Bathroom Lighting Upgrade Advice Required

I am looking to upgrade lighting in my bathroom( 8 foot x 9 foot) from 1 x 60w bulb to flush fitting halogen spotlights in the ceiling. I have several questions:

1] How many should I fit and what wattage do you suggest, I have a layout which would allow for either 5 or 7

2] Are these dimmable by the use of a pull cord, have seen various snippets of info that this is possible and would like professional confirmation

3] Both layouts I have planned involve mounting directly above bath tub at a height of 2.4m. I am confused what zone this makes this area

All help and advice gratefully recieved.

Hi,

You won't find many electricians that are fans of downlights, but I'll offer my views for what they are worth:

1. I would say 5 should be plenty, depending on how bright you find the current 60W. You could try 50W lamps, and downgrade to 35W if you find it too bright.

You might also want to consider the new low energy lamps that Megaman and Aurora make - they are expensive initially, but last a lot longer than the normal ones. They are longer than normal lamps so need the right choice of fitting, but I've found they give a softer, less glary light output, plus you can feel smug about your green credentials

2. Mains GU10 lamps are dimmable, although it may well affect the life of the lamps, which is often not that great anyway, so get used to changing them if you go that route. Low voltage lights are dimmable if you get the right transformer. Low energy ones are not dimmable.

Why do you want to dim them? If you are planning cosy low lit baths you could consider a separate lower output wall fitting?

3. Under the 17th that height is technically outside of the zones. However, personally I would still fit the bathroom IP rated fittings to avoid any problems with condensation, unless you have very good ventilation and/or don't use a shower attachment. (I assumed that you have a bath and not a shower cubicle?)

HTH

Gavin

edit: are you aware of the Part P implications of this work?

Thanks for the info, didn't realise bulb replacement was an extra consideration. With regard to Part P I am not planning to carry out the work myself but merely planning to buy and design the layout for the parts.

Any more opinions would be appreciated.

Ah, thanks for that info Robin.

Just goes to show that you have to keep up to date all the time!