When evaluating lighting solutions, especially in the sports lighting industry, most people instinctively look at one metric first: lumen per watt (lm/W). After all, it seems to make sense — higher lm/W means better energy efficiency, right?
Not quite.
While lm/W is a useful indicator for general lighting applications, it can be seriously misleading in sports lighting. Here’s why:
Imagine a stadium flooded with high-lumen lights — but half of that light spills into the sky, into the audience’s eyes, or outside the venue. You’re paying for power that doesn’t serve your purpose, and worse, you’re contributing to light pollution and potential complaints from surrounding communities.
This is why one of our long-term clients recently made a powerful point:
Lux measures the amount of light (lumens) that actually lands on a target surface. So lux per watt (lux/W) tells you how efficiently your fixture delivers useful light to where it’s needed — such as the playing field.
In short:
lm/W = how much total light you emit per watt
lux/W = how much useful light reaches the target area per watt
When evaluating lighting design, lux/W is the true measure of performance and efficiency.
Many manufacturers try to boost lm/W by:
But these changes don’t guarantee better light distribution. In fact, without a well-engineered optical system, more lumens may simply mean more glare and more wasted light.
At SOGA, we believe that achieving high lux/W efficiency starts with precise beam control:
As cities and sports facilities move toward sustainability goals and stricter obtrusive light regulations, we all need to think beyond raw lumen output.
What’s the point of 180lm/W if your lighting fails to deliver sufficient lux on the field?
Real innovation means doing more with less — and that’s the promise of optimized lux/W design.
In sports lighting, it’s time to shift the conversation:
When evaluating lighting solutions, especially in the sports lighting industry, most people instinctively look at one metric first: lumen per watt (lm/W). After all, it seems to make sense — higher lm/W means better energy efficiency, right?
Not quite.
While lm/W is a useful indicator for general lighting applications, it can be seriously misleading in sports lighting. Here’s why:
Imagine a stadium flooded with high-lumen lights — but half of that light spills into the sky, into the audience’s eyes, or outside the venue. You’re paying for power that doesn’t serve your purpose, and worse, you’re contributing to light pollution and potential complaints from surrounding communities.
This is why one of our long-term clients recently made a powerful point:
Lux measures the amount of light (lumens) that actually lands on a target surface. So lux per watt (lux/W) tells you how efficiently your fixture delivers useful light to where it’s needed — such as the playing field.
In short:
lm/W = how much total light you emit per watt
lux/W = how much useful light reaches the target area per watt
When evaluating lighting design, lux/W is the true measure of performance and efficiency.
Many manufacturers try to boost lm/W by:
But these changes don’t guarantee better light distribution. In fact, without a well-engineered optical system, more lumens may simply mean more glare and more wasted light.
At SOGA, we believe that achieving high lux/W efficiency starts with precise beam control:
As cities and sports facilities move toward sustainability goals and stricter obtrusive light regulations, we all need to think beyond raw lumen output.
What’s the point of 180lm/W if your lighting fails to deliver sufficient lux on the field?
Real innovation means doing more with less — and that’s the promise of optimized lux/W design.
In sports lighting, it’s time to shift the conversation:
