Convert illuminance from footcandles (fc) to lux (lx).
Formula:
Lux = Footcandles × 10.7639If you're working in lighting design, architecture, photography, horticulture, or engineering, understanding how to convert between footcandles (fc) and lux (lx) is crucial. Both units measure illuminance—how much light hits a surface—but are used in different regions and standards. Our Footcandles to Lux Calculator allows you to quickly and accurately perform this conversion to ensure your projects meet the necessary lighting specifications.
A footcandle (fc) is a non-SI unit of illuminance commonly used in the United States. It measures how much light is received on a surface that is one foot away from a uniform point source of one candela. One footcandle is equal to one lumen per square foot.
1 fc = 1 lumen/ft²
Lux (lx) is the SI (International System of Units) unit for measuring illuminance. It quantifies how many lumens fall on a square meter. Lux is widely used internationally, especially in Europe and Asia, for all lighting applications from offices to street lighting.
1 lx = 1 lumen/m²
The conversion between footcandles and lux is based on the relationship between square feet and square meters:
1 footcandle = 10.76391 luxTherefore, to convert from footcandles to lux:
lux = footcandles × 10.76391Example:
lux = 50 fc × 10.76391 = 538.1955 luxThis calculator helps avoid manual errors and saves time, especially when converting large sets of data or validating lighting plans.
Converting between footcandles and lux ensures that lighting professionals can work across global standards, particularly in international construction, film production, and horticulture exports. U.S.-based manufacturers often provide specs in footcandles, while European regulatory bodies require lux-based reports.
| Area or Activity | Recommended Lux | Footcandles Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Hallway | 100 lx | ~9.3 fc |
| Office Desk Work | 500 lx | ~46.5 fc |
| Grocery Store | 750 lx | ~69.7 fc |
| Precision Manufacturing | 1500 lx | ~139.3 fc |
| Operating Room | 10,000 lx | ~929 fc |
Though both units measure the same property (illuminance), their difference lies in area measurement:
Lux provides more precision for large-scale or scientific applications, whereas footcandles remain common in U.S.-based building codes and lighting product specs.
Many modern smartphones and digital lux meters allow you to toggle between lux and footcandles. However, to ensure accuracy:
Yes, but you must convert between them. They represent the same measurement (illuminance), just in different units.
Many U.S. lighting standards and older documentation were built using the imperial system, which uses feet instead of meters.
Yes. Higher lux (and photosynthetically active radiation) leads to better photosynthesis, but different plants have different optimal levels.
Use the inverse formula: footcandles = lux / 10.76391
With energy conservation becoming more important, precision lighting using correct lux/footcandle levels ensures you’re not under-lighting or over-lighting a space. This improves user comfort, productivity, and lowers energy costs. Instead of relying on guesswork, use exact conversions to make smarter design and energy decisions.
Whether you're adjusting lighting plans, checking compliance, or fine-tuning plant lighting, the Footcandles to Lux Calculator is an essential tool for professionals and students. Get fast, accurate conversions, reduce manual effort, and gain control over your lighting environments.
Use this calculator to ensure every footcandle counts—and shines—with accuracy in lux!
Various organizations have established lighting standards that rely on lux values to ensure safety, comfort, and productivity across different environments. These standards help architects, lighting engineers, and facility managers plan spaces that align with health and efficiency benchmarks.
By using a Footcandles to Lux Calculator, you can easily transition between these standards and ensure your lighting plan is compliant in both imperial and metric systems.
Lighting systems degrade over time. Dust, aging lamps, or worn-out LEDs can reduce illuminance levels. Routine maintenance checks require lux or footcandle measurements to detect areas that fall below the required levels.
Using this conversion tool helps teams:
In plant growth and hydroponics, light intensity plays a major role in yield and health. While plant-specific metrics like PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) and PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density) are common, lux and footcandles still serve as entry-level approximations.
Growers can use the Footcandles to Lux Calculator to ensure lighting levels match the plant's growth phase and environmental conditions. This promotes efficient farming with better control over vegetative and flowering stages.
Professional photographers and videographers frequently use handheld meters that measure footcandles. However, when working with international teams or LED lighting specs, lux becomes the standard.
This calculator is useful when:
For example, a scene requiring 500 lx (~46.5 fc) for a key light can be measured with a footcandle meter and adjusted for lux-based LED specs.
When designing parks, streetlights, or outdoor commercial zones, planners must ensure adequate illuminance for safety without causing light pollution. Standards often call for specific lux values across areas like sidewalks, parking lots, or building facades.
Example outdoor lux targets:
Using a Footcandles to Lux Calculator ensures consistency when working with international codes or when comparing LED systems from different regions.
Manual conversion using a calculator is error-prone, especially when working with spreadsheets, design documents, or lighting simulation software. A dedicated digital Footcandles to Lux Calculator offers several advantages:
As global design becomes increasingly standardized, SI units like lux are becoming the norm. Future projects—whether private, public, or international—will rely on precision lighting metrics that integrate well with automation and smart building systems. Learning to convert footcandles to lux is an essential step in keeping your skills and processes future-ready.
In schools and engineering programs, the footcandles-to-lux conversion formula is used in basic physics and optics labs. Educators can enhance learning by:
Our calculator can be integrated into digital classrooms, science projects, or laboratory simulations as a learning aid.
Whether you're a lighting designer working on a museum exhibit, a facility manager checking compliance, or a grower adjusting LED lights for crops, the Footcandles to Lux Calculator gives you the confidence and accuracy you need. It bridges the gap between two widely used systems and makes lighting metrics accessible, practical, and globally relevant.
Start converting today and see the difference light makes—measured precisely.