IES Foot Candle Recommendations
Use the selections below to find the foot candles you need for your application. Once you determine the foot candles, multiply the square footage of the space you are lighting by the foot candles for that application. This will tell you the total lumens you need to light the space.
Auditorium
Recommendations
| Social activities | 5-10 fc |
| Assembly only | 10-20 fc |
| Exhibitions | 10-50 fc |
Commercial/Retail
Automotive
| Showroom | 25-100 fc |
| Service area | 25-100 fc |
| Sales Lot (exterior) - Lighting Zone 3 (urban) | 10-40 fc |
| Sales Lot (exterior) - Lighting Zone 2 (suburban) | 7.5-30 fc |
Banks
| ATM | 10-40 fc |
| Lobby general | 10-50 fc |
| Writing areas | 20-70 fc |
| Teller stations, posting & keypunch | 50-150 fc |
Barber Shops
| Beauty Parlors | 50-100 fc |
| Chemical Works | 30 fc |
| Laboratory (professional) | 75-120 fc |
Gas Station
| Gas Station Canopy | 10-25 fc |
| Convenience Store | 25-100 fc |
| Stock room | 10-30 fc |
Grocery, Supermarkets
| Grocery/Supermarkets | 25-100 fc |
| Circulation | 10-40 fc |
| Stock room | 10-30 fc |
Laundries
| Washing | 20-50 fc |
| Ironing | 20-100 fc |
Offices
| Accounting | 50-100 fc |
| Audio-visual areas | 20-50 fc |
| Conference areas | 20-70 fc |
| Corridors, stairways | 20 fc* |
| Drafting | 50-200 fc |
| General and private offices | 50-100 fc |
| Lobbies, lounges, break rooms, and reception areas | 5-20 fc |
| Mail sorting. | 50-100 fc |
| Off-set printing and duplicating area | 20-50 fc |
| Open office | 30-50 fc |
| Restroom | 7.5-30 fc |
| Whiteboard (reading) | 7.5-30 fc |
| Whiteboard (presenting) | 15-60 fc |
| *Or not less than 1/5 the level in adjacent areas | |
Paint Shop
| Spraying, rubbing, hand art, stencil | 20-50 fc |
| Fine hand painting & finishing | 50-100 fc |
Printing
| Photo engraving, etching, blocking | 20-50 fc |
| Color inspecting | 100-200 fc |
| Presses | 50-100 fc |
| Proofreading | 100-200 fc |
| Composing room | 50-100 fc |
Retail
| Circulation area stockroom | 10-30 fc |
| Department store | 20-80 fc |
| Discount, Warehouse, Drug, Convenience | 25-100 fc |
| Merchandising, serviced | 30-100 fc |
| Merchandising, self-service | 200 fc |
| Shopping mall | 30 fc |
Manufacturing/Industrial
Airplane Manufacturing
| Drilling, riveting, screw fastening | 75 fc |
| Final assemble, hangar | 100 fc |
| Inspection | 50-200 fc |
| Welding | 50 fc |
Assembly
| Rough (easy seeing) | 20-50 fc |
| Rough (difficult seeing) | 50-100 fc |
| Medium | 100-200 fc |
| Fine | 200-500 fc* |
| Extra fine | 500-1000 fc* |
|
*Obtained with a combination of general light plus specialized supplementary lighting |
|
Automobile Manufacturing
| Final assembly, finishing, inspecting | 200 fc |
| Body & chassis assembly | 100 fc |
| Body parts manufacturing | 100 fc |
| Frame assembly | 50 fc |
Clothing Manufacturer
| Receiving, storing, shipping, winding, measuring | 20-50 fc |
| Pattern making, trimming | 50-100 fc |
| Shops, marking | 50-200 fc |
| Cutting, pressing | 100-500 fc* |
| Sewing, inspection | 200-500 fc* |
*Obtained with a combination of general light plus specialized supplementary lighting | |
Electrical Equipment Manufacturing
| Impregnating | 20-50 fc |
| Insulating coil winding, testing | 50-100 fc |
Foundries
| Annealing furnaces | 20-50 fc |
| Cleaning | 20-50 fc |
| Core making | 50-200 fc |
| Inspection (Fine) | 100-500 fc |
| Inspection (Medium) | 50-100 fc |
| Molding | 50-200 fc |
| Pouring, Sorting | 50-100 fc |
Industrial/Manufacturing (Other)
| Assembly & inspection (simple) | 15-60 fc |
| Assembly & inspection (difficult) | 50-200 fc |
| Assembly & inspection (exacting) | 150-600 fc |
| Component manufacturer (large part) | 15-60 fc |
| Component manufacturer (med. part) | 25-100 fc |
| Component manufacturer (fine part) | 50-200 fc |
Iron & Steel Manufacturing
| Stock, hot top, checker cellar, calcining | 10-30 fc |
| Building, slag pits, stripping yard | 20 fc |
| Core making | 50-200 fc |
| Control platforms, repairs, mixer building | 30 fc |
| Rolling mills | 30-50 fc |
| Shearing | 50 fc |
| Tin plate | 50 fc |
| Motor room, machine room | 30 fc |
| Inspection | 100 fc |
Machine Shop
| Rough bench | 20-50 fc |
| Medium bench, rough grinding, buffing | 50-100 fc |
| Fine bench and work | 20-500 fc* |
|
*Obtained with a combination of general light plus specialized supplementary lighting |
|
Paper Manufacturing
| Beaters, grinding | 20-50 fc |
| Finishing, cutting | 50-100 fc |
| Hand counting | 50-100 fc |
| Paper machine reel, inspection | 100-200 fc |
| Rewinder | 100-200 fc |
Sheet Metal Works
| General | 100 fc |
| Tin plate inspection, galvanized, scribing | 100-200 fc |
Textile Mills
| Cotton picking, carding, roving, spinning | 50 fc |
| Beaming & slashing | 150 fc |
| Drawing | 200 fc |
| Others | 100 fc |
Welding
| General | 20-50 fc |
Woodworking
| Rough sawing and benchwork | 20-50 fc |
| Sizing, planing, rough sanding, medium quality machine and bench work, gluing, veneering, cooperage | 20-50 fc |
| Fine bench and machine work, fine sanding and finishing | 50-100 fc |