Ideal height for wall lights?

[emilybronte]

The above answer is a cop out!

As a decorator, I'm often asked to advise on what things would/will look like, by people who genuinely do not know. My advice is based on aesthetic principles to do with colour, finish, light and space.

In the end, of course it is up to the customer and I have on occasions had to apply colours and finishes which I think/know look naff. But I know enough about domestic architecture and colours and materials, to be able to recommend schemes which I know will look good. In my experience, good joiners have an equally good sense of where form meets function.

It seems to me that many electricians do not (if the answers on this thread and the positioning of the circuit board in the house I'm currently decorating is anything to go by...)

 

[EFLImpudence]

The above answer is a cop out!
As a decorator, I'm often asked to advise on what things would/will look like, by people who genuinely do not know. My advice is based on aesthetic principles to do with colour, finish, light and space.

Then why are you asking an electrician?
Shall I ask you about the wiring?

In the end, of course it is up to the customer and I have on occasions had to apply colours and finishes which I think/know look naff.

QED.

But I know enough about domestic architecture and colours and materials, to be able to recommend schemes which I know will look good.

Yet you still have to apply the naff because that is what the customer wants.

In my experience, good joiners have an equally good sense of where form meets function.

What has that to do with it?

It seems to me that many electricians do not

Is that a fault?

(if the answers on this thread and the positioning of the circuit board in the house I'm currently decorating is anything to go by...)

Ok. Where is the board?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The number of times, I have advised the customer on the best placement of lights, sockets, switches etc. Only to be instructed otherwise and then on completion of their instruction to be told that they think my advise was better and could I move them.

So wall light heights, can you up load the pictures of these lights and the number of watts output, what will the room be used for and how tall are the occupants?

 

[emilybronte]

The above answer is a cop out!
As a decorator, I'm often asked to advise on what things would/will look like, by people who genuinely do not know. My advice is based on aesthetic principles to do with colour, finish, light and space.

Q Then why are you asking an electrician?
Shall I ask you about the wiring?

A Because I thought (obviously wrongly!) that electricians, having installed hundreds of the things, might have on occasions reflected upon, an even formed an opinion on which height is optimal from a pratical and or aesthetic point of view.

In the end, of course it is up to the customer and I have on occasions had to apply colours and finishes which I think/know look naff.

QED.

No, not QED at all. I was asking objectively about what looks best, not what looks worst.

But I know enough about domestic architecture and colours and materials, to be able to recommend schemes which I know will look good.

Yet you still have to apply the naff because that is what the customer wants.

You are missing the point.

In my experience, good joiners have an equally good sense of where form meets function.

Q What has that to do with it?

A The presence or absence of an aesthetic sense, that's what.

It seems to me that many electricians do not

Q Is that a fault?

A It is when you are being asked about the aesthetics of the positioning of wall lights.

(if the answers on this thread and the positioning of the circuit board in the house I'm currently decorating is anything to go by...)

Ok. Where is the board?

Facing you as you sit on the toilet in a cloakroom about 5' x 2'6", and overhanging a very small handwashbasin. Ugly and dangerous!

 

[EFLImpudence]

Facing you as you sit on the toilet in a cloakroom about 5' x 2'6", and overhanging a very small handwashbasin. Ugly and dangerous!

Without seeing it:

Likely not dangerous.

Did this cloakroom used to be a cupboard?

Possibly installed to new height regulations for persons of restricted reach.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Possibly installed to new height regulations for persons of restricted reach.

That may also apply to wall lamps, might be best placed at between 450mm and 1200mm from FFL.

 

[EFLImpudence]

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I have come to the conclusion that the right place to put wall lights (with shades) for maximum aesthetic effect is at a point which is between two thirds and three quarters, ideally 0.71, of the distance from floor to ceiling, that point being the centre of the light.

And I've come to the conclusion that you are wrapped too tight.

 

[emilybronte]

Facing you as you sit on the toilet in a cloakroom about 5' x 2'6", and overhanging a very small handwashbasin. Ugly and dangerous!

Without seeing it:

Likely not dangerous.

Did this cloakroom used to be a cupboard?

Possibly installed to new height regulations for persons of restricted reach.

No, wrong on all three counts. They have been told to move it, a it is neither safe nor practical.

 

[RF Lighting]

Told by whom?

I can not think of a single reason why merely being installed in a cloakroom would make the installation unsafe

 

[securespark]

There is definitely a set of rules about where and how to hang pictures on walls, for example.

There are.

Rule 1: Hang them where you like

Rule 2: Err.... that's it.

Out of your @rse you speak....

Emily is right.

You don't hang pictures where you like.

You hang them with due regard to the safe zones.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

 

[emilybronte]

Out of your @rse you speak....

I think that just about sums up the majority of comments on this thread...

Why are you all so terrified to admit you haven't got a clue about anything other than the purely technical aspects of electrical installation?!

It's fine. Don't worry about it.

You must be a blast at parties. (Not).

 

[RF Lighting]

At least we go to parties rather than getting our enjoyment from trying to bait real tradesmen. Must be a pretty dull life you have.

 

[emilybronte]

At least we go to parties rather than getting our enjoyment from trying to bait real tradesmen. Must be a pretty dull life you have.

On the contrary - I have a very creative and enjoyable life, thank you.

(Unlike some of the robots on this forum....)

Please don't interpret that as 'baiting', though. I have no desire to upset anyone. But ask yourselves : why is it that nobody has been able to answer a question about the aesthetics of wall lights - other than by suggesting an absolute height from the floor, which is clearly irrelevant (as ceiling heights vary)?

It seems to me that the inescapable conclusion is that electricians are not interested in what lights look like, only in how they work from a narrowly 'electrical' perspective.

Hardly suggests a group of people who would get excited at the thought of a discussion about beauty, or the marriage of form and function, does it?