height | Number of Lux (per M2) | Type of space | Average desired number of lumens (per M2) | Required number of lumens x height | Desired beam angle | Number of M2 illuminated |
| 2.5 meters | 50 Lux | Residential | 500 Lumens | 1500 lumens | 140° | 18 |
| 3.0 meters | 50 Lux | Residential | 500 Lumens | 1700 lumens | 120° | 13 |
| 3.5 meters | 200 Lux | offices/commercial buildings | 2000 Lumens | 3400 lumens | 80° | 6 |
| 4.0 meters | 200 Lux | Sheds/industrial halls | 2000 Lumens | 3600 lumens | 70° | 6 |
| 5 meters | 200 Lux | Sheds/industrial halls | 2000 Lumens | 4000 lumens | 60° | 6 |
| 5.5 meters | 300 Lux | Warehouses | 3000 Lumens | 5200 lumens | 50° | 6 |
| 6.5 meters | 300 Lux | Warehouses | 3000 Lumens | 5600 lumens | 40° | 5 |
Parameters for the table above:
- Every 0.5 meter of height results in a 200 lumen loss
- The number of square meters (M2) you illuminate depends on the beam angle.When you want to illuminate a larger area, you need a wider beam angle.
- The above are example situations. For a specific situation, the number of lux per m2 may differ. The table is based on averages.
- When you double the beam angle, , e.g., 60° –> 120°, you must calculate with a factor of 3.5 times the light output (lumen) at the same height.
What happens to Lumen/Lux when doubling the beam angle?
When you double a beam angle, the light intensity will decrease because the light is dispersed more widely. If you want to maintain the same light intensity, you will need a higher light output (lumen).
- Example: Your hall/space is 6.5 meters high, so you need a light intensity of 5600 lumens per m2. You can achieve this with a LED High bay of 5600 lumens and a beam angle of 40°. In practice, not many high bay lamps have a beam angle of 40°, so if you choose a High bay with a beam angle of 90°, you will need 3.5 times as much light intensity. This means you need approximately 20,000 lumens. The advantage is that you illuminate more square meters at once from a height of 6.5 meters.
In the adjacent photo, you can see the lux output of a High Bay lamp with 20,000 lumens and a beam angle of 90°. Directly under the lamp, it has 257 Lux (light output per m2), and at the sides, 6.5 meters wide, a light output of 128 Lux (too low). This is not a problem, because when you hang the next lamp within 6.5 meters, the light from one lamp will overlap with the other. You can then add these lux values together to achievesufficient light output.
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