Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design 1 Jan 17, 2012 9:35 pm Hi all, I'm putting together a lighting plan for my new kitchen, and I'd really appreciate some input. In my old (smaller) kitchen I've had a single fluoro oyster in the centre of the room and hated working in my shadow all the time! This time around I'm going for LED downlights, and I want to make sure that I'm positioning them in way that will provide practical and efficient task lighting as well as general lighting for the room. The LED DLs are these http://www.onlinelighting.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=60_140&products_id=12913 in the 9W and warm white. I've bought one already to try out, and I would say that they come close to the brightness of a 50W halogen, but with a 60* beam spread, which I prefer. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Please note that my ceilings are 2.4m, the lights above my sink will be in a bulkhead (2.1m), and the cabinets that I haven't labelled are all base cabinets (all tall cabinets are on the left hand side). Thanks! Re: Help with kitchen lighting design 2Jan 18, 2012 7:41 am Just a couple of points to consider: You need to put a light into your pantry, consider putting it on a sensor instead of a switch, no need to find a switch with arms full of groceries, too easy! 9 lights in that area is probably a little too many. The lights over your oven, tall cabinet and fridge could probably be replaced by 1 central room light. I know you are worried about shadows but keep in mind your fridge will have an internal light as will your oven. 2 lights over your breakfast bar are great. Your rangehood will most likely have lights built in. So do you really need both lights over cooktop area (are you having overhead cupboards there?). You could consider moving the left hand light over the sink (in the bulkhead) a little further into the corner so it lights the bench space between the sink and the wall. Most important lights are where you are doing your food prep. I imagine that is either BB or corner near cooktop and I think with the BB lights and bulkhead lights they have sufficient light directly over them. Re: Help with kitchen lighting design 3Jan 18, 2012 7:59 am Thanks Rocketship! I forgot to mention that I am indeed having a light on a sensor in the pantry, and there are no overhead cupboards either side of the rangehood. I do like the idea of a central room light, as downlights are so directional and don't produce the best ambient lighting for a space. What would you recommend - something like a fluoro oyster? I'm concerned that having an oyster and a bunch of downlights will look weird. As for the lights over the cooktop, I was trying to put some light on the work spaces either side of it - I'm not sure if the rangehood lights will extend that far (they are usually very directional halogens). Re: Help with kitchen lighting design 5Jan 22, 2012 3:56 am My advise is to go with the down lights, fluro lights are not going to produce the quality of light you need in a kitchen, also make sure you buy the correctly angled light bulb for the height of your roof as it will improve light quality Re: Help with kitchen lighting design 6Jan 22, 2012 9:20 am Hi Mr Zebra, I'm sorry I missed your reply. I'm not a huge fan of fluro lights, a flush mount oyster but perhaps a nice warm white globe could be an option. I like that you have LED downlights (we are having LED downlights in our kitchen) I just thought maybe 9 was too many. I was going to suggest strip LED lighting if you had overhead cupboards either side of your range but as you don't that isn't really an option. I have looked at your layout many times. I'm thinking that the light over the oven and bench next to cooktop could be changed into one light in between and the light over your tall cabinet and fridge could be changed into 1 light inbetween. Then it would be personal preference if you decided to go with a central light. Instead of 9 downlights you would end up with 7. Kind of like this: What do you think? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Help with kitchen lighting design 7Jan 22, 2012 10:29 am Thanks Rocketship, I like your layout, I think it would be ideal with a central fixture - without it, I would be concerned that the area on the left where the tall cabinets and fridge are could be a bit dark. I'm actually really torn at the moment about the LEDs. I've now tried 9W GU10 bulbs in warm (3000K) and cool white (5000K) in my kitchen (well, the empty space where my old kitchen used to be) and whilst I'm more than happy with the light output, I'm not overly happy with the light colour. I find the cool white too clinical and white, whereas the warm white is pretty similar to a halogen colour, which I find quite insipid and yellow. Unfortunately, the colour temp I really like for the kitchen is 4000K, which is only readily available in CFL downlights. Eeeeek! I tried out a 4000K Megaman 11W GU10 CFL and I love the light colour, but they aren't very bright and the light is very diffuse and unfocussed. I might try a side mounted CFL downlight like a Jupiter 4 to see if it's any brighter. Alternatively, Philips does a 4000K LED bulb, however it only comes in 25 and 40* beam angles - I much prefer 60*. Re: Help with kitchen lighting design 8Jan 22, 2012 10:37 am I am not an expert with all this - husband knows all about the different language that you just spoke in I'll ask him if he can help when he gets home but I agree that cool white is very clinical. It is great that you are in a position to try them all out before making a decision. Our Bondi Greenwall was impressive from day one with advanced lush plants to provide a wow factor to this recently renovated living area. The boundary was less than 1… 0 15235 Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1. optional, you can but normally just use the earth from the main switch board 2. should be enough but the distance determines voltage drop - sparky should work it… 1 28761 I have a really long hallway which is 1100mm W x 11500mm L I would appreciate if anyone can give suggestions to light it up with Linear LED lights that goes from wall to… 0 8768 |