EARNINGS PER SHARE (Details) (USD $) Share data in Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 29, 2012	Sep. 29, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Oct. 01, 2011	Jul. 02, 2011	Apr. 02, 2011	Dec. 29, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jan. 01, 2011
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (in dollars)	$ 13,200,000	$ 21,900,000	$ 24,800,000	$ 23,000,000	$ 11,500,000	$ 19,200,000	$ 21,700,000	$ 10,700,000	$ 82,864,000	$ 63,099,000	$ 38,914,000
Less: Undistributed earnings allocated to participating securities (in dollars)									600,000	0	0
Less: Undistributed earnings allocated to redeemable noncontrolling interest (in dollars)									0	200,000	0
Net income attributable to Franklin Electric Co., Inc. excluding undistributed earnings (in dollars)									$ 82,300,000	$ 62,900,000	$ 38,900,000
Basic
Weighted average common shares (in shares)									23.4	23.2	23.2
Effect of dilutive securities:
Employee and director incentive stock options and stock/stock unit awards (in shares)									0.4	0.5	0.3
Adjusted weighted average common shares (in shares)									23.8	23.7	23.5
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.55	$ 0.93	$ 1.06	$ 0.99	$ 0.51	$ 0.82	$ 0.92	$ 0.46	$ 3.52	$ 2.71	$ 1.68
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.55	$ 0.91	$ 1.04	$ 0.96	$ 0.50	$ 0.80	$ 0.91	$ 0.45	$ 3.46	$ 2.65	$ 1.65
Stock Options
Effect of dilutive securities:
Anti-dilutive stock options (in shares)									0.1	0.3	0.8