Good bathroom lighting, like well-designed kitchen lighting, doesn’t rely on a single light source or type of fixture. It takes several kinds of lighting to make the room both functional and interesting: general (or ambient) lighting for illuminating the entire room, task lighting for applying makeup or shaving, and accent lighting that highlights a particular feature in the bathroom.
These three types of lighting can be used separately or in tandem, but all of them should be given some consideration, particularly in new construction or a major renovation, where you’re not limited by exist- ing wiring, fixtures, or switch locations.
Natural light also makes an important contribution. While there are obvious privacy issues with big win- dows in crowded neighborhoods, smaller windows set higher on the wall can provide ventilation as well as light. Bathrooms on the south, east, or west walls of the house may not need any artificial lighting during the day. And even bathrooms without exte- rior walls can get the benefits of natural light with a skylight or a solar tube, a roof-mounted skylight that pipes sunlight into the room via a reflective tube. Hiring an interior designer or lighting specialist may be worth the expense when you have a generous budget and are working with a large, complex bath- room. But if that’s not in the cards, visit a local light- ing store for advice. Well-established retailers almost always have knowledgeable staff, and buying lighting fixtures from a locally owned business means the money stays in your community.
above right • Task lighting over the vanity, natural light from
a window, and ambient lighting from a ceiling fixture (not shown) provide balanced lighting. Lights on either side of the mirror would cut shadows more effectively.
right • Natural light pouring into this bathroom from windows
set high on the wall will get a boost from the large mirror over the vanity. It’s supplemented by a fluorescent fixture above the mirror.
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above • Placing lighting fixtures at eye level, one on each
side of the mirror, will help reduce facial shadows.
left • This bathroom has a good mix of lighting: fixtures that
flank the mirror over the vanity plus a dedicated fixture in the shower.
Because bathrooms are damp environments, special care should be taken to choose the right kinds of fixtures and to follow all code requirements. If you want a fixture in the shower, be certain it’s rated for that use. If you plan on doing the wiring yourself, make sure you know what’s required by code in your community and that you follow the script exactly. Better yet, hire a licensed electrical contractor to do the work.
above • A large window plus
a mirror and two lights at the vanity make a bright, pleasant room with a good balance of natural and artificial light.
left • A pair of fixtures on
each side of the mirror are set far enough from the wall to provide even light without shadows.
above • Articulating lights over the vanity will create fewer
Lighting 139
T h e e s s e N T I A L s
Lightbulbs
INcANdesceNT BuLBs $ • Inexpensive.• Produce a pleasing, warm light.
• Don’t last as long as several other types of lamps.
• Inefficient: more than 90 percent of the energy they use produces heat, not light.
• Efficiency requirements adopted by the government in 2007 will phase out many (but not all) standard incandescent bulbs between 2012 and 2014. There are already good alternatives on the market and more on the way. FLuoresceNT LAmPs
$-$$
• Use less energy to produce the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb.
• Much longer lamp life.
• Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) screw into standard lamp bases.
• Some types can be dimmed, and lamps with a high color rendering index make people and objects look natural.
• Contain small amounts of mercury and should not be thrown away with household trash.
• Small-diameter fluorescent tubes can be hidden under cabinets or in ceiling coves to cast indirect light. hALogeNs
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• New types of halogen bulbs, like the Halogená® bulbs
from Philips, offer better energy efficiency than standard incandescent bulbs but not as much as CFLs or newer technology lamps.
• Halogens emit a bright, white light and look very similar to standard incandescent bulbs.
• Unlike CFLs, they reach their full lighting potential as soon as they are turned on, and they contain no mercury.
• They have high operating temperatures, very good color rendering, and last longer than incandescent bulbs.
• Low voltage halogens use transformers to step down 120-volt line current to 12 volts. The halogen bulbs used in low-voltage fixtures give off a white, crisp light, making them a good choice for accent lighting.
• Cable and monorail fixtures are stylish and contemporary, yet also can be expensive.
Leds
$$-$$$
• Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are becoming more widely available for residential use, but they’re still somewhat of an expensive specialty item.
• White LEDs have a color rendering index equal to that of the best compact fluorescent lamps, according to the government’s Energy Star program.
• Extremely long lamp life, up to 50,000 hours.
• More light output per watt than CFLs. esL TechNoLogy
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• Vu1 Corporation has developed another type of technology called “electron stimulated luminescence,” lighting in which electrons cause phosphors in the lamp to generate light.
• Lamps produce the same quality of light as an incandescent and are dimmable and instant-on.
• Up to 70 percent more efficient than incandescents.
• Bulbs last five times as long as a standard incandescent bulb.
• Contain no mercury.