Foot candles

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nizak

Senior Member
I recently got a layout for a detached garage from a lighting supplier.

I gave them what the building was going to be used for(general use, small shop area, occasional vehicle repair,storage,etc.)

They returned me a proposal and layout showing 74 foot candles at a 30" work plane.

Could those here who are familiar with lighting specs give me a comparison to something that may have that type of illumination. Retail space, office, etc.

Also, the fixtures are LED and have a color temp of 5000K

The same fixture is also available in 4000K. Thoughts on that subject appreciated as well.

Thanks
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
5,000K lights are going to appear very white or bright compared to 4100 or 4000K. I dont remember the last time I installed anything more than 4100K. Not saying they dont have applications, just that I havent installed many at all.

From an article I recently read:

"They’re [high K] way too harsh and visually abrasive. You don’t want your house looking like a gas station!"
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
5,000K lights are going to appear very white or bright compared to 4100 or 4000K. I dont remember the last time I installed anything more than 4100K. Not saying they dont have applications, just that I havent installed many at all.

From an article I recently read:

"They’re [high K] way too harsh and visually abrasive. You don’t want your house looking like a gas station!"
I can agree from experiences alone. 5000K drives me nuts if I am in an area lighted by it for very long.

They are a little more acceptable outdoors, still an annoying color temp IMO.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
5,000K lights are going to appear very white or bright compared to 4100 or 4000K. I dont remember the last time I installed anything more than 4100K. Not saying they dont have applications, just that I havent installed many at all.

From an article I recently read:

"They’re [high K] way too harsh and visually abrasive. You don’t want your house looking like a gas station!"

Yeah, but look at the space usage. A gas station is almost exactly what that is! For that, I think brighter is better as long as the CRI doesn't get skewed too much.
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
I recently got a layout for a detached garage from a lighting supplier.

I gave them what the building was going to be used for(general use, small shop area, occasional vehicle repair, storage, etc.)

They returned me a proposal and layout showing 74 foot candles at a 30" work plane.

Could those here who are familiar with lighting specs give me a comparison to something that may have that type of illumination. Retail space, office, etc.

Also, the fixtures are LED and have a color temp of 5000K

The same fixture is also available in 4000K. Thoughts on that subject appreciated as well.

Thanks
.
i'd do 3000K. that's what all the LED's in my house are at.
it works well here. 4,000 will work fine if that's all you can get. i'd avoid 5K.

if you are doing close bench work, 75 FC is plenty.
commercial kitchens require 50 FC per the health department here.

my home kitchen has 4 LED can lights in an 800' ceiling, at 700 lumens each,
and the illumination on the countertop is 45 FC. the garage has the same
illumination level.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
Foot candles is an obsolete term, the current term is Lumens, or in the SI world, LUX.
Wrong.
Lumens measure an absolute total amount of light. Lux measures light level at a given point.
Lumens correspond to candles, lux corresponds to foot candles.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
.
i'd do 3000K. that's what all the LED's in my house are at.
it works well here. 4,000 will work fine if that's all you can get. i'd avoid 5K.

if you are doing close bench work, 75 FC is plenty.
commercial kitchens require 50 FC per the health department here.

my home kitchen has 4 LED can lights in an 800' ceiling, at 700 lumens each,
and the illumination on the countertop is 45 FC. the garage has the same
illumination level.

Wow! An 800 foot ceiling! Do clouds form up there? :lol:
 

ewinghome

Member
Location
Redding, CA
75 foot candles is more than enough. That number is good for detailed work. A typical office is around 50 fc. 5000k is the same color temperature as the sun. Not a usual temp to specify, but will look great in a garage.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
75 foot candles is more than enough. That number is good for detailed work. A typical office is around 50 fc. 5000k is the same color temperature as the sun. Not a usual temp to specify, but will look great in a garage.
How come 5000k lamps are more annoying to be around then being in natural sunlight then? There has more to it then just the 5000k color temp if that is the case.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
How come 5000k lamps are more annoying to be around then being in natural sunlight then? There has more to it then just the 5000k color temp if that is the case.

In theory, all items, regardless of composition, when heated to 5,000K will throw off the same spectrum. However, IIRC the rating for various light sources is for effective color temperature which means the actual spectral distribution for two sources with the same color temperature may not be the same.
 

dkidd

Senior Member
Location
here
Occupation
PE
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