Regardless of the type of light you’re installing in your outdoor garden project it’s important to know the intensity of the light’s brightness before installation. Getting this right is critical to creating the atmosphere you’re looking to achieve. Install lights which are too bright, and it’ll be too overpowering, whereas having them too low may cause a safety issue if their function is to illuminate paths or steps.
In this blog we’ll explore everything you need to know about light brightness for your outdoor light fittings, go into detail about which areas and types of lights need which lighting and ultimately answer the question, ‘how many lumens do you need for outdoor lighting?’.
Understanding Lumens
Essentially, a lumen is the measure of light or brightness something is producing. With the introduction of LED lights, it means fixtures are now able to produce more lumens with less energy output than lights would have traditionally been able to (think halogen or filament bulbs). As a result, light used to be measured in watts but that’s now changed to lumens. For example, an LED lamp of 10 watts will provide the same amount of light as a halogen bulb that’s 43 watts.
For gardens however, this measurement can prove to be tricky because not all garden lights provide as many lumens as it says on the box. Often, this is because of the way the lamp is designed and how the LED reflector has an influence on how much of the light’s output is visible.
Ok, that’s lumens explained, but how many do I need?
If you are used to measuring light output in watts, don’t worry we’ve got you covered. Here are how many lumens you should be looking for when it comes to different outdoor lights.
How many lumens are needed for outdoor path lighting?
Path lighting is used for decorative and practical purposes, looking great and guiding people around an outdoor space. How useful the light is will be determined by how well it can illuminate the path. For path lighting you’re looking at between 100-200 lumens, and this can be achieved with a 1-2w LED lamp.
How many lumens are needed for flood lighting?
Flood lighting aims to reproduce the all-embracing illumination of the sun. Whilst in large areas such as sports stadia the idea is to light those areas as close as possible to natural light. For gardens, however, they don’t need to be quite on that scale but do still require focused illumination. The lumens for this should be between 700-1300 lumens to provide sufficient light. Another thing to remember is flood lighting can often be used as security lighting too, so you want it to be as bright as possible.
How many lumens are needed for step lighting?
Step lighting illuminates a relatively small area and only needs 12-100 lumens to make sure it’s well lit. Stairs are hazardous so the step needs to be visible and light directed to where feet will be placed.
How many lumens are needed for pool lighting?
To light up your pool you’ll need 200-400 lumens. Pools are more intimate at night and should be lit with that in mind. We recommend several lights with 200-400 are installed around the pool.
You should now have a better understanding of how many lumens are needed for different outdoor lighting solutions in various areas in your garden. For all your garden lighting needs we have an extensive range of lighting solutions from Elipta, the professionals’ choice. Explore our website to see the full selection outdoor lighting solutions.