What is the difference between lux and lumens?

What is a light ?

Lumens measure the luminous flux emitted by a luminaire That is, it is the amount of light that a source emits without taking into account the surface it illuminates, and the higher the lumen value, the more light the source produces. . When talking about interior lighting, the most common is that the luminous flux is between 1100 and 3000 lumens, although this depends on other factors such as the height at which the luminaire is placed or its reach.

The concept of lumen is also essential for measuring luminous efficiency. , that is, the quantity of light produced by a luminaire in relation to the power it consumes (lm/W).

What is a lux ?

The concepts lux and lumen are closely related, and while lumens measure the amount of light emitted by a source, lux determines that same amount of light, but projected onto a surface. .

One lux would therefore be equivalent to one lumen per square meter. In short, this measurement helps us know the total amount of visible light and its intensity on a specific space, normally indicated from the center of the angle, where the light intensity is greatest.

Difference between lux and lumen

Once the concepts of lux and lumen are clear , it is much easier to understand the difference between the two measurements. And the main difference is that lux measures the intensity of light on a specific translucent surface, while lumen measures luminous flux regardless of distance where the light source is placed or the space it illuminates.

Thus , a 1000 lumen luminaire that projects its luminous flux over a space of 1 m2 would illuminate this place with 1000 lux, whereas if it were a space of 10 m2 , it would illuminate with 100 lux.