What is the best way to light a bathroom?

[sparkybird]

Good quality LED downlights in a bathroom where needed eg directly over shower/toilet supplemented with good mirror with in built florescent lighting works very well
and complies with part L

 

[ban-all-sheds]

28W to light a bathroom as opposed to the 120W of GLS that was in before. That's inefficient??

How many lights now compared to the number that was there before?

 

[martinxxxxxx]

Do you always go round making unfounded assumptions?

I am sometimes criticised for making judgements, but even I can't see why not knowing what lighting is available on the market even hints at not understanding IP ratings or not knowing about certification.

I would like to offer more solutions, but I have run out of ideas.

http://bit.ly/MkBsaf[/QUOTE]

Yes I have heard of google before and it does provide a useful list of places where the words bathroom lighting are mentioned, what it does not give is a review of what the people on DIYNOT prefer to install and select - hence as that is what I wanted to know I put my question on here.

I have a clear understanding of what my new OSG and BGB say and what certificates and BCO reporting I have to do through my part p assessment service.

I am sure everyone has a general preference to the way a bathroom should be lit - personally I am not up for peppering the ceiling with holes as I think most ceilings are not capable of having the lights exactly where the customer choose (due to unforeseeable problems - joist too close - insufficient room behind the fitting) and once holes are drilled (even with pilot holes) and it is apparent that the MI cannot be met there is a lot of extra work involved and negotiation with the customer to be had about making good, what I believe others are doing is ignoring the MI and sticking these things anywhere.

That is why I look for other solutions - on here and google

 

[RF Lighting]

28W to light a bathroom as opposed to the 120W of GLS that was in before. That's inefficient??

How many lights now compared to the number that was there before?

So if it had been a single 28W 2D fitting in the middle of the room its ok, but if it's four 7W fittings, IE the same power providing the same amount of light to the same room it's inefficient?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yes.

I've lost track of the number of times I've told you that.

 

[RF Lighting]

You're going to have to explain your reasoning because it just doesn't make any sense.

I get the fact you don't like downlighters, and that's fair enough it's a personal choice. I don't like football or liquorice. But to call a light source inefficient purely because of aesthetics just does not hold water.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It's not aesthetics.

If a single luminaire of design A can provide general room illumination with a lamp of xW, but one of design B using the same wattage and same lamp technology is so poor at providing general room illumination that you have to use multiple Bs in place of a single A then the Bs are inefficient.

 

[RF Lighting]

One of lumunaire B uses 1/4 of the wattage of lumunaire A as they are a smaller, neater unit. using four of them provides the same light for the same wattage and leaves you with an installation which is just as energy efficient, but is much nicer looking.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It's not just about total energy consumption.

In your example does B use the same type of lamp as A? What are the respective lumens and lux per watt?

 

[RF Lighting]

Dunno. I've lit bathrooms with 2Ds and I've lit them with LED down lighters and they are both just as well lit, but with LEDs you get 75,000 hours lamp life and no warm up period or inrush current, so the LED downlighters are actually more efficient.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Why - do you need the same/fewer of them than with the 2D luminaires?

 

[SimonH2]

Sorry, but once again I'll respectfully disagree with you. Whilst I don't like downlighters either, trying to criticise them on the basis that 4x7=1x28 and 4 is larger than 1 is being more than a bit disingenuous.

Something else no-one has mentioned - where the units are "fire rated" (as are the Halers a friend has just had fitted) that doesn't mean you can ignore the MIs instructions about leaving a clear space around them. Yup, the professional, time served, registered, member of an approved scheme, etc lecky just fitted them and dropped the insulation back over the top.

TBH, I was expecting them to be horrible, but having seen them I don't think they're that bad - in the main I don't like the way you can't look upwards without imagining a voice saying "you will talk". Wouldn't be my choice, but they do provide fairly good illumination.

EDIT: They do dim nicely.