LED Indoor Lighting Calculator
Facility lighting impacts safety, productivity, and energy costs. LED Lighting Supply’s free LED Lighting Calculator is a convenient tool and lighting design resource that simplifies calculations for contractors and facility managers. Built on industry knowledge and expertise, the calculator works by guiding you through a step-by-step process to provide lighting recommendations. This ensures you reach the light required with a high level of detail and accuracy while optimizing energy efficiency across your facility.
Whether you’re starting from a basic idea or ready to spec fixtures, the calculator simplifies the process of estimating fixture quantity.
How to Use LED Lighting Supply's LED Indoor Lighting Calculator Tool
Measure and enter the length, width, and height of your room in feet. Accurate measurement of the dimensions of your room is essential. The calculator measures the required lighting based on these dimensions to ensure your lighting layout delivers the right illumination without dark installation center corners.
(Note: If your measurements include inches, add them as a fraction of feet instead.)
Enter the lumen output of your chosen LED light fixture. This value represents the brightness of your LED lights. The calculator helps determine the quantity of light fixtures needed by using lumens to indicate how much light the fixture emits and ensuring you properly light your entire room. Understanding your light source and its efficiency is essential to ensure your fixtures deliver the required brightness.
Input the foot candles required for your application. Different spaces require different brightness levels:
- Warehouses typically need 20-30 foot candles.
- Manufacturing areas may require 50-75 foot candles.
- Sports facilities may need 50-100 foot candles.
We have also curated a detailed breakdown of recommended foot candles for commercial, industrial, and sports environments.
Simply Select “Calculate Fixture Count”to receive your results. These results show the projected total number of LED fixtures you need to achieve your desired foot candles, based on your space’s dimensions and fixture lumen output.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Difference Between Lumens and Foot Candles?
This is one of the most common questions we receive from customers planning lighting upgrades. They are the two most important units in lighting. Lumens measure the total light emitted by a fixture, also referred to as LED Lumens when describing LED-specific output. Foot candles measure how much of that light actually reaches a surface. To put it simply, lumens tell you how bright the light is, and foot candles tell you how effectively that light illuminates your space.
We use foot candles because they’re the most reliable way to calculate light levels across a specific area. Understanding these measurements makes lighting planning more precise, and using a lighting calculator can help you quickly measure and determine the right amount of light for your project.
How Do I Manually Calculate How Many Lumens I Need?
To manually calculate the total lumens needed for a room, you can use the formula below:
- Lumens = Area (in sq ft) x Desired Foot Candles
- For example, if your warehouse needs 30 foot candles over 1,000 square feet, you’ll need around 30,000 lumens.
Our calculator simplifies this calculation for you by combining lumens, space dimensions, and ceiling height into one easy tool.
How Many LED Light Fixtures Do I Need for My Facility?
We’ve helped specify lighting layouts for thousands of facilities, and we’ve found that the ideal number of fixtures depends on several factors, including ceiling height, desired brightness, and fixture output. Our calculator uses these inputs to give you a fast and accurate estimate, so you don’t over-light or under-light the space. Many of our warehouse customers report that using our calculator helped eliminate dark installation center corners and reduced the trial-and-error phase during installation. Our Product Specialists can help you with fixture placement for the best results and even lighting.
What Will My Energy Savings Be If I Switch to LED?
In our 15+ years of experience, our customers have saved 50%–75% on energy costs on average when switching from traditional HID or fluorescent fixtures to LED.
LED lights offer higher lumens per watt, meaning you get more light with less energy. If you're running a facility with long operating hours, the savings can be significant, especially when combined with motion sensors or daylight harvesting. We offer a free Commercial LED Savings Calculator for easy calculations and our Product Specialists can also build a custom energy savings and ROI report for your specific space.
How Much Light (Foot-Candles) Do I Need for My Application?
Our customers often ask this during planning. Foot candle requirements vary depending on the type of space and activity level. Recommended foot candles vary by application and can even change within one location. For example, general warehouse areas typically need 20–30 foot candles, while manufacturing zones may require 50–75 foot candles. A gymnasium or sports court may need 60–100 foot candles, depending on the competition level and viewing needs. If you're unsure of your requirements, we’ve published a full breakdown of recommended foot candles by industry on our blog. You can also reach out to one of our Product Specialists for customized guidance based on your project specifications.
Table of Recommended Foot Candles by Area
| Area Type | Recommended Foot Candles |
| General Warehouse | 20–30 FC |
| Manufacturing | 50–75 FC |
| Gymnasium | 60–100 FC |
What Is the Expected ROI and Payback Period?
Our customers frequently tell us that upgrading to LED delivers a payback period of 1 to 3 years, depending on their existing system’s wattage, electricity rates, and hours of operation. In high-use environments like distribution centers, the ROI is often even faster.
Can I Use This Calculator for Different Facility Types or Only Warehouses?
You can use our LED Indoor Lighting Calculator for a wide range of commercial, industrial, and sports facilities. This includes warehouses, manufacturing floors, gyms, retail stores, and more. The flexibility of the tool allows you to define your own brightness target in foot candles, so you can customize results to meet the unique needs of your space.
Does This Calculator Provide Fixture Placement or Spacing Recommendations?
While this tool estimates the total number of fixtures you need, optimal placement and spacing depend on beam angles, ceiling height, and space geometry. That’s where our free lighting plan comes in. Our team has created thousands of photometric layouts to help customers visualize where each fixture should go for minimal glare and maximum energy efficiency and to cover the entire space evenly.
Optimize Your Facility’s Lighting Today
Whether you’re designing a layout for a new warehouse or retrofitting a sports facility, LED Lighting Supply’s free LED Indoor Lighting Calculator helps you estimate the right fixture count with confidence.
For precision lighting placement and layout support, our Product Specialists are ready to create a custom photometric lighting plan tailored to your project goals. Reach out today to get started.
