Welcome to the guides and tips section of our blog where we give you all the tricks from the top self for an amazing home décor.
In today’s episode (blog of course), we will answer to a simple yet important question: “How many lumens do I need to light my space?”
Before diving in depth on our today’s topic let’s understand some key terms:
Lumens
Also refereed as brightness or light output, Lumen is a measurement of light by a source whether its led, fluorescent etc. Usually, a 100 watt light bulb produces 1.5k to 1.7 lumens.
Watts
It’s a measurement that indicates the amount of energy a light bulb consumes to reach its brightness. All kinds of light bulbs have a different lumen per watt ratio.Efficacy
This measurement indicates the number of lumens a bulb produces for each watt it consumes. For instance, a bulb with an energy star label produces higher efficacy for less amount of energy consumed.
How many lumens do we need?
Since we get a grasp of some important terms, it’s time to dive into the actual topic. If we break it down to square footage and foot candles by room type, we will get how many lumens we need per room.
To determine your room square footage (if you don’t know it), multiply the length times the width of the room. If your bedroom for instance, is 10 feet long and 10 feet wide, then your square footage is 100 square feet. Now, a foot candle is how bright a light is in one foot far from the source.
So how do we determine how many lumens do we need? You just need to multiply your room’s square footage by your room’s foot candle requirement. Simple right?
Examples: A 100 square foot living room with 10-20 foot candles will need 1000-2000 lumens. A 100 square dining room with 30-40 foot candles will need 3000-4000 lumens.
Conclusion
An average space of 250 square feet, you will probably need 5000 lumens. In your dining room, you could go with 30 lumens per square foot, roughly 540 lumens.
Pro tip: It all depends on the room you will choose to light it up. If you have dark coloured walls or furniture, if you are using fixtures with shades like our wood pendant lights, you might need additional 10 lumens or so per square foot.
Pro tip 2: Always aim high on lumens and use dimmers. This way you will have the maximum brightness you need but you could also adjust it according to your needs.