How Many Lumens Do I Need For Outdoor Lighting? (EASY Guide)

When it comes to illuminating the space around your home, you want to make sure you select lighting that enhances the area instead of clashing with the layout. Depending on the type of lighting that you choose, the number of lumens you need will vary.

Here we’ve provided a detailed breakdown of our ideal ranges of lumens for all the most popular outdoor lighting options, and which types of lights will help to bring together a tasteful ambiance outside of your home. Now let's bring some light to this topic.

What's In This Article

Most times, homeowners will want to illuminate their garden, patios, and water fixtures in the backyard. Many will ask "How many lumens do I need for outdoor lighting?"

A rule of thumb is if you have a 100W incandescent bulb, you should shop for energy-saving light with at least 1600 lumens. For a dimmer look, shop for a lightbulb with fewer lumens (1).

Aside from lumens, you should also consider functionality.

Will the lights serve security purposes like flood lights, or will they be more decorative like path lights? Security lights are typically brighter and utilize led lighting to maximize performance, whereas decorative lights are usually a mixture of both high and low light levels to create their desired effect.

When discussing how you want to design your backyard or any outdoor lighting, you have to consider your end goal to arrive at the amount of lumens you need.

There are a variety of outdoor lights that you can use, but here are the most common types:

Often, the front of the house features security lights, which we’ll discuss below, and also lights that adorn the house and show off the landscape.

When you’re deciding on what kind of effect you want for your outdoor space, consider a mixture of light levels that work for both embellishing and security. It's really important that your space must flow together instead of looking cluttered and disrupting the design (2)

Like many things in life, less can be more—and this is the case when it comes to landscape lighting. Your instinct might be to light up everything: every detail, every tree, every nook and every cranny. But besides potentially running up your power bill, this will wash the yard out.

For example, landscape lighting like a solar dusk to dawn light varies between 50 and 300 lumens, but note that scrubs and small bushes look great with 50 lumens and when lit from below.

Larger elements, such as sculptures in your garden, will go perfectly with dramatic lights that really bring them to life.

Ponds tend to look astonishing with lights that emanate from beneath the water, while lights along the edge accentuate pools. For more info on lumens, outdoor lighting effects, and answering "How many lumens do I need for outdoor lighting?" you can check out this great short video to help everything set in:

Ultimately, you have many different choices that you can mix and match to create the perfect ambiance for your outdoor space.

When answering the question, "How many lumens do I need for outdoor security lighting?" it all depends on the type of security light you plan to use.

Security lights like solar flood lights and motion sensor lights help illuminate and identify people that come near your home. They also serve as a deterrent for criminal activity.

For these types of outdoor security lighting, we recommend these lumen ranges:

Motion-Sensor Lights: 300-700 lumensFlood Lights: 700-1300 lumens

The ideal amount of lumens for a porch light ranges between 200-400 lumens in our experience.

If you choose to put a light directly on your porch, you’ll want to have about 400 lumens to help clearly see the door as you’re trying to enter. If you’re looking for something less bright looking, you can go for a light that's closer to 200 lumens.

To get the best estimate for your porch, you can check out our guide on lux vs lumens to further understand the terminology behind light sciences.

The number of lumens you need per square foot will range from person to person. This all begins with how much light you prefer in your outdoor space.

For a ballpark number, the general recommendation is 75 lumens per square foot. If the area your lighting won't be heavily occupied, you can opt to go a little lower, such as 45 or 60 lumens per square foot.

References

Dara Brant is the Managing Editor at Green Building Elements. Prior to joining us she covered alternative energy news and local developments at Your Energy Blog. Dara has a passion for sustainable living and wants to do more than her fair share to help build a better tomorrow for future generations. You can connect with Dara on LinkedIn.