What light intensity should I choose?

Have you fallen in love at first sight with a beautiful crystal chandelier, a modern design fixture or an elegant lamp and are wondering what light intensity to choose? In this article you will find the answer.

But first a little theory so you know what we're talking about.

What is light intensity?

The most important criterion when choosing a light bulb is its luminous intensity, which is given in lumens - units of luminous flux. This indicates how bright the light will be. The luminous intensity represents the fraction of the luminous flux falling on a specific area. It is given in lux.

What is the ideal light intensity?

In our last article, we explained what the ideal light temperature and colour for each room is to make you feel comfortable in it. However, the appropriate lighting intensity is also integral to maximum comfort, as we need to be able to see clearly under our hands when cooking, whereas we prefer rather dimmer light in the bedroom.

And on the bedside table, for example, a lamp at which we can read without preventing our loved one from sleeping. The right intensity of light depends not only on the room, but also on the specific activity.

Recommended lighting intensity by room

• Bedroom, living room, children's room - 200 lx
• Kitchen, bathroom, porch - 150 lx
• Hallway - 100 lx

Recommended intensity by activity

• Cooking - 500 lx
• Reading - 300 lx
• PC work - 400 lx

The recommended light intensity is therefore variable. And for example, the appropriate lighting intensity for the living room will depend on whether you want to read, work or sit down with friends or family for a social game. That's why it's usually not enough to have just one light source and you need to add a wall light or lamps to the ceiling light - and combine their intensity as you like.

How to calculate the required light intensity

Simple. You multiply the area of the room and the recommended lighting value. This gives you the required luminous intensity (given in lumens), which can be found on the bulb packaging. So just follow this formula:

m² × lx = lm

Calculating the ideal luminous intensity for a 5 × 5 metre bedroom will look like this: 25 m² × 200 lx = 5000 lm.

However, bear in mind that it is always about the total light intensity in a given room, where there are usually several activities that need different brightnesses, so try to combine several light sources so that the sum of their luminous intensities is close to this recommended value.

And don't take it as dogma either. The calculation is more of a guideline. Of course, the truly ideal light intensity is influenced by your personal preferences as well as other factors such as the angle of emission or the colour of the room and furniture. In fact, in a white room with light furniture you can reduce the intensity by about 10%, whereas in a dark room the opposite is true.

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