Light Meters

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Digital Light Meters (as well as an analog model) designed for simple and accurate results in an industrial setting. Whether you are checking work spaces, parking lots, or baseball fields for safe levels of lighting or measuring for testing design compliance, a digital light meter will get the job done. Have the confidence to comply with OSHA guidelines and meet safety and security standards with an economical light meter, with or without NiST certification. Obtain precise FC or Lux measurements, in multiple light measurement ranges. These compact and rugged light meters are designed for use in work spaces, labs, schools, outdoor studies, optics, home inspections, and many others. In addition, you may use to check compliance with ANSI/NFPA 101 (standards for emergency & exit lighting).

Common Lighting Measurement Terminology

Candela: The unit of luminous intensity. One candela is defined as the luminous intensity of 1/600,000 square meter of projected area of a blackbody radiator operating at the temperature of solidification of platinum under pressure of 101,325 Newtons per square meter.

Footcandle: A footcandle is a measure of light intensity. A footcandle is defined as the amount of light received by 1 square foot of a surface that is 1 foot from a point source of light equivalent to one candle of a certain type.

Light Level: Light intensity measured on a plane at a specific location is called illuminance. Illuminance is measured in footcandles, which are workplane lumens per square foot. You can measure illuminance using a light meter located on the work surface where tasks are performed. Using simple arithmetic and manufacturers' photometric data, you can predict illuminance for a defined space. (Lux is the metric unit for illuminance, measured in lumens per square meter. To convert footcandles to lux, multiply footcandles by 10.76).

Lumen: A unit of light flow or luminous flux. The lumen rating of a lamp is a measure of the total light output of the lamp. The most common measurement of light output (or luminous flux) is the lumen. Light sources are labeled with an output rating in lumens. For example, a R30 65-Watt indoor flood lamp may have a rating of 750 lumens. Similarly, a light fixture's output can be expressed in lumens. As lamps and fixtures age and become dirty, their lumen output decreases (i.e., lumen depreciation occurs). Most lamp ratings are based on initial lumens (i.e., when lamp is new).

Luminance: Luminous Flux (light output). This is the quantity of light that leaves the lamp, measured in lumens (lm). Lamps are rated in both initial and mean lumens.

  • Initial lumens indicate how much light is produced once the lamp has stabilized; for fluorescent and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, this is typically 100 hours.
  • Mean lumens indicate the average light output over the lamp's rated life, which reflects the gradual deterioration of performance due to the rigors of continued operation; for fluorescent lamps, this is usually determined at 40% of rated life. 

Luminous: This is the amount of light measured on the work plane in the lighted space. The work plane is an imaginary horizontal, tilted or vertical line where the most important tasks in the space are performed. Measured in footcandles (fc or lux in metric), light levels are either calculated, or in existing spaces, measured with a light meter. A footcandle is actually one lumen of light density per square foot; one lux is one lumen per square meter. Like lumens, footcandles can be produced as either initial or maintained quantities.

Lux: The lux (symbol: lx) is the SI unit of illuminance and luminous emittance. It is used in photometry as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by the human eye, of light that hits or passes through a surface. It is analogous to the radiometric unit watts per square metre, but with the power at each wavelength weighted according to the luminosity function, a standardized model of human visual brightness perception.

Source: Light Resource.com, Light Research Center, Light Board, IES Lighting Handbook, 5th Edition