Ultimate Guide to Recommended Lux Levels

Not sure what the recommended lux levels are for your warehouse? We’ve explained everything you need to know in this free guide. What are lighting levels, what's a foot candle, and how is light intensity all about?

Light Level, commonly called Illuminance, refers to the amount of light that is measured on a surface (which is a plane). It can also be described as the total luminous flux incident that strikes a surface. Simply put, it is the amount of light received by an area. It is measured per unit area and is commonly known as lux.

Why is understanding LUX important?

Lux is increasingly becoming popular in the modern world. It is important to plan out your lighting requirements to understand lux and what affects its values. For example, if you’re planning for how much warehouse LED lighting or warehouse LED street lighting you need, then a good understanding of lux is crucial so that these spaces won’t be too bright (thereby increasing your energy consumption) or too dim that it’s unsafe to work on.

Adequate lighting in buildings is crucial especially when you have staff working in those spaces. Your lighting levels need to be not only energy efficient, but a perfect light source for dark surroundings and reflective surfaces.

Benefits of LUX

As a unit of measurement, lux is extremely simple and effective when used in professional light planning. Since lux enables us to measure the total “amount” of visible light present and the intensity of the illumination on a surface, it is a more efficient measurement for determining the brightness of a beam.

Recommended LUX Levels

The lux value of direct sunlight on a normal, clear day is approximated to be 10,000 lux. However, this is significantly reduced when you’re already in a building, even in areas closer to windows. The lux levels may possibly be reduced to 1,000 lux.

For areas that are further away from natural light, the lux values significantly drop to 25 – 50 lux. Consequently, you may need additional lighting equipment to compensate for these low levels. If the nature of work in these areas requires precision or detailed work, the light level may range between 10000 to 20000 lux.

Here’s a table showing different workspaces along with the recommended lux levels for each:

What are the recommended footcandle levels?

Footcandles (or foot candles) are one of the most common units of measure used by lighting professionals to calculate light levels in businesses and outdoor spaces.

A footcandle (or foot candle) is defined as the illuminance on a one square foot surface from a uniform source of light. The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recommends the following footcandle levels to ensure adequate illumination and safety for occupants.

Below is a guideline for common areas to assist in achieving appropriate light levels with the greatest energy efficiency:

What are the recommended lux levels for a warehouse?

Choosing the correct type of lighting to fulfill your warehouse’s lighting requirements does not require rocket science. While there are several considerations to think about, choosing the correct type of lighting can be relatively easy. Some of the things to consider are the lighting plane, height of any racking, the spacing of any racking, ambient lighting, and what type of warehouse it is. High-bay warehouse lighting requirements, for example, are different compared to warehouse exhibition lighting. 

 The good thing is that LED lighting has become the norm because it is cheaper than fluorescent or halogen luminaires. However, it’s important not to buy the cheapest warehouse LED lighting you can find, as they’re guaranteed to have a high failure rate. Besides saving up on costs, you also want your lighting to work for 5 – 10 years easily without issue.

For warehouses, the recommended lux levels for storage areas, according to CIBSE / The Society of Light and Lighting, are a minimum of 150 lux at floor level and ideally 200 lux at the face of any racking.

 What are the CIBSE recommended lighting levels?

 Speaking of the CIBSE, here are some of their recommendations when planning for the lighting requirements of your workspaces: 

What are the recommended lux levels for street lighting?

Most lighting experts recommend an average of 15 to 30 lux is generally appropriate for street lighting. Some areas that don’t see much traffic may be illuminated to a lower level and busy prestigious city center areas to a much higher level.

In any case, the distribution of light from an array of fixed lanterns is problematic, and lighting on the highway surface is always patchy to some extent.

 The main benefit of street lighting is to illuminate the surrounding surfaces so that users can assess obstructions by their silhouette, not necessarily by the obstruction’s own luminance.

Conclusion: Light levels

 Different activities and different workspaces require different lux levels. It’s only natural that the more detailed the task, the greater the requirement for light levels per square meter. For example, a process control room should be lit at an illuminance of 300 lux. Warehouse LED street lighting may only require 50 lux, while drafting rooms for engineers and architects may require 750 lux.

Individuals carrying out different activities will need control over their local lighting. A control and instrumentation engineer coming into a process control room lit at 300 lux will still need a desk with a lamp to study a wiring diagram.

 Correctly setting up lighting conditions is beneficial. Several studies have shown that giving workers office landscapes with local control of lighting can increase job satisfaction and decrease the experience of stress.

 If you need help setting up the proper lighting to fulfill your workspace’s needs and tasks, Warehouse Fitout Group is here to offer our expertise in warehouse LED lighting services.