Need recessed lighting advice for bathroom

9 years ago

We are doing a bathroom remodel, and want to put in 3" or 4" recessed lights in addition to the vanity lighting. The bathroom is relatively small, so the vanity lights will provide most of the light needed to illuminate the room. So the overheads are just for a little bit of reinforcement as flood lighting to add some varied lighting angle and get rid of a few shadowy areas.

The question is: should I plan the placement of the recessed lights so that they provide good coverage by themselves? If I do that, then I'm worried about the lighting being overkill when combined with the vanity lighting.

Or should I plan for good coverage with the vanity lighting included? Seems like this might work better for overall effect, but might result in weird location or uneven spacing of the recessed lights.

On a closely related note, I'm debating over whether I should put the vanity lights and recessed lighting on separate switches or not. The electrician and designer in me says definitely separate switches. But the parent in me knows that we have a hard enough time getting the kids to turn off one light switch. I'm thinking it will be impossible to get them to keep two light switches off- especially since they will be 3-way switches, so they might not go in the same direction every time. Lighting effects and different scenes/moods are not important in this room. We just want people in there to be able to see adequately. So maybe one switch is OK? I'm thinking this may have a big impact on the answer to the first question above. What do you think?

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Comments (3)

Monrovia Mom
9 years ago
We are in the midst of our remodel and had similar issues to contend with. I chose to 1) go slightly off center knowing that my vanity lights would provide ample coverage in that area. When you walk into the bathroom, if you look up, the lights aren't exactly centered with the doorway - they are slightly to the right, based on coverage needs. 2) I wanted everything on separate switches & dimmers too - fan (okay, dimmer not necessary), vanity light & recessed lights. I personally didn't want to light up the room, every time we needed to say, use the restroom versus if I was applying makeup. My kids are away in college so I don't have to contend with the issue of their training :) Good luck to you!
monicakm_gw
9 years ago
Definitely do separate switches and put everything on dimmers and go with your first option of placing the recessed lights where they provide good coverage on their own. I have three sets of lights in the master (recessed, a sconce in the toilet alcove and a chandy over the tub...all on dimmers. Big mistake not doing vanity lights but that wasn't my fault and a long story :( I love how versatile the lighting is. We're remodeling DH's bathroom right now. His vanity light fixture can handle up to 300w. That's a lot of light for a 5x8 bathroom but will be nice sometimes for aging eyeballs! We'll be putting it on a dimmer as well. Who wants to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and have 300w of light blasting your sleepy senses? :)
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palimpsest
9 years ago
I would plan for the lighting to be complementary, not for the recessed lighting to be all coverage:

Plan for the recessed lighting to provide good general lighting for the bathroom as a whole, but don't expect it to be in the correct position to light the vanity and the mirror in the way it should be lit. In other words light the bath from the ceiling like you would light a kitchen from the ceiling, enough to illuminate the whole room as general lighting, but don't expect it to be the task lighting as well.

Plan the vanity lighting for optimal vanity lighting. This is essentially the task lighting. It should be switched separately.

Light the shower separately. Sometimes I like to take a shower in the relative dark, compared to the rest of the bathroom. Sometimes I like the shower light to serve as a night light or for guests to at least navigate in the bathroom.

Overlight it all slightly and put it all on dimmers.

I recommended switching the fans separately and no lights on the fan. The light they provide is generally pure glare.

I am doing a bathroom that is the size of some showers (28 square feet total) and it is still going to have 3-4 lighting circuits and a separate fan circuit.

Need recessed lighting advice for bathroom

Comments (3)

Monrovia Mom

monicakm_gw

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