flicka001: "I've been looking at lighting for the bathroom and have no idea what type of bulb is best." You can get it now, or you can get it later, but in the long run, certainly you will end up with LED lighting. LEDs are still in their infancy, and until recently, they have been plagued with two limitations: (1) there were not many LEDs that were sufficiently bright, and (2) LEDs are inherently directional. The former has been largely overcome, the latter less so. You can currently purchase a Par20 LED flood light bulb that is fully equivalent in lumen output (brightness) to incandescent or halogen Par20 light bulbs, using a fifth or less the electricity in operation, and generating a fifth or less extraneous heat -- and they will last many times as long as incandescents or halogens or even compact fluorescents. See the link below. And the color spectrum of the LEDs is more complimentary to skin tones than halogen light sources or most incandescent light sources. The directionality issue is a work in progress. You can get LED floodlights and spotlights that blow incandescent and halogen and compact flourescent floods and spots out of the water, but there are fewer satisfactory omnidirectional LED bulbs. So when we remodeled our powder room 18 months ago, lighted by over-the-mirror mounted fixtures, we included in our planning from the outset the reflectivity and color of the surfaces that the LED floods we planned to use would be pointing at. The powder room is fully illuminated by the light reflected off the sidewalls from sideways-pointing floodlights above the mirror over the sink, and the diffused, therefore soft, light minimizes hard shadows and makes us look good in the mirror. Here is a link that might be useful: One example of a modern LED bulb

We're finalizing renovation plans for our 5' x 9' hall bath, and I'd like feedback on my choice of light fixtures. I'm thinking of using three of these 150-watt halogen sconces âÂ" spec'ed by the manufacturer (Condor Lighting) as down lights âÂ" above the new vanity and toilet: Specs: ààSatin glass bottom diffuser. ààOne 150 watt, 120 volt, T3Short, RSC halogen lamp. ààGeneral downward light distribution. ààADA compliant. àà9.25"W x 4"H x 3.25" projection. ààDimmers: Incandescent The sconces will probably be installed just below the 7' level below the 8' ceiling, with roughly 24" between fixture center lines. This leaves roughly 15" of wall space between the fixture edges. The sconces will need to provide the primary nighttime lighting for the vanity and toilet area. (I was going to say "task lighting", but that term didn't sound right WRT the toilet!) The bathroom is 5' wide as you enter it, with a shower that spans the "full" 5 feet at the end of the room. The shower will have it's own lighting on separate switch. So the three sconces only need to light the 6' long wall behind the vanity and toilet (to your left as you enter the room). BTW, the room no longer has a window, so we added a skylight and an exhaust fan years ago. Lighting is not an issue in this room when the sun is up, even during the winter. I'm having difficulty envisioning the lighting plan, because the bathroom currently has the exhaust fan without a light and a single fluorescent tube fixture from HD on above the vanity. To complicate matters, I'm not familiar with halogen lighting except for the two 20-watt halogen lights in my Kobe kitchen range hood. Those lights are very bright, so I would probably use lower wattage bulbs in the bathroom sconces. I'd be grateful for input from the halogen-savvy GWers out there. Thank you in advance! docdom

Thank you both for responding. No, there won't be seating at the island where the light is. I toodled on in to the lighting store today and held a sample of granite under a display of halogen lights. I really liked how it made the granite look and I do belive I will enjoy it as task light. It's good to hear rhome that you don't find them overly hot as that was the one concern my DH did have. I can control the direction of the lamps so that might help too. rhome: what wattage do you usually use. The gal at the lamp store recommended 50 (this would give the equivalent of 300w from the unit). Thanks again KN

We have halogens because we prefer the light it gives vs. fluorescents. Unfortunately, because we are in CA, we can't have as many halogens as we would like. If we could, it would be all halogen (although we never use the fluorescent lights anyway). Our ceilings are very tall so it is comfortable for us but we have them on dimmers also. HTH