Reference Note 50

Measuring Light Intensity

Lumens Brightness
Footcandles and Lux In Summary ...
Candlepower

In doing lighting efficiency work, you need to You use footcandles or lux to measure the adequacy
measure light intensity. You also need to know how to of lighting on the task. Footcandles and lux relate only
express light intensity for selecting lamps and for laying to the task area, not to the lighting equipment or to the
out the overall lighting configuration. Unfortunately, geometry of the space. For example, you could create
lighting terminology tends to be confusing and an illumination level of 100 lux on a surface by using a
somewhat inconsistent. This brief Note introduces you single spotlight located far away, or by using many cove
to the terms that the lighting trade uses to communicate lights nearby.
about light intensity, and it points out which of these For energy conservation work in existing facilities,
terms are important to know. you need a light meter that measures illuminance in
footcandles or lux. You will use it continually as you
Lumens lay out lighting, select fixtures to be delamped, etc. Light
“Lumen” is the unit of total light output from a light meters have become inexpensive, so you can afford to
source. If a lamp or fixture were surrounded by a spend the money to get a rugged electronic unit of good
transparent bubble, the total rate of light flow through quality, rather than the older type that uses a fragile meter
the bubble is measured in lumens. Lumens indicate a movement. Figure 1 shows a footcandle meter.
rate of energy flow. Thus, it is a power unit, like the
watt or horsepower. Candlepower
Typical indoor lamps have light outputs ranging “Candlepower” is a measure of lighting
from 50 to 10,000 lumens. You use lumens to order concentration in a light beam. It is used primarily with
most types of lamps, to compare lamp outputs, and to lamps that focus, such as spotlights and PAR lamps. In
calculate lamp energy efficiencies (which are expressed lamps where candlepower is specified, the candlepower
as lumens per watt). rating usually applies only to a small spot in the center
Note that lumen output is not related to the light of the beam.
distribution pattern of the lamp. A large fraction of a
lamp’s lumen output may be useless if it goes in the
wrong directions.

Footcandles and Lux

“Footcandles” and “lux” are units that indicate the
density of light that falls on a surface. This is what light
meters measure. For example, average indoor lighting
ranges from 100 to 1,000 lux, and average outdoor
sunlight is about 50,000 lux.
The footcandle is an older unit based on English
measurements. It is equal to one lumen per square foot.
It is being replaced by lux, a metric unit equal to one
lumen per square meter. One footcandle is 10.76 lux.
Although footcandles are now officially obsolete, they
probably will continue to be used because many existing
light meters are calibrated in footcandles.
WESINC
The general term for lux or footcandles is
Fig. 1 Footcandle meter The meter is used to measure
“illuminance.” The general term is sometimes used by “illuminance.” It is the only measuring instrument that you
lighting engineers, but the units of lux or footcandles need for most applied lighting efficiency work. Being an older
are more commonly used. model, this meter indicates in units of footcandles. Newer
models indicate in units of lux.

© D. R. Wulfinghoff 1999. All Rights Reserved.

1426 11. REFERENCE NOTES

The official unit of candlepower is the “candela,” small as a lamp filament, or it could be as large as the
which is equal to one lumen per steradian. (A steradian whole sky, or it could be a task area, such as a desk top.
is a fraction of the surface area of a sphere that is equal Measuring brightness (“luminance”) is tricky and
to the square of the radius divided by the total surface requires specialized equipment. For practical work,
area. This is approximately 8% of the total surface area.) learn how to avoid excessive brightness, so you won’t
This term is rarely used in practical work. Lamp catalogs need to measure it. If you do a good job of laying out
usually list “candlepower” rather than candelas. This is lighting, people within the space will not be subjected
like using “horsepower” as both a general term and a to brightness that is severe enough to cause glare.
specific unit. To confuse matters further, candelas were Luminance is the converse of illuminance. The
earlier called “candles.” former describes the intensity of light that is leaving a
surface, whereas the latter describes the intensity of light
Brightness that is falling on a surface. For light reflected from a
In general, “brightness” is an expression of the surface, luminance equals illuminance multiplied by the
amount of light emitted from a surface per unit of area. percentage of reflectance.
“Brightness” is not an official term of the lighting trade, “Brightness” also is used to describe the subjective
and lighting designers may become huffy when you use sensation of light intensity. This sensation largely
it. However, the concept is essential for understanding depends on the overall layout of the scene surrounding
visual quality, especially in relation to contrast and glare. the viewer. An uncomfortable level of brightness is
Brightness does not inherently relate to lamps, or described as “glare.” (The term “glare” is used in several
even to light sources. The light could be reflected or ways. It is an important concept, but is not precisely
transmitted. For example, the bright surface could be defined by the lighting trade. Various types of glare are
the surface of a fluorescent tube, a page of a book, a explained in Reference Note 51, Factors in Lighting
window with a view of the sky, or a store window with Quality.)
reflections.
The closest official term is “luminance,” which is In Summary ...
expressed as candelas per square meter of light emitting So, here is the overall picture. A lamp produces a
surface. (Luminance used to be measured in certain amount of light, measured in lumens. This light
“footlamberts,” which is now an obsolete term.) For falls on surfaces with a density that is measured in
example, the luminance of a heavily overcast sky is about footcandles or lux. A person looking at the scene sees
1,000 candelas per square meter, and the luminance of different areas of his visual field in terms of levels of
a typical frosted light bulb is about 100,000 candelas brightness, or luminance, measured in candelas per
per square meter. square meter.
Luminance is defined in terms of the direction of Many characteristics other than light intensity are
light emission. The details get technical, and you important in selecting light sources. These include color,
probably will not need to deal with them. In brief, the operating temperature, starting time, etc. To learn about
brightness of an object usually depends on the direction all of them, see Reference Note 52, Comparative Light
from which you look at it. Source Characteristics.
Note that luminance has nothing to do with size of
the light emitting surface. The light source could be as

ENERGY EFFICIENCY MANUAL