How many LED lights per room?!

[psd99]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to get the whole house fitted with LED lights (yer I know this is crazy right!?)

The rooms are this big:

How many spot lights would you all suggest per room and in what configuration?

would someone be able to draw the lights out on the pic please?

Thanks,
Psd99

 

[JanxSpirit]

I wouldn't suggest spotlights at all unless the intention is to create shadows everywhere. Uplighting with concealed LED strips all the way around the edges of each ceiling is very effective for even, shadow-free illumination.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/98/a3/28/98a32880d154c49cb93dc58d178d41b3.jpg

** No Hotlinking **

 

[psd99]

I wouldn't suggest spotlights at all unless the intention is to create shadows everywhere. Uplighting with concealed LED strips all the way around the edges of each ceiling is very effective for even, shadow-free illumination.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/98/a3/28/98a32880d154c49cb93dc58d178d41b3.jpg[/QUOTE]

meh I don't like that look

it looks like a hotel, not like a home.

 

[theone8181]

You can get wide 'spotlights' like 120 degrees for example so they have better coverage.

 

[amkan13]

generally 1 downlight per m2 would give you a rough idea. Make sure you account for fitted wardrobes, wall cabinets in the kitchen that reduce your ceiling space etc.

Do you have any ideas which way your joists are running and spacing between joists? It's just something to keep in mind.

You can download software called Relux (which is free) and create a lighting layout to fit your rooms.

 

[div0]

meh I don't like that look

it looks like a hotel, not like a home.

I have to disagree with you on that.

I've got LED spots fitted in both the kitchen and the bathroom and they're ideal. But I'm pretty sure they'd look absolutely terrible in a bedroom or livingroom. The alternative suggested looks much more 'homely' imo.

 

[psd99]

generally 1 downlight per m2 would give you a rough idea. Make sure you account for fitted wardrobes, wall cabinets in the kitchen that reduce your ceiling space etc.

Do you have any ideas which way your joists are running and spacing between joists? It's just something to keep in mind.

You can download software called Relux (which is free) and create a lighting layout to fit your rooms.

I am unsure about the joists yet but I will know once I break the ceilings downstairs.

 

[valve90210]

I wouldn't suggest spotlights at all unless the intention is to create shadows everywhere. Uplighting with concealed LED strips all the way around the edges of each ceiling is very effective for even, shadow-free illumination.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/98/a3/28/98a32880d154c49cb93dc58d178d41b3.jpg[/QUOTE]

I like that a lot, can't stand spotlights!!

 

[the_r_sole]

Why do you want spotlights everywhere?
It always makes me think people haven't given it any thought, there's a whole lot of variation in lighting you can do, using one type of fitting everywhere isn't that good an idea.

There is nothing worse than spots in a bedroom so you get blinded lying in bed!

I always recommend toplightco for lighting as they have a huge range of fittings but if you end up going for downlights absolutely everywhere make sure you have plenty of control over them as you don't want them all on all the time.

 

[psd99]

well I don't need to or have to have spotlights absolutely everywhere (crazy thing right) but I would like them in the kitchen, living room, bathroom and hallway.

perhaps in the bedroom it might be too much though. Good point.

 

[BinnsY]

I have LED spots throughout my house, the vast majority being 5w warm whites save for the kitchen and bathroom which are 5w cool whites. I'm not sure why people are suggesting they create shadows everywhere, as long as you go for the wide beam ones they create much more even lighting than a normal ceiling rose setup.

I've just checked the dimensions from when my house was for sale and your Bedroom 2 almost exactly matches my bedroom 1. This is easily lit with 6 evenly spaced in a 3 * 2 pattern (3 along the long side 2 on the short). Given the amount of light I have I'd also wager 6 would do your bedroom 1 without any problem though you could probably squeeze in 8 if you wanted (though I would likely step down to 4w if your going for LED's or put in a dimmer as 8*5W is going to be rather bright).

I'm actually doing all of my rooms with 6 LED's save for my dining room and box room.

My dining room is 3.3m by 2.4m and is easily lit by 4 spots.

If it were me I'd probably do them something like this based on how my house is lit.

 

[Amp34]

Nooooo!

Assuming by LED you mean downlights then not at all like the above. You can obviously just install LED bulbs anywhere there are normal bulbs, you'll get the same lumens if you buy the right LEDs. Downlight's on the other hand are more specialist and shouldn't be placed everywhere. You should have a mix of normal and downlight. Best thing to do first though is check where your beams are as it can be a nightmare to fit them otherwise. You'll also need to work out what size downlights you want they can go from 3-6" depending on what you want them for, how many you want and how high the ceilings are.

The cardinal sin of downlights however is pretty much BinnsYs image (sorry). Just sticking them in rows. Downlights should be positioned where they are most useful. For example in a bedroom if you want downlights there you could position one either side of the bed, over the bed side tables, or have four over the bed. In the bathroom good places to position downlights are over the toilet and in the shower, in the kitchen they should be positioned so you have the best light for the counter (for example 3-4 small ones in a row above an open counter/sink area, and then other larger ones to actually light up the room). In bigger rooms you want to look at your "zones", i.e if in one room you have a TV area and a Dining table you want to treat those as two separate "rooms" and design the lighting for each.

Personally if you have smaller general rooms then something like a normal light in the middle and then four downlights in a square round the main light would look good. If you know where your sofa is going in the living room then perhaps install two or three directly above that and then a few more in strategic locations around the room. Remember though that downlights are more of a pain for reading (because your head gets in the way, especially if you have darker rooms (less reflected light). It's one of the reasons bathroom vanity areas usually have two smaller lights either side of the head location, so you get decent light.

Positioning wise - if you are lighting a room with only downlights usually no more than 3ft from each corner (otherwise you end up with dark patches) and around 4-5ft between each one, but as mentioned before that depends on ceiling height and size of light (smaller lights usually have smaller angles of light, so you will need more in the same space to light things up evenly.

You should also think about whether you just want ones that point down or spots that can be rotated to face walls (such as to light up a piece of art/photo.

So not as simple as 6 in a row here, 4 in a row there.

 

[BinnsY]

I get the point you are making and I am inclined to agree it certainly could be done better. Mine are essentially arranged like that as they were put in my the people before me (a half arsed job with horrible 12v stuff no fire hoods and generally horrific wiring all over the place) but I disagree that you can't just stick them in rows.

If we were still stuck with bulbs that had a horrible narrow cone I'd agree as you get a puddling effect. But with the range of 120 degree bulbs now they all overlap and in my house every room just seems to get nice even lighting with no paticular dark spots or irritations.

I agree if you start combining central tradational lights with carfeully located spots you could get a better effect, but having lived in houses with normal central bulbs all my life and then moving to one with all spot lights I dont really notice the difference.

I think even with my straight rows some of what you said is likely already taken into consideration. There is a bulb over the bath and over the sink, assuming a double bed comes out from the chimney breast with bed side tables either side there would be a spot light over the bed, and over the bedside tables.

In short, yes I think you are correct that it can definately be done better (dont worry, I wont take offense to the diagram I spent 2 minutes knocking up in snipping tool ). But I also dont think the straight rows is quite as bad as people would have you believe.

 

[psd99]

I have LED spots throughout my house, the vast majority being 5w warm whites save for the kitchen and bathroom which are 5w cool whites. I'm not sure why people are suggesting they create shadows everywhere, as long as you go for the wide beam ones they create much more even lighting than a normal ceiling rose setup.

I've just checked the dimensions from when my house was for sale and your Bedroom 2 almost exactly matches my bedroom 1. This is easily lit with 6 evenly spaced in a 3 * 2 pattern (3 along the long side 2 on the short). Given the amount of light I have I'd also wager 6 would do your bedroom 1 without any problem though you could probably squeeze in 8 if you wanted (though I would likely step down to 4w if your going for LED's or put in a dimmer as 8*5W is going to be rather bright).

I'm actually doing all of my rooms with 6 LED's save for my dining room and box room.

My dining room is 3.3m by 2.4m and is easily lit by 4 spots.

If it were me I'd probably do them something like this based on how my house is lit.

Thanks for taking the time to put that diagram together, I like that layout but everything is still being considered. What I wonder from looking at your diagram is why have you not put a spotlight in the centre of any of the rooms?

 

[BinnsY]

In my setup I've never found that they are needed, you get some much light spilling from the beams that it reaches without issue. It certainly works in your bedroom 2 sized room for me, but your Bedroom 1 is wider than any of mine so your mileage may vary.

Of course this all goes to pot if you use narrow beam LED's where you will almost certainly have issues and if you are doign this and drilling the holes from scratch I think Amp34's points are definately worth considering.

 

[psd99]

So what is the deal with this angle of light? Is it the bulbs that I need to have this 120 degrees?

 

[BinnsY]

Indeed, normally LED bulbs have a rating on them as to how wide the cone of light they produce is. The wider the cone the more area they cover with light. If you have widely spaced spots with narrow cones you will end up creating very obvious "spot" light effects on the floor.

This diagram shows what I mean I think.

 

[BennyC]

4 in each of the bedrooms would be plenty. 4 in bedroom 3 is overkill, the room is tiny. I have a study a similar size and have 3 in a triangular pattern, fortunately they dim otherwise it would be hideously bright. I use lamps in these rooms in the evening once it is dark because it's more relaxing.

I have a lounge 13ft x 20ft and 8 in there is sufficient. I very rarely use the spots in my lounge in favour of lamps instead.

Great in the kitchen and strip lights under the worktops but anywhere you plan to 'relax' I'd avoid them, unless they are going to be dimmable.

 

[psd99]

Almost getting my lights installed.

I went with a mixture of downlights and for now ceiling rose etc

Anyway I'm a bit stuck on which downlights to go for

Does anyone have any suggestion or experience on a particular make that they would recommend?

 

[Simon]

Aurora M7 in 3000k.

Just put 8 in my kitchen. Great lights