Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design 1 Sep 21, 2015 7:32 pm Hi All, I would appreciate any help or advice anyone may have on the below. Sorry for the long list and possibly silly questions! We are building a new home and need to start thinking about lighting. The builder is installing standard light points, we will replace them with our own fittings DOWN LIGHTS - we have quite a few! My questions are 1) do we need different down lights for the under cover outdoor areas (alfresco and portico) to the interior? 2) I am interested in white LED down lights out ceiling heights are 2.7m and I prefer warm white. Any recommendations of brand, watts, angle etc? I've seen some lights as cheap as $19 to as expensive as $40! After something that's of good quality. On average we have allowed for 4 downlights for a 12sqm area. 3) Above the basin lighting - I have allowed for a light point right above the basin in all the bathrooms. What's the best sort of light fitting for this? Can I used a downlight (assuming it's an appropriate one for wet areas)? 4) The Kitchen Island Bench lighting - The kitchen island is 1.2m wide and about 3m long. I have allowed for three pendant lights. Is this enough? I am not sure what size pendants I should be considering (30cm or 40cm or bigger). I am struggling a bit with getting the proportions right. Thanks in advance! viewtopic.php?t=78985 Re: Help needed with light fittings 2Sep 21, 2015 7:55 pm 1) Not necessarily, most LED downlights these days have a clear or opal diffuser that does a reasonably job of keeping out bugs, dust, moisture etc. 2) In your living areas I would recommend using an LED downlight that has a good glare cut-off and a "flood" optic (45-60 degrees). This gives a good compromise between uniform coverage and glare cut-off. Downlights with a beam of wider than 50-60 degrees usually have a big problem with glare - which is fine for some rooms, but you want to reduce glare as much as possible in areas that you spend a lot of time and want to be comfortable. I agree with you - 2700k-3200k (warm white) is best for residential (personal taste of course) I would recommend the following downlights (or similar) for lounge rooms, kitchens, foyers, alfresco areas etc: Domus Neo 13W (fixed downlight) Domus Scoop 13W (tilt adjustable) Domus Deep 10W (fixed downlight with deep set low glare baffle reflector For toilets, bathrooms, hallways, laundries and bedrooms, I would use these. They are cheaper and have a very wide beam so you could get away with two in a bedroom, no worries. They are quite glarey, but in these rooms, who cares... Domus Deco 13w 3) A downlight over the basin is ok, but you tend to get shadows on your face which can be a pest when shaving, and (so I am told by my wife) when doing make up. You might prefer a pendant that throws light all over the place so you get smooth light. If you decided to go with a downlight, any of the above would be fine. 4) 3 should be a good number for your kitchen bench pendants. I wouldn't use anything larger than 20-25cm diameter. Try to find something that focuses the light down onto the bench where you want it. (I have no affiliation with GoLights or Domus, but have purchased quite a few products through GoLights for my own home and have found them to be good, well priced etc. In my job as a lighting design engineer I have used Domus products on a few apartment buildings of late and found their products to be good value for money) Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Help needed with light fittings 3Sep 21, 2015 7:58 pm Hey Franky We used the same downlights in our porch and alfresco as we did inside. They are LED ones from Beacon. These ones: http://www.beaconlighting.com.au/ledlux ... white.html The Beacon "cool white" is actually more like "natural white" or "daylight". It's not that cool. A few lighting retailers have rooms set up where you can see the different warmth lights, if you're still not sure what K rating you want. In terms of coverage and watts, angle, etc, you can see our electrical plan here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446&p=1331975#p1331975 We did add one more downlight over the kitchen sink (and I'm glad we did). But that spread in those size rooms is fine for us with the lights we got. After watching so much The Block and Reno Rumble I regretted not putting a downlight over our bathroom sinks but at the same time, I thought it would be weird with our 3-in-1s. And the 3-in-1s give plenty of light I think. But I'm not a woman who wears a lot of make up, as a rule As far as I know a downlight should be fine. Over the kitchen island, we decided not to do pendants there in the end and just put one over the dining table, in part because I couldn't figure out the proportions either 3 seems to be the standard number though. I don't think they have to be big - small or narrow ones in a row look great too. Just remember that depending on what you choose, they may be purely "decorative' light and not give great task lighting, so you might want to still have a downlight over the sink or close by for task lighting there. Even if you decide not to go with Beacon, it wouldn't hurt to go to a store for a free lighting consult and quote. We found them super helpful and ended up getting nearly all our lights and fans there. Hope that helps! Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: Help needed with light fittings 4Sep 21, 2015 11:50 pm 1960sModernistHome 1) Not necessarily, most LED downlights these days have a clear or opal diffuser that does a reasonably job of keeping out bugs, dust, moisture etc. 2) In your living areas I would recommend using an LED downlight that has a good glare cut-off and a "flood" optic (45-60 degrees). This gives a good compromise between uniform coverage and glare cut-off. Downlights with a beam of wider than 50-60 degrees usually have a big problem with glare - which is fine for some rooms, but you want to reduce glare as much as possible in areas that you spend a lot of time and want to be comfortable. I agree with you - 2700k-3200k (warm white) is best for residential (personal taste of course) I would recommend the following downlights (or similar) for lounge rooms, kitchens, foyers, alfresco areas etc: Domus Neo 13W (fixed downlight) Domus Scoop 13W (tilt adjustable) Domus Deep 10W (fixed downlight with deep set low glare baffle reflector For toilets, bathrooms, hallways, laundries and bedrooms, I would use these. They are cheaper and have a very wide beam so you could get away with two in a bedroom, no worries. They are quite glarey, but in these rooms, who cares... Domus Deco 13w 3) A downlight over the basin is ok, but you tend to get shadows on your face which can be a pest when shaving, and (so I am told by my wife) when doing make up. You might prefer a pendant that throws light all over the place so you get smooth light. If you decided to go with a downlight, any of the above would be fine. 4) 3 should be a good number for your kitchen bench pendants. I wouldn't use anything larger than 20-25cm diameter. Try to find something that focuses the light down onto the bench where you want it. (I have no affiliation with GoLights or Domus, but have purchased quite a few products through GoLights for my own home and have found them to be good, well priced etc. In my job as a lighting design engineer I have used Domus products on a few apartment buildings of late and found their products to be good value for money) Thank you so much for sharing all this info. I have been looking at go lights they seem to be very reasonably priced. viewtopic.php?t=78985 Re: Help needed with light fittings 5Sep 21, 2015 11:52 pm Ilaeria Hey Franky We used the same downlights in our porch and alfresco as we did inside. They are LED ones from Beacon. These ones: http://www.beaconlighting.com.au/ledlux ... white.html The Beacon "cool white" is actually more like "natural white" or "daylight". It's not that cool. A few lighting retailers have rooms set up where you can see the different warmth lights, if you're still not sure what K rating you want. In terms of coverage and watts, angle, etc, you can see our electrical plan here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446&p=1331975#p1331975 We did add one more downlight over the kitchen sink (and I'm glad we did). But that spread in those size rooms is fine for us with the lights we got. After watching so much The Block and Reno Rumble I regretted not putting a downlight over our bathroom sinks but at the same time, I thought it would be weird with our 3-in-1s. And the 3-in-1s give plenty of light I think. But I'm not a woman who wears a lot of make up, as a rule As far as I know a downlight should be fine. Over the kitchen island, we decided not to do pendants there in the end and just put one over the dining table, in part because I couldn't figure out the proportions either 3 seems to be the standard number though. I don't think they have to be big - small or narrow ones in a row look great too. Just remember that depending on what you choose, they may be purely "decorative' light and not give great task lighting, so you might want to still have a downlight over the sink or close by for task lighting there. Even if you decide not to go with Beacon, it wouldn't hurt to go to a store for a free lighting consult and quote. We found them super helpful and ended up getting nearly all our lights and fans there. Hope that helps! Thanks Illaeria - I think a visit to Beacon might be a good idea to get some suggestions and info. I bought all the lighting from Beacon when we did our renos for the current house. They are very good viewtopic.php?t=78985 Re: Help needed with light fittings 6Sep 22, 2015 2:11 am I have nothing against Beacon, but their products aren't anything special, and because of all their expensive and high profile advertising and sponsorship of TV programs they may be more expensive than the same products from online or in store from an electrical wholesaler (someone's gotta pay and prime time TV ads ain't cheap...) They're certainly not the be-all end-all of lighting, and to be honest the few times I have been in there and "played dumb" with the sales assistants, their knowledge has been pretty shallow, and even flat out wrong, but that's not an exclusive problem to Beacon... Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Help needed with light fittings 7Sep 22, 2015 7:33 am 1960sModernistHome I have nothing against Beacon, but their products aren't anything special, and because of all their expensive and high profile advertising and sponsorship of TV programs they may be more expensive than the same products from online or in store from an electrical wholesaler (someone's gotta pay and prime time TV ads ain't cheap...) They're certainly not the be-all end-all of lighting, and to be honest the few times I have been in there and "played dumb" with the sales assistants, their knowledge has been pretty shallow, and even flat out wrong, but that's not an exclusive problem to Beacon... True though it's nice to be able to walk into a shop and get advice and touch and see the products. Compared to some online stores Beacon is very expensive. When you build every bit helps viewtopic.php?t=78985 Re: Help needed with light fittings 8Sep 24, 2015 4:58 pm We are getting few LED down lights from our builder. They use Beacon Lighting : http://www.beaconlighting.com.au/ledlux ... white.html Other than that I am thinking to get more down lights to be fitted by a sparky after the handover. I could see the Beacon ones are few dollars expensive, but comes with 5 years warranty and 4k rating. Others have got 3k or 5k ones only. I could see them having broader beam angle as well and also a shop front where we can replace rather than sending them back and pay for postage. Is there any place as well from where we can get the quality down lights at reasonable price? Re: Help needed with light fittings 9Sep 24, 2015 10:31 pm Check out the links in my post at the start of thos thread. I bought some Domus Deco 13W downlights from GoLights for my own house for $25ea. They are pretty good value. An apartment building that I designed the lighting and electrical for has just been completed where I specified about 2000 Domus Deco 13W downlights. They're not my ideal downlight but they are good value, and reasonably good quality and good light output. If you can stretch to the $50-60 mark then I would recommend the Domus Scoop or Domus Deep for living areas as they are far less glarey. I recommend 3000k for residential. Re: Help needed with light fittings 11Sep 25, 2015 6:54 pm I think glass diffuser will be too harsh. I saw the opal ones and they looked fine. Prefer 4k compared to 3k. So will keep beacon ones as selection. Re: Help needed with light fittings 12Sep 25, 2015 6:56 pm We have the Beacon 4000k with opal diffusers and they're not glarey at all, and a nice neutral colour, not too yellow or too clinical. Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: Help needed with light fittings 13Sep 25, 2015 7:17 pm Ilaeria We have the Beacon 4000k with opal diffusers and they're not glarey at all, and a nice neutral colour, not too yellow or too clinical. Agree to that. Currently they are for 33 or 34 if I remember. So not that much of price diff. You get perfect temp of 4k with 5 years of warranty and shop front where u can see them before buying. 5 dollars extra for that is worth it i suppose. Unless similar specs are available for cheap online. Re: Help needed with light fittings 14Sep 25, 2015 10:56 pm If you buy a house lot you'll get it cheaper than that. We paid about $25 each for ours. Sent from Tapatalk Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: Help needed with light fittings 15Sep 25, 2015 11:00 pm Not quite sure what you mean by "glass diffuser too harsh" as the ones with a deep reflector and clear glass cover are low glare. The LED chip is set back into the reflector and the clear glass does not refract any light. This is the closest style to the traditional halogen downlight (if that's what you like). It's actually borderline as to whether the flat opal diffuser type are even technically a "downlight" as they are more like a panel light, as they don't have any optical control. They're a cheap and relatively efficient way of spraying light all over the place, but not really good for visual comfort. I've used the flat opal diffused type in my hallways because I justwant light thrown around the place and into linen cupboards, but I wouldn't use them in my bedrooms or living areas personally. In those spaces I have the deepset style with 45 degree beam and some are wallwashers to shine on walls. Hi - thanks for your reply. Yes I think 'Ill go for whitish with very speckly bits rather than pure white something like this. PS was actually 2008 I built the… 2 8667 That was always going to be a challenge and a test of patience. Full marks to your mate. Did you discuss the wet area near the trampoline? 16 14079 It might be a bit darker in the mornings but the light is still light, so you should be getting it. Similar to what you see from your western windows 3 15484 |