When designing the bathroom lighting, you should first specify your functional needs. The basic lighting in a bathroom is the general lighting and mirror lights. You can also install lights that will emphasise some fitting elements, e.g. additional lights on a bathtub, shower cubicle, furniture or decoration elements.
Remember that the effectiveness of lighting depends not only on the power of the light bulb but also on the light absorbability of the surroundings. Dark walls and ceilings, textured surfaces or dark wooden elements absorb much more light than bright and smooth surfaces. The efficiency of bathroom lighting is greatly enhanced by mirrors.
General lighting
The role of general lighting consists in dispersing the darkness, the aim is to achieve even, distributed illumination, without redundant shadows or contrasting (too brightly or too dimly lit) areas. The bathroom's general lighting should provide distributed, but sufficiently strong light. For this purpose, a classic bulb or energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs can be used.
When choosing a compact bulb, do not follow the price criterion. The cheapest ones have less pleasant colour of light, so it is worth spending more money on a fluorescent bulb giving pleasant, soft and white light. Such an expense will surely pay off even more so, because fluorescent bulbs consume 80% less energy than classic bulbs and are ten times more sustainable.
Halogen lamps are not suitable for bathrooms, as in order to obtain evenly distributed illumination, one would have to use several such lamps and direct them at a bright ceiling.
Work light – mirror
The main purpose of mirror-adjacent work light is effective illumination of a much smaller area – the area in front of the mirror. The lamps should illuminate the mirror symmetrically on both sides and should not be blinding. They should be located approx. 75 cm from each other and at the eye level, i.e. approx. 160 cm above the floor.
Traditional halogen spots are unacceptable for this purpose. When operating they warm to high temperatures and may break, even at a touch of a single drop of water. So, if you do not want to give up pleasant, white halogen light, choose special splash-proof bulbs, which are resistant to water splashes.
And now, we draw close to a happy end... A well lit mirror, necessary for our morning routine, a soft, white general light and enchanting twilight for a romantic bath... Let there be light – and our bathroom is complete!