CRI Lighting Guide: The Benefits and What You Need to Know

Did you know all light isn’t created equal?

Some light renders color better than others. Color Rendering Index (CRI), is the measurement of how colors look under a light source compared with actual sunlight. The index is measured from 0-100, a perfect 100 indicating that colors under the light source appear the same as they would in natural light.

CRI is also an important measurement for lighting suppliers. It’s used to discern naturalness, hue discrimination, vividness, and color naming accuracy.

Did you know…?

• Lights with a CRI measured greater than 80 are more than acceptable for most applications
• Lights with a CRI that is measured greater than 90 are generally considered “High CRI” lights
• High CRI LED lighting uses a fraction of the energy used in traditional lighting, while still rendering beautiful, vibrant colors
• California’s Title 24 initiative provides financial incentives for the installation of efficient high CRI lighting

Also Consider CCT & Foot-Candle When Looking for High Quality LED Lighting

Along with CRI, there are two other measures of a high- or low-quality light you should be familiar with. CCT stands for Correlated Color Temperature (known as Color Temperature for many lights), and a Foot-Candle is a measurement that describes the total amount of light hitting your target area.

A foot-candle is a measurement that describes the amount of light reaching a specified surface area as opposed to the total amount of light coming from a source. From a user’s perspective, foot-candle is a much more important measurement, because a certain amount of light is always lost to light absorption, reflection, and/or dissipation.

Because lighting is so important for our ability to accomplish tasks in the workplace or at home, lighting suppliers use foot candles to measure the amount of light that is hitting a surface. This allows architects, contractors, and builders to understand the type of lights they’ll need to install in a certain type of space for a specific application.

RP Lighting + Fans: Your Preferred Wholesale Lighting Suppliers

At RP Lighting, we have quality products value-priced to meet your lighting upgrade needs. We also have knowledgeable associates who can assist you in choosing the appropriate products for your specific application. Check out our product catalog for more information!