BATHROOM LIGHTING BUYERS GUIDE
Plan the right bathroom lights to lighten up and envigorate your bathroom
The bathroom is one of the most important rooms in anyones home, when fitting a new bathroom or renovating an existing bathroom it is vital to plan a lighting scheme that will compliment your fittings and fixtures, a well planned scheme will make the room feel light, clean and airy. As the first room you visit in the morning, great bathroom lighting can really uplift your mood and set the tone for the day
Lighting should be considered early, once you've planned the bath, shower and toilet, think how how you would like the lighting interact with the features so you can run any cabling into the walls before tiling and decorating starts. Make sure you take a look at our lumen calculator here to work out the total lumens the room will require.
Bathroom Lighting Zones
Bathroom lighting is subject to planning regulations, these are quite straight forward but they are important they are adhered to. When planning the fittings a bathroom should be split into different zones based on the bathroom features present with each zone requiring light fittings with different levels of waterproofing, from splash proof (IP44) to jet proof (IP77).
Zone 1
Bath or shower Interior – IP77 (jet proof) and low voltage supply (max 12 Volt). The space under the bath tub is Zone 1 if accessible without the use of a tool or outside the Zones if accessible only with the use of a tool
Zone 2
The perimeter of bathtub or shower to a height of 2.25 meter above the floor - IP44 (use IP55 where water jets are used for cleaning purposes) If the fitting is 240v a 30ma residual current device (RCD) must also be used to protect the circuit in this zone.
Zone 3
The perimeter 0.60 meter wide around Zone 2 and 0.75 meter above Zone 2 – IP44. (again use IP55 where water jets are used for cleaning purposes)
Zone 4
The perimeter 2.4 meter wide around Zone 2 and 0.75 meter above Zone 2 - No specified IP rating required although lights should be suitable for their location and provide adequate protection against electric shock.
Bathroom Ceiling Lights
A typical bathroom should contain at least one ceiling light, for larger bathrooms and larger budgets we reccomend a series of either downlights or spotlights.
Bathroom Lighting Spotlights
Are slightly cheaper to fit and can be focused on to different subjects within the room creating interesting focal points.
Bathroom Downlights / Recessed Lights
Can provide subtle softer general lighting whilst accenting bathroom features, create a sophicated atmosphere by positioning them close to walls and corners attaining a scalloped wash across the wall
Bathroom Wall lights
Wall lights really come into their own in the bathroom, surrounding a mirror with either one, two or three lights will create a sophicated hotel look. Using shaded wall lights around a bath can create a relaxing atmosphere perfect for envigorating bath after a long day.
Bathroom Mirror Lights
Task lighting can be both very functional and stylish, illuminated mirrors are great as they provide focused light when in front of the mirror some are also backlit, adding ambient wall light which gives the effect the mirror is floating.
Dimmer Switches
Adding a dimmer swich can provide welcome relief to tired eyes when using the bathroom first thing in the morning or late at night as well allowing you to adjust the mood for more relaxing evenings in the bath
If you are looking for more inspiration, make sure you check out our range of led bathroom wall lighting