To improve security or light up your area, you installed outside floodlights, but something seems wrong. There’s too much light in some places, and too much intense glare in others. Choosing the appropriate lighting might be challenging due to this frequent issue; without the right advice, it’s simple to feel stuck.
Fortunately, choosing the appropriate lumens for your outdoor flood lights isn’t as difficult as it might appear. Making the appropriate choice requires knowing lumens and how they affect brightness, whether you’re lighting a vast parking lot or a little footpath.
To ensure that your outdoor lighting is efficient and not overpowering, we’ll walk you through the process of selecting the ideal lumen count for your needs in this article.
What Are Lumens and Why They Matter
Lumens are a unit of measurement for the total quantity of visible light emitted by a light source. As lumens increase, so does the light’s brightness. Lumens indicate the actual amount of light generated, unlike watts, which indicate energy consumption. For instance, a 9-watt LED bulb may emit the same amount of light with less energy than a 60-watt incandescent bulb, which can create roughly 800 lumens.
You can select the ideal brightness for your area by understanding outdoor lighting lumens. Whereas places with too many lumens cause glare or light pollution, areas with too few are dark. For lighting to be effective, the lumens must be matched to the purpose of the place, be it security, ambiance, or safety.
Lumens for Common Outdoor Applications
The size of the space you’re illuminating and its intended use will determine how many lumens you need. We’ve included broad suggestions for several outdoor areas below to assist you in finding the ideal balance between energy efficiency and lighting.
Small Areas(5-15 m²): Pathways, Porches, Doorways
For smaller spaces, such as a front porch or walkway, you should strike a balance between style and utility. Usually, 500 to 1500 lumens is enough to illuminate a room sufficiently without being too bright. For example, a 5W LED light with about 600 lumens is perfect for illuminating your home’s entrance with a warm, gentle glow.
Medium-Sized Areas (20-50 m²): Backyards, Small Driveways
Aim for 600–1500 lumens for medium-sized spaces like driveways or backyards. This provides enough of brightness while using less electricity. Even though the area is larger, other sections, like landscape lights, only require fewer lumens. It’s more crucial to create atmosphere than to flood the space with light.
Large Areas (50-200 m²): Large Driveways, Parking Lots
To maintain clarity and visibility in larger areas, including parking lots or large driveways, a higher lumen output is necessary. Generally speaking, 1500–10,000 lumens is advised, depending on the size and purpose of the place. For instance, a 60W LED floodlight with 6000 lumens is ideal for big residential spaces like broad gardens or long driveways. A 100W LED floodlight with about 10,000 lumens will be bright enough for safety and visibility in public or commercial areas, like parking lots or larger properties.
Choosing Lumens for Different Purposes
Security Lighting: Bright for Protection
The goals of security lighting are deterrent and visibility. The objective is to have enough light in your area to detect any dangers or intruders. Brighter lights that emit a broad glow are necessary for security purposes in order to cover bigger areas, such as driveways, backyards, or commercial sites. For example, to provide clear sight at night, a medium-sized backyard (approximately 40 m²) may need lighting of about 4,000 lumens.
Landscape Lighting: Soft for Ambiance
The goal of landscape lighting is to give your area a cozy, welcoming atmosphere rather than just producing brilliant areas. The idea is to draw attention to particular elements, such flower beds, trees, or sculptures, without overpowering the space. Approximately 600 lumens is enough to give a soft glow that highlights important features in a small garden (approximately 20 m²).
Pathway Lighting: Subtle for Safety
A balance between keeping people safe and not being overly bright must be struck by pathway lighting. Avoiding glare while supplying enough light for visibility is the aim. One can use 100 to 200 lumens each fixture to illuminate a standard garden walk, which is around 10 meters long. This degree of brightness makes the way easier to see and ensures safety without being uncomfortable.
Parking Lot Lighting: Bright and Even for Visibility
Brightness and consistency are key when it comes to parking lot lighting. Strong lighting is necessary in large spaces, such as parking lots, to guarantee that both cars and pedestrians can be seen, especially in places with heavy traffic. For instance, 10,000 lumens may be required to maintain safety and provide complete coverage in a business parking lot (about 1000 m²). In order to prevent any dark areas, it is important to have uniform, even lighting across the room.
Brightness Comparisons: How Bright Is It?
2000 Lumens
This is comparable to the brightness of a small LED floodlight or a medium-sized interior table lamp. It’s ideal for lighting tiny spaces like a front door, patio, or garden. You can light roughly 100–150 square feet with 2000 lumens, which is perfect for modest living areas without being too bright.
5000 Lumens
The medium commercial lighting you could see in a store or larger driveway is comparable to this. Typically, a 50W LED floodlight generates about 5000 lumens, which is enough brightness for larger areas like tiny parking lots or lengthy roads. This lighting level is perfect for bigger domestic settings or smaller business locations because it covers roughly 250–350 square feet.
10000 Lumens
10,000 lumens is the equivalent of street lighting and is ideal for vast spaces like commercial parking lots or sports fields. Normally, a 100W LED floodlight covers 350–500 square feet with 10,000 lumens. For wide-open areas that need excellent visibility for security or safety, this brightness setting is ideal.
Other Factors to Consider for Outdoor Lighting
Lumens are a significant factor, but not the only one, to take into account when choosing outdoor flood lights. Your lighting selection may also be influenced by a number of other important factors.
Energy Efficiency and Longevity
Up to 90% less energy is needed to produce the same brightness with LED flood lights than with traditional incandescent bulbs. Additionally, they last longer—typically 30,000 hours or more—than halogen lights, which only last 2,000 hours. In the long term, this makes them an affordable and low-maintenance option.
Light Distribution and Light Pollution
Light should be evenly distributed over the intended area via outside flood lights, avoiding glare or spilling over into nearby homes. Dark Sky Friendly fixtures, for instance, focus light where it is required and lessen light pollution. By avoiding light leaks upward or sideways, full-cutoff fixtures can help preserve the atmosphere of your area and cause the least amount of disturbance.
Smart Lighting
Outdoor lighting is now more versatile than ever thanks to technology. Motion-sensor lights save energy and improve security by only turning on when movement is sensed. Smart lighting systems make it simple to manage your outdoor lighting by enabling you to remotely control your lights, change their brightness, or set schedules using a voice assistant or smartphone.
Light Color and Temperature
Another crucial factor to take into account is the color temperature of your outdoor flood lights. Because they offer clear, sharp illumination, cool white lights (5000K–6500K) are perfect for security lighting. Select lights with a warm white color temperature (2700K-3000K) if you want to create a cozier, more welcoming look. Keep in mind that, even at the same lumen output, a cooler light will appear brighter.
Still Have Questions About Outdoor Flood Lighting?
Are you unsure which floodlight will work best in your outside area? We can assist you with lighting a huge commercial area or a tiny footpath. Which is the primary function of your outdoor lighting—ambiance, security, or both? Are you still unsure about which lumen range is best for you?
Please contact us if you would need tailored recommendations. Casyoo provides a large selection of energy-efficient LED flood lights that can be customized to your individual requirements. Contact us right now to discover the perfect lighting option to brighten your area!
