What BUG Rating Means

At night, we all know that outdoor lighting is necessary and very important. Sensitive wildlife areas or residential areas have a lot of requirements for lighting. In the new version of the DLC standard, there is a BUG rating requirement for outdoor lighting products. The BUG rating determines how much light trespass a luminaire produces.

What is BUG rating?

B refers to the light behind the fixture, U refers to the light above the fixture, and glare is the amount of light emitted by the fixture at high angles.

For outdoor lights, the backlight of the luminaire will shine into the adjacent house and become a source of light trespass. Artificial daylight is a major form of light pollution. The uplight of the luminaire will increase the artificial daylight. Glare is the annoyance and loss of visibility caused by the brightness exceeding the range that the human eye can adapt to. The glare of the luminaire will have a negative effect on outdoor people.

Then we can know that the light represented by BUG is generated by deviating from the lighting purpose. So in a specific scene, the lower the better.

How to define BUG level?

The following table is the parameter classification corresponding to the BUG.

Glare Rating for Asymmetrical Luminaire Types

Glare Rating for Symmetrical Luminaire Types

If you have an outdoor lighting project that has BUG level requirements, please contact me at ellie@agcled.com and we will find the solution for you!