Before we touch on the subject of Indoor Lighting foot-candle requirements, let us review what is a foot-candle of light? A foot-candle is a term used to measure the amount of light that falls on a surface that is 1 foot away from a single candle. It is commonly used term as “foot-candle”, or “fc”.
In other words, 1 foot-candle equals 1 lumen of light distributed uniformly over a 1 square foot area. The difference between lumens and foot-candles are: lumens are a measure of total amount of light emitted by a source, on the other hand, foot-candles measure the amount of light that falls on a surface.
Is meeting the foot-candles requirement necessary?
The answer is yes. The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recommends foot-candle ranges through their standards & guidelines to help lighting designers, contractors, and builders to meet the lighting safety codes and performance.
The IES provides widely adopted recommendations to deliver approriate light level target and ensure a space is safe and functional in various applications.
The following table summarizes common maintained foot candle targets based on the IES recommendations for indoor lighting applications:
We, at NaturaLED, offer an in-house lighting layout service to our valued customers to ensure they meet or exceed the minimum required foot-candle for any indoor or outdoor applications. For more information, please reach out to us at info@naturaled.com.
