Help with choosing a Light Bulb

Bulb Photometrics

Realistically speaking, a lighting fixture, whether for indoor lighting or outdoor lighting, is basically a bulb holder. Therefore when we are asked about what type of fixture to use for an application, the question should really be what kind of bulb to use for the application because the light output will primarily be determined by the bulb that is used. This is why we provided this light bulb photometrics page to better help you choose the correct bulb for your application. If you do not find your bulb here, then click here.

Foot Candle Definition

Webster's Dictionary, 1913

The amount of illumination produced by a standard candle at a distance of one foot.

An easy example would be to have you get a ruler and a standard candle. Light the candle and put the candle at the beginning of the ruler. Make sure you are in a dark room with no lights on. Now you can see how One foot-candle of light is the amount of light that candle generates from one foot away.

Another way to look at it: Let's take a light fixture with a bulb that you're told should produce 50 foot candles of light. This means that at one foot from this fixture, you will receive 50 foot candles of light.

Kelvin Definition

Kelvin Ratings apply to White bulbs only.

***A basic unit of thermodynamic temperature (colour temperature or Kelvin) used to measure the whiteness of the light output. The higher the number is, the whiter the light is. When white is over 6000K the light usually begins to turn to blue as daylight.
Kelvin temperature is often referred to as color temperature and NOT the actual temperature of the light source. It only describes the actual appearance of the light itself. Therefore Kelvin degrees are the the measurement of the color temperature that a light produces. A lower temperature indicates a warmer light appearance that has more yellow, while higher temperature would indicate a cooler light that has more blue in color appearance.

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