Illuminance

Illuminance Converter

Details

How to use Illuminance Converter

What the tool does, how to run it, and what to expect from the result.

How to convert illuminance units

Enter an illuminance figure, pick the unit it is in, and pick the unit you want. Lux, foot-candles and phots update together, which covers European standards, American standards and legacy optics literature.

The lux is the internal base and the foot-candle factor is exact. Illuminance is a per-area quantity, so keep it separate from lumens (total output) and nits (surface luminance), neither of which convert from lux without extra information.

  • Type the illuminance in the Value box, for example 500.
  • Pick the From unit, for example Lux (lx).
  • Pick the To unit, for example Foot-candle (fc).
  • Read the result and compare it against a lighting standard.
  • If you have lumens instead, divide by the lit area in square meters to get lux first.
Tips

Getting a better result out of Illuminance Converter

Specific settings and thresholds, not general advice.

  • 1 foot-candle is 10.763910416709722 lux, which is exactly the number of square feet in a square meter. That is not a coincidence: a foot-candle is one lumen per square foot and a lux is one lumen per square meter.
  • Office standards are in lux: 500 lux for general office work is 46.45 foot-candles, and a 100 lux corridor is 9.29 foot-candles.
  • Reference points: direct sunlight is around 100,000 lux (9,290 fc), an overcast day is about 1,000 lux, a well-lit room is 300 to 500 lux, and a full moon is about 0.1 lux.
  • The phot is a CGS unit equal to 10,000 lux (one lumen per square centimeter). It effectively only appears in older optics texts.
  • Illuminance is light landing on a surface. Lumens (luminous flux) and nits (candela per square meter, luminance) are different quantities and are not convertible from lux without more information.
Limits

What Illuminance Converter does not do

The honest boundary, so you do not lose time finding it yourself.

  • No lumens, candela, nits, lamberts, or apostilbs.
  • No inverse-square math, so it cannot tell you the lux at a distance from a lamp of a given lumen output.
  • No photographic EV or lux-to-exposure conversion.
  • One value at a time, and no light-meter input.
At a glance

Who Illuminance Converter is for

A quick way to understand who this helps, what it solves, and where it connects next.

Best fit

Students, engineers, developers, makers, and anyone who needs a quick, accurate illuminance conversion.

Ideal for

Fast, reliable illuminance conversions without installing an app or trusting a server with your numbers.

FAQ

Common questions

Short answers for the questions people usually have before trying a utility like this.

Does my data get uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything runs locally in your browser and nothing is sent to a server.

Is this free to use?

Yes. It is completely free, with no account, no signup, and no usage limits.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. The page runs in any modern mobile browser, on iPhone and Android alike, with no app to install.

How many lux is one foot-candle?

10.763910416709722 lux. The factor is exact, and it is the same 10.7639 that converts square feet to square meters, because both units are lumens per unit area and only the area unit changes.

Can I convert lumens to lux?

Not directly, because lumens measure total light output and lux measures light per square meter. Lux equals lumens divided by the illuminated area, so an 800 lumen bulb spread evenly over 4 square meters gives 200 lux. This converter has no area field, so do that divide yourself.

How many lux do I need for reading or office work?

Common guidance is 300 to 500 lux for reading and general office tasks, which is 28 to 46 foot-candles. Detailed work such as drafting or fine assembly is often specified at 750 to 1,000 lux, and corridors at around 100 lux.

Is a nit the same as a lux?

No. A nit is a candela per square meter, which measures luminance, the light coming off a surface toward you, and is how screen brightness is specified. Lux measures illuminance, the light falling onto a surface. A 1,000 nit phone screen and a 1,000 lux room are unrelated quantities.

Why does the lux to foot-candle factor match the square meter to square foot factor?

Because both illuminance units are lumens divided by an area. Change the area unit from square meters to square feet and the number changes by exactly the same factor that separates the two areas, 10.7639104167.

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