Understanding the Importance of Delivered Lumens and Foot Candles

by | Nov 2, 2017 | 0 comments |

If you’re considering an LED retrofit your focus should be on delivered lumens and foot-candles to increase lighting performance. Lumen count may seem to be the metric for measuring a potential lighting product – but it shouldn’t be. A high quantity of lumens does not necessarily equate to brighter lighting. There are several other key factors that impact the lighting performance for your project. Let’s first understand what lumens are: Lumens are the overall light output that is produced for that product. For example, fluorescent light is omni-direction light and not all the light will be illuminating a space. Some of the light will travel upward and/or sideways. So, lumens are not the real metric that will tell you how bright your space will be. If your looking for improving your light performance delivered lumens to the surface is your key indicator. Here are some key metrics that will affect the brightness of your space:

  1. Candelas: Candela is the unit of luminous intensity of a light source. It’s a metric for the intensity of the light that is generate by the lamp
  2. Footcandles: Are an indirect measurement of delivered lumens. For example, if a lighting product produces 500 lumens how many of those lumens actually arrive at a specific square foot. The results are footcandles.
  3. Illuminance: This is light arriving at a surface. One lumen per square foot equals one foot-candle
  4. Correlated color temperature (CCT): Is a gauge of the color of the light. How yellow or blue the light appears. It’s measured in Kelvins and usually falls in a range of 2200 and 6500 Kelvin, with the low end (2200K) being more of the red/orange/yellow coloration and above 4000K is more of a blue light
  5. Color Rendering Index (CRI): is a Measure of the light quality of a light source as compared with sunlight (which is given the maximum CRI value of 100). The closer a light-source’s CRI is to 100, the better its ability to show true colors.

So, if you’re wanting to increase your lighting performance and brighten your space don’t think about just the lumens the product produces. Understand the foot-candles the lighting will produce on the surface, the CCT to get the light color/brightness that you want and a high CRI to get the best performance for your lighting project.

LED-Retrofit-Solution_Call-to-Action

Conclusion

If after reading this post you have additional questions reach out to us here at Action Services Group by calling 610-558-9773, email [email protected], or schedule a call that fits your needs by clicking the button below. We would be happy to put together a free, no-obligation assessment for your facility. Thanks, we look forward to hearing from you soon.

0 Comments

Table of Contents
  1. Terminology
  2. Conclusion

Blogs You Might Be Interested In

What Makes A Good Project Manager vs. A Bad Project Manager?

What Makes A Good Project Manager vs. A Bad Project Manager?

Project managers and project management companies are present in all industries. They lead projects of various sizes, managing and ensuring timely delivery. While the majority of project managers are capable and efficient, you can run into some that fall short of...

Upgrade to Industrial LED Lighting – Consider Your Space

Upgrade to Industrial LED Lighting – Consider Your Space

With their extended hours of operation and need to illuminate large areas, industrial facilities can benefit from installing LED lighting and controls. Lighting upgrades for industrial facilities are also labor-intensive when it comes to auditing and retrofitting the...

News You Might Be Interested In

Daylighting Controls Shows Health and Environmental Benefits

Daylighting Controls Shows Health and Environmental Benefits

Architects are attempting to integrate daylighting sensors into buildings as a means of making more energy-efficient facilities. Daylighting is a type of timed sensor where the brightness and color of the interior lighting mimics the sun and time of day. Meaning, from...

How Do Solar Panels Work?

How Do Solar Panels Work?

More facility managers are installing solar panels in their buildings as a way to implement sustainability practices into their business practices. Solar panels are used to convert sunlight into energy as a way to lower the amount of electricity used through...

Join Our Community

Thousands of business professionals rely on Action Services Group for the latest in Lighting,
Signage, and Electrical news. Add yourself to our community and receive timely updates on
safety, new products, energy savings, rebates, and so much more.
You can select what information you would like to receive.