Lighting

Downlights – 5 Reasons to Think Again

Downlights are very popular and can give dramatic light effects so you seem them a lot in show houses, and shops ……but I won’t have them again.

A but harsh? . . . . here are my reasons why.

The dramatic effect means that the light from each fitting is fairly limited in area so you need lots of them.
The cost of each individual unit, including installation is high. With four – six in small rooms and ten or more in large rooms the cost really starts to add up.
Because the light is directed down you don’t get much reflected light of the walls and none on the ceiling resulting in a very uneven light, not what you need for reading or general household tasks.
Because the down lights run hot its dangerous to cover them in insulation which means that the effectiveness of your insulation is reduced. .
Changing bulbs can be really fiddly and exasperating, especially with some of the cheaper fittings. Not good when you are working off a ladder.

Now LED downlights are common these are better than the old incandescent so if you love your existing downlights It could be worth upgrading to LEDs.

Here is a comparison of costs; A typical room will need at least 6 down lights at $100 each including installation, Total $600 and using around 50W. Compare this against a single $50 LED bulb on an oyster fitting costing $50 and using 15W.

For similar posts see Electrical

Skylights

Thinking about putting some skylights in the roof?

Planning one of those rooms with a glazed roof panel?

You really need to think very carefully before you go ahead!

Summer

In summer the heat gain and glare can be enormous causing major overheating. A typical North facing 900mm x 900mm sky light can put 3kw of heat an hour into your room between 9.00am and 3pm.

Sky lights are difficult to shade effectivly, although putting them on a South facing roof can help. Don’t forget though in most of Australia the sun is almost directly overhead in summer.

Winter

As heat naturally rises in a room high level windows can lose 30% more heat than a typical window in a wall. Even with double glazing you will be loosing far more heat than would be the case for an insulated ceiling. With the sun at a low angle you will also get minimal heating benefit on sunny winter days.

Generally

If you feel there is no alternative keep the skylight as small as possible (see Australian Standard AS4285 Skylights for sizing guidelines), or use daylight tubes.

A better solution is Daylight Tubes

Daylight Tubes

If you have a gloomy smaller room (for example bathroom, WIR, or hallway) consider a daylight tube. They are a more energy efficient alternative to conventional skylights or having to keep putting the lights on.

Daylight tubes have three parts:

Roof mounted clear, hemispherical dome
Connecting smooth highly reflective tube/duct
Ceiling level diffuser

As they require a smaller area of roof glazing than a traditional skylight, heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter is significantly reduced.

Selection and Installation

Smooth shiny tubes. will deliver more light than corrugated flexible tubes.

Although the advertising show the ducts bent into all sorts of shapes in practice the straighter the tube the better the light.

Although you can buy DIY kits working on a house roof is risky. If you are not confident it may be better to pay for it to be installed.

Make sure the ceiling insulation is replaced tightly around the tube

Quirky Rome Apartment 2

Earlier this week I posted about the quirky apartment we have rented in Rome.

Here are a couple more photographs.

The first shows the wall that separates the entrance hall from the Bathroom / Laundry.

The wall is a translucent material with a blue tinge on the external surface and a white surface on the bathroom side.

The lights are mounted inside the wall to illuminate both rooms.

I am sure you will agree that it gives quite an unusual effect.

Another interesting thing was the security.

This photo shows the locking mechanism on the steel lined door.

It looks more like the lock on a bank vault than a domestic dwelling.

Don’t think I have shown you all the quirks; I have left some for any readers to check out if they decide to visit.

See the previous post on a Quirky Rome Apartment to find out more.

NB. I have not been paid, nor received a discount on accommodation, for this post.

Post inspired by comments from ‘Johnson’ on the Homeone forum website.

Light is one of the most important thing in a house.

During the day its nice to get as much natural light into the house as possible while avoiding glare.

When the sun goes down its a different matter. An overall light level for the whole room is pretty boring.

There’s two keys to successful lighting:

Layering

This involves various lights in the room that illuminate areas for their specific use for example.

A lamp on a side table.
A standard lamp that provides light over your shoulder when you are reading.
Spotlights to illuminate a picture.
Wall or floor uplights to brighten the room without any harsh glare (if you can ever see a bare bulb or filament with the naked eye, you’ve done something wrong).

Having multiple light sources allows you to change the mood as you see fit.

Shadows

Shadowing is a forgotten element of a good lighting plan. While the multiple downlight brigade likes to light every single corner of the room, they forget that the human eye is drawn to bright areas — and you can only get those with contrasting shadowed areas.

There’s nothing wrong with a dim backwall that can only be illuminated by a single lamp, or a comfy chair secreted in a shadowed alcove. Shadows can provide drama, texture, or even comfort.

It’s possible to create wonderful spaces with the simplest lighting setups. Very few situations call for bright, overhead downlights – but that doesn’t stop people from using rows of the things across their lounge room ceiling, like some sort of inverted airport runway!

So forget the downlights. There’s plenty of shops with beautiful lights. Get creative! You might even save some money.

Photograph comes from www.iseecubed.com

Tag: Lighting