Choosing the right barn lighting can have a significant impact on the visibility, safety and energy efficiency of a barn, so it is important to understand what lumen principles are more appropriate for a barn and how to calculate the specific number of lumens needed for a barn.
What are lumens?
Lumens are the total amount of visible light emitted by a fixture's light source; in theory, the higher the lumens, the brighter the light. When planning pole barn lighting, the main thing to consider is whether the lumen output is suitable for the barn environment, to ensure that the barn area is well lit, so that the safety and practicality of the barn is guaranteed.
Lumen Principles for Barn Lighting
The number of lumens needed for pole barn lighting depends mainly on the size of the layout of the barn and the purpose of the barn, the following are some relevant lumen principles:
- General Areas: The lumen goal for storage areas in a barn or for some basic barn activity areas is approximately 10-20 lumens per square foot.
- Work Areas: For areas of the barn used for delicate work, such as carpentry or maintenance, the lumen goal is approximately 50-80 lumens per square foot.
- Livestock areas: Areas where animals are kept require adequate lighting for regular maintenance and veterinary care, so aim for about 20-50 lumens per square foot.
Calculating the specific lumens needed for barn lighting
A simple formula on calculating the lumens needed for pole barn lighting is as follows:
Total lumens = square footage x lumens needed per square foot
For example, if your barn is 30ft x 40ft in size, which is 1200 square feet, and also this barn is mainly used for some basic purposes, the lumens needed per square foot is about 10-20 lumens, then substituting the formula will give you:
1200 square feet x 10-20 lumens = 12,000-24,000 lumens
This means that the total number of lumens needed for a 1200 square foot barn is somewhere between 12,000-24,000 lumens.
Choosing the right led pole barn lights for your barn
After confirming the total number of lumens needed for the barn, the next step is to choose the right led pole barn lights for a barn. JC-LGL's High bay LED lights specially designed for barns are a very good choice, which are easy to install, have a long lifespan and low energy consumption, and come with an IP65 standard, which makes them waterproof and dustproof, and can operate stably in a barn environment.
If you're still in doubt about how many led barn lights you need to buy for your pole barn lights, feel free to use our specially designed light calculator to help you get the answer quicker:
Room Lighting Calculator
Result:
Related posts:
1. What is the best lighting solution for a barn?
2. Dimmer Switch Installation and Usage Guide
3. How many lumens for workshop lighting?
2 thoughts on “How many lumens do you need for barn lighting?”
JCLGL TEAM
To William Speciale：
30 foot candles is about 300 lux. For a space that’s 48’ long, 34’ wide, and 17’ high, we recommend the 150W High Bay LED Lights – Adjustable Series (6-pack), or the 200W High Bay LED Lights UFO HB Series – Black (4-pack).
The exact number of lights you need depends on your layout, so it’s best to adjust based on how you plan to arrange the space.
Hope this helps!
William Speciale
What is the best LED high bay light fixture to achieve 30 foot candles for a room with the following dimensions?
Length 48’
Width 34’
Height. 17’