How much light would be enough to illuminate your space? This is an important question you should answer in order to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere in your home. Proper lighting is essential for living a healthier life. With the right amount of light, you can feel comfortable and relaxed in your room enjoying your everyday activities.

Have you ever noticed that you struggle to concentrate on doing something in a room that is not properly illuminated? In fact, adding more light to a dull and dim room is critical. More light can rejuvenate your room making it feel spacious and bright. The ideal amount of light can completely transform your space turning it into the most inspiring and pleasant environment. But how do you know that your room is well-lit?

The vast majority of architects and designers use different methods to properly light any space. If you want to create the most effective lighting scheme, you should know what those methods are. We would like to tell you about the main principles you should follow to choose the best lumen level for each room and make your home a truly charming place. Please, get acquainted with the terminology first.

What are Lumens?

To put it simply, lumens are a measure that indicates the total amount of visible light emitted by a lighting fixture. It is brightness of the lamp. Obviously, the higher the lumen rating, the brighter the bulb appears.

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Some people do not understand the difference between lumens and watts. They choose light bulbs depending on the amount of energy lamps use. However, it makes more sense to select the bulbs by comparing lumens and not watts. By looking at the lumens, you can see how much brightness the light source can provide.

What Does Wattage Mean?

The wattage shows the amount of energy a light bulb consumes to produce light. For example, a 40-watt incandescent bulb uses 40 watts of energy and emits just 380-460 lumens. If you take a 100-watt incandescent bulb, it will consume 100 watts of energy per hour and produce 1700-1800 lumens. Luckily, today we have lamps that use less energy and produce more light. You can replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb with a 4-watt LED bulb or 9-watt CFL. A 60-watt incandescent bulb can be replaced with a 7-watt LED or a 13-watt. A 100-watt incandescent lamp consumes too much energy. That’s why, you can replace it with a 15-watt LED or a 32-watt CFL.

Understanding Foot-Candle

A foot-candle is the measurement used to indicate light intensity. In other words, the foot-candle is one lumen per square foot. A foot-candle shows how bright the light is one foot away from the lighting source. You can be really surprised to know that this unit of illuminance is frequently used to calculate the levels of light in different spaces.

Calculating the Lumens You Need in Your Space

There are several important steps you should take to choose the ideal lumen level for your room. First and foremost, determine the size of your room in square footage. To get the correct number, multiple the length of the room in feet by the width of the room in feet as well. If your room is eight feet wide and long, the result will be 64 square feet.

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Once you know the square footage of the room, you should understand how many foot candles your space needs. A kitchen or a bathroom usually requires more foot candles in comparison with a bedroom and a living room. The bathroom may need 70-80 foot candles, hallway needs 5-10 foot candles, your bedroom and living room requires 10-20 foot candles each. When it comes to the kitchen, keep in mind that this space requires 30-40 foot candles in general.

And finally, multiply square footage of the room by the foot candles it needs. As a result, you will know how many lumens would be ideal for your space. For instance, a 64 square foot room that needs 20 foot candles will require more than 1200 lumens to feel bright and comfortable. According to some estimates, kitchens need about 5,000-10,000 lumens, bathrooms – 4,000-8,000 lumens, bedrooms – 2,000-4,000 lumens, living rooms require about 1,5000-3,000 lumens and dining rooms need 3,000-6,000 lumens. The home office requires 3,000-6,000 lumens approximately. Obviously, these are just rough estimates. You should take into account different factors to illuminate your space properly. The amount of light you get largely depends on the bulbs and lighting fixtures you prefer.

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Kitchens have to be brighter in comparison with the other spaces in your home. They usually have the combination of ambient and task lighting. Bedrooms, on the contrary, need less light to create atmosphere that will help you rest and relax after a long day at work.

Factors that Can Influence your Lumen Choice

The height of the ceiling in your room and the color of walls can play a decisive role in choosing the perfect lumen level for this particular space. If you have ceiling lower than 10 feet, it would be enough to follow the method described in the article to determine the right lumen level. But if the ceiling is taller than 10 feet, there is another scheme to consider. To estimate the necessary foot candle level, you should divide the candlepower by the height. The candlepower shows luminous intensity and is equal to 0,981 candelas. The height is the distance between the source of light and the horizontal target. Once you estimate how many foot candles are required for your space, multiply the number you have received by the square footage of your room.

If you have dark walls and furniture in your room, use additional 10 lumens per square foot to illuminate the space properly. You may also need additional lumens if you hang lighting fixtures with shades. If you are still not quite sure how much light you need, consider using lumens calculator. You may also contact a lighting professional to get the best results.

A well-lit space boosts your mood and gives you positive energy. By following simple rules, you will be able to illuminate your space magically and make each room of your home look stunning indeed.

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