How many LV lights in a lounge, guidance needed

[happyhero]

Hi how do I know the right amount of 50watt LV halogens to have in a lounge is there a calculation to find the recommended amount for the room size for the type of room?

The room 4m x 4.6m and the ceilings are higher than normal about 2.8m.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

None, is the right number.

MR16 lamps were originally made for film projectors (which needed a narrow beam of light) and were then adopted by retailers for display lighting (where they needed a narrow beam of light to pick out individual items). Then they were enthusiastically adopted by everyone to do something which they were explicitly designed to not do, i.e. light up rooms, for which you do not want a narrow beam of light.

 

[sparkybird]

I agree - not good lighting for a living room Why not go for a nice central light and then use table/floor lights to supplement eg for reading/atmosphere. You can wire special lighting plugs to these and fit lighting sockets on a switch or dimmer - quite classy (even if I say so myself) - I have them in my living room and master bed

SB

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Although I hate fitting them and they do not offer the best light luminance for domestic lighting. They are popular and not going away!
As far as numbers required difficult to say as they are not the best light, they are improving with regards as beam angle.
I would say spacing them about 800mm-900mm apart, joist and other obstruction allowing, will give a fair degree of lighting.
So 16 at a guess.
What room are you lighting

 

[RF Lighting]

For an average ceiling height (around 8 feet)

Space them 600mm from each wall, and then every 1000mm - 1200mm inbetween.

Tried and tested and gives a realy good even spread of light across the whole room.

Split the lights into individually switched banks, and fit 5W LED lamps and you'll have a really well lit room with a versatile energy efficient good looking lighting installation.

 

[ericmark]

Working on a refit of a Next Shop in Chester a few years back we were told no more than 2 foot between lamps. I will have to say the lighting was good.

OK in the home maybe you can increase the distance a little maybe 3 foot would be good enough.

However the roof in Next was filled with air conditioning units with that amount of lighting no need for heating with a 150mm cable feeding the air conditioners. Also they used extra low voltage not low voltage fittings. Colour temperature was important to them.

So I would be looking for 12 units in a room that size. At 600W or 2.5A consideration would need to be given to supply in the main due to the use of ceiling roses which are rated at 5A the maximum MCB size is 6A. With standard bulbs that size room would likely be more like 1A and it is possible at 2.5A specially if also used else where the system will be overloaded.

Quartz lamps should not be dimmed as the quartz will become too cold. They can be dimmed but lamp live will be reduced. So I would recommend splitting into at least two circuits likely with a 1/3 and 2/3 split so if too hot you can reduce lighting in the summer.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So PBoD says 16, RF and Eric say 12.

And there you have it - a large number of lights needed for that room because they are useless at doing the job of lighting up a room, so to compensate you have to put a stupidly large number in.

If you were using some kind of pendant or surface lights then no way would you dream of putting 12-16 in - your room would look like a lighting shop.

And lighting shops, and good websites, is where you should be looking. Cast your net wider than the limited range of cr*p they have in the sheds.

As the old saying goes, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And if all you do is look in DIY sheds or web retailers competing purely on price everything that isn't hideous looks like a downlighter.

 

[SaladFingers]

It's not very nice lighting for a living room either.

The best thing for a living room is a lovely pendant, or some kind of fitting in place of the pendant. Then for further ambiance, some nice wall lights.

 

[bernardgreen]

Bright spot lights in the ceiling are a pain in the eye for anyone laying down and looking up at the ceiling. For young children they may even be damaging to developing eye sight if the child spends a lot of time laying on it's back looking up at the lights.