Lighting a Room Properly

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Lighting a Room Properly

Layers of light, colour temperature and rendering, dimming and placement

Lighting changes how a room feels more than furniture does, and the most common mistake is one bright fitting in the middle of the ceiling.

Layers rather than one source

Ambient light for general illumination, task light where you read, cook or work, and accent light to give depth. Several sources at different heights do more than any single bright one.

Aim for at least three light sources in a living room, and use lamps rather than relying on the ceiling.

Colour temperature

Measured in kelvin. Around 2700K is warm and suits living rooms and bedrooms; 3000K is slightly crisper and suits kitchens and bathrooms; anything above 4000K reads as clinical in a home.

Keep it consistent within a room. Mixing warm and cool bulbs is the commonest reason lighting looks wrong without anyone knowing why.

Colour rendering

CRI describes how accurately colours appear under a light. Above 90 makes food, artwork and skin look natural, and cheap LEDs with low CRI make everything look slightly grey.

Dimming

Check both the fitting and the bulb are dimmable, and that the dimmer is rated for LED loads. An old dimmer designed for filament bulbs causes flicker and buzzing.

Placement

A pendant over a dining table hangs roughly 75 to 90 centimetres above the surface. Wall lights sit around 150 to 170 centimetres from the floor.

Light the corners of a room rather than only the centre of it, which is what makes a space feel larger than it is.

Integrated LEDs

Many modern fittings have LEDs that cannot be replaced, so the fitting's life is the LED's life. Check this before buying anything expensive.

Bulbs and efficiency

LED has replaced almost everything and uses a fraction of the energy. Compare lumens rather than watts, since watts describe power consumption rather than brightness.

Buy several bulbs of the same type and colour temperature at once, so a room stays consistent as they fail.

Light and sleep

Bright light in the evening delays sleep, while warm dim light supports it. Using lamps rather than overhead lights after dark is the simplest change that works.

Outdoor and task lighting

Aim outdoor lights downwards onto approach routes rather than outwards towards neighbours, and use warm colour temperatures, which also attract fewer insects.

Under-cupboard lighting in a kitchen is the single most useful task light in a house, since it lights the worktop itself rather than casting your own shadow across it.

Electrical work

Altering circuits or adding new fittings is notifiable work in many jurisdictions and should be certified by a registered electrician.

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