Most landscape lighting falls between 50 and 300 lumens per fixture. But where your fixtures need to fall within that range depends heavily on how you plan to use them and what the surrounding area looks like.
You may wonder how bright outdoor lighting needs to be. It’s tempting to think that you can determine this by taking the size of the space and then backing into an exact lumens figure. But this is where outdoor lighting can be complicated. The way lights are used matters more than the fixtures themselves.
We’ll start with some rough guidelines. Plan on roughly 50 to 300 lumens for general landscape features, 100 to 200 for path and walkway lights, 50 to 120 for small plants and flower beds, and 140 to 300 for medium trees and shrubs. Spotlights are usually around 120 to 300 lumens.
That said, there are reasons to greatly exceed the normal range. For example, if you have a large canopy tree, you can justify shining 1,000 lumens of light or more from the top down. The light has to travel a long way and fill the crown.
Another technical point that’s important to understand is that lumens measure light output. Watts measure energy draw. LEDs broke the old wattage rules of thumb, so comparing a 50-watt halogen to a 7-watt LED isn’t useful. That’s why we use lumens and not watts these days.
You’ve likely noticed the ranges are very broad. The reason for that is that the human eye can adjust for all kinds of different light levels, so brightness is a relative concept to begin with. Even a simple streetlight can greatly change how you perceive brightness in a space. That’s why over-lighting is the more common mistake than under-lighting. Too much output flattens texture and causes glare. All that is to say, lighting should start low and be nudged brighter if required.
One more thing to consider is surface reflectivity. Pale stucco and light brick bounce light back and need less output, while dark brick and dense foliage soak it up and need more. You can have the exact same fixtures and see very different results.
Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Memphis builds custom landscape lighting across Germantown and nearby Collierville and East Memphis. To learn more, you can request a design consultation or call (901) 446-0688.