Selecting LED Lighting for Offices and Warehouses

For offices, select panel luminaires (600x600 mm) or linear luminaires with a colour temperature of 4000 K and a colour rendering index (CRI/Ra) of at least 80 to meet the standard requirement of 300–500 lx. For warehouses, use industrial High Bay luminaires (100–300 W) for ceiling heights of 6–20 m, with a requirement of 50–75 lx for general lighting and 300 lx in sorting and picking areas. You can estimate the number of luminaires required for your space using the online calculator provided in this article.

The number of luminaires is calculated using the formula N = (E × S) / (F × η), including a correction factor for lumen depreciation over time. When purchasing, in addition to wattage and lumens, check the luminous efficacy (typically 100–150 lm/W for LED luminaires), the flicker coefficient, and the Unified Glare Rating (UGR).

Illuminance Standards

The illuminance level on working surfaces is regulated by standard lighting requirements for workplaces. Key standards include:

Room Type	Standard (lx)	Notes
Offices and workspaces	300	UGR ≤ 21
Computer rooms	400	400 lx on desks; 200 lx on screen, UGR ≤ 14
Design and engineering offices	500	Standard workspace requirements
Conference and meeting rooms	200	UGR ≤ 24
Corridors	50–100	Main corridors 100 lx; others 50 lx; residential corridors 20 lx
Warehouses (general lighting)	50–75	Standard industrial requirements
Sorting and picking areas	300	Dispatch and receiving areas – 200 lx
Warehouse shelving and cells	75	Vertical plane illumination
Production workshops	200–750	Depends on the visual task complexity

Luminaire Types

Panel luminaires (600x600 mm) – the standard for offices with suspended ceilings. Typically 36–40 W with a luminous flux of 3600–4000 lm. One luminaire covers approximately 4–5 m².

Linear luminaires (surface-mounted/suspended) – for rooms without suspended ceilings. Lengths of 600–1200 mm, power 18–72 W. These provide uniform lighting when installed in rows.

Industrial (High Bay) – for high ceilings (6–20 m) such as warehouses, factories, and sports halls. Power 100–300 W, luminous flux up to 40,000 lm. The bell-shaped design provides directed light.

Downlights (spotlights) – for decorative and accent lighting in reception areas, meeting rooms, and corridors.

Colour Temperature

• 3000 K (Warm White) – relaxation areas, receptions, conference rooms: light with a shade similar to an incandescent lamp.
• 4000 K (Neutral White) – the universal choice for offices. It does not cause eye fatigue and provides good colour rendering.
• 5000–6500 K (Cool White) – warehouses, production facilities, technical rooms; 6500 K is only appropriate in technical areas without permanent workstations.

For offices, 4000 K is recommended – this provides physiologically comfortable light for prolonged computer work.

Colour Rendering Index (CRI/Ra)

This indicates how naturally colours appear under a given lighting condition. For offices and most workspaces, light sources with an Ra of no less than 80 are used; for rooms with higher requirements for colour distinction, an Ra of no less than 90 is required. The required value for a specific room is determined by local lighting standards and regulations.

Light Flicker and UGR

The illuminance flicker coefficient is regulated by lighting standards: for office spaces, it should fall within 5–10% depending on the nature of the work. While flicker may be invisible to the eye, it causes fatigue during prolonged work, often caused by low-quality luminaire drivers that fail to meet the standard. This parameter should be requested in the technical specifications or verified with a lux meter/flicker meter.

UGR (Unified Glare Rating) is a combined index of discomfort glare: it evaluates how much luminaires dazzle a person at their workstation. The lower the value, the more comfortable the light; maximum UGR values for rooms (for example, no more than 21 for offices and no more than 14 for computer rooms) are specified in standard lighting guidelines.

Calculating the Number of Luminaires

Simplified formula: N = (E × S) / (F × η), where:

• E – required illuminance (lx)
• S – area of the room (m²)
• F – luminous flux of a single luminaire (lm)
• η – utilisation factor (0.4–0.6 for typical rooms)

Example: An office of 50 m² requires 400 lx, using panels of 4000 lm with η = 0.5. N = (400 × 50) / (4000 × 0.5) = 10 luminaires. This formula does not account for the reduction in luminous flux over time: luminaires accumulate dust and LED flux degrades. Lighting standards account for this via a maintenance factor (MF), which is related to the traditional safety factor (MF = 1/SF); the specific value depends on the type of room and the light source. The calculated number of luminaires should be increased by this factor.

You can estimate the number of luminaires required for your room using the calculator below.

Energy Efficiency

LED luminaires deliver 100–150 lm/W compared to 60–90 lm/W for fluorescent lighting, meaning they consume approximately 1.5–2 times less power for the same luminous flux. When compared to incandescent lamps (10–15 lm/W versus 100–150 lm/W), the efficiency gain is 7–10 times higher. The typical service life is 30,000–50,000 hours; manufacturers specify this as L70, which is the time taken for the luminous flux to degrade to 70% of its initial value. Even 30,000 hours equates to approximately 7 years based on 12 hours of operation per day.