Bathroom lighting suggestions?

After pricing up a customers bathroom refurb, it has prompted me to do something about my own bathroom. The fittings are all ok, but the walls and ceiling are very dated (6" white tiles, only around the bath,with grout going grey,ceiling in white emulsion that has started to peel in a couple of places etc).

The tiling and ceiling will be done in the usual way - buy whatever I can afford, then put it up when I get time. But before I start on that, I'd like to put in new lighting.

I have seen one bathroom where there is a PIR sensor inside the door, which lights up around 6 ceiling mounted low voltage spotlights/downlights. I'd like to replicate this.

How many lights are required (12v 20w iirc) to illuminate a ~6 feet square bathroom?

I was thinking 4, plus an extra combined fan/light over the bath. Are there any kits with the PIR included?

PIR sensors. Easy to fit? Reliable? How do they work? say it is daytime, but you want the lights on, will they turn on then?

Thanks for any thoughts. Alan.

Reply to
A.Lee
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I would have said 6 but it depends on how light you want the room to be

- e.g. like an operating theatre or synergistic with candle lit baths.

You can place the lights near to the walls and arranged such that the wall intersects the cone of light from the dwn lighters. This will give a parabola effect on the wall and as long as the wall is light in colour there will be good light reflection into the room. However, you must then finish the walls and tiling to a very high standard because blemishes will appear in sharp relief.

You may want to have additional task lighting e.g. at a mirror for such activities as shaving and applying your make up.

Adjustable.

e.g.

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Reply to
Andy Hall

These are a disaster in a bathroom. You need good general lighting in a bathroom for shaving, make-up, washing, etc. Downlighters can't provide general lighting -- they light the top of your head and the floor. If you painted the floor brilliant white, they might just manage to light the rest of the room.

The PIR is a good idea.

They have an adjustable light level trigger, which can normally be adjusted to the point where they ignore the ambient level and come on anyway.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Four should do it. Go for the wall washing effect to get more omnidirectional lighting.

Not usually - but you can buy standalone PIR easily enough.

yup

They usually let you control their dusk detection to the extent of being off, so they will run all the time.

One thing you may need to lookout for is if you are soaking in the bath and the lack of movement allows all the lights to go out. You might have to wave a hand from time to time! (I think I would be tempted to fit a switch in parallel so that you can force them on when you need)

Reply to
John Rumm

I am putting four IP65 down lighters (they take 50w lamps but I think 20w should be enough) over the shower tray and a 38 watt IP44 over the loo and sink.

The down lighters are going to be near the walls to illuminate the walls. They are flat aquabords so they shouldn't have odd shadows and such that you get if they are unlevel.

If that isn't enough I will have to fit some more.

Reply to
dennis

You don't want to - really. At 03:00 hours when someone wanders into the bog, their way lit only by the gentle reflection of the sodium lights on the council tip nearby, they are suddenly illuminated by what, to dark adapted vision, is the equivalent of a small nuclear explosion. Screaming gently they cover their eyes with their hands and blunder into the throne cracking their shins. This causes them to rebound back into the cupboard spilling its contents on the floor. Lacerating their feet on the broken glass, and all thought of a period of gentle contemplation long past being necessary they stumble out of the room whereupon the lights go out and in what is now to them total darkness they fall down the stairs breaking both legs and injuring the cat.

Someone I know fitted a similar system and when they got out of hospital attacked the PIR with a hammer and for overnight use mounted one small red LED in the centre of the ceiling. It comes on at about

23:00 and provides enough illumination for midnight forays to the loo without dazzling anyone.

Depends on the type of light. Downlighters (preferably a small galaxies worth) are much favoured by those who like the "footballers girlfriend" style of decor and they go well with gilt taps, fluffy dice and looy the quinze mirror embellishments. The most common mistake is to put them above mirrors where they cast strong shadows on the face. Moreover, with downlighters when lying in the bath your retina is burned out by the hideous bright point sources scattered around the ceiling. They are cheap however.

Ideally you should have several lighting types capable of being switched as you wish. For night time excursions a very low power light connected to a PIR can be useful. It need only be a few watts and need not be in the ceiling (LED lamps are useful here). Its purpose is to provide sufficient light for someone who is already dark adapted to do what they must and stagger back to bed still half comatose.

For morning ablutions and face painting then theatrical lighting - two vertical lights either side of the mirror - is best and should be coupled with high ambient light levels.

For sitting in the bath with a book and bottle of wine dimmer lighting and a lamp behind the head somewhere (it can be in the ceiling but well back from the head) to illuminate the book are ideal.

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give you a few ideas.

Reply to
Peter Parry

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