Shower Lighting
The shower is a place where you can relax and wash away the day. It’s also one of the few places in your home with just you, so it’s important to make it feel like an enjoyable experience. Check out these great options that will help you find the perfect light for your space.
Why is Lighting the Shower So Important?
Lighting the shower is important for many reasons, but primarily because it helps you to see what you are doing whilst in there! Great shower lighting goes way beyond functionality though and is the perfect location to introduce some incredible lighting solutions that will benefit the entire bathroom.
Modern lighting design has evolved so much over the last decade, and there are now many different options for lighting your shower. These can make a huge impact on how your bathroom looks as well!
So if you’re looking to update your lighting, look no further than these great ideas:
1- Recessed lighting is a great choice for shower spaces because it’s easy to clean and install, while also being attractive. The fixtures are built into the ceiling with equal spacing between lights so that they don’t cast any shadows on your bathroom walls or surround tile work.
Recessed LED Strip
LED lighting is the latest and greatest in bathing space illumination, emitting a soft glow that will light up every nook and cranny of your shower. LED strips are thin enough to be concealed by most tiles so you won’t have any unsightly bulges or bumps from these lights on the ceiling.
Niche Lights
The shower niche is a great place to install lighting because creates a pocket of light that helps build up the layering of bathroom lighting and it usually has plenty of workable space for the fixtures to fit in.
Alcove Lighting
If you have an alcove shower with bench seating, consider installing a light in this spot
Recessed Floor Lights
Adding recessed lights into the wall of your shower at low level will cast light across the floor and create an inviting and comfortable atmosphere, especially as the reflective surfaces of tiling and shower trays helps spread the illumination across the room
Lighting is one part of your bathroom design that can make all the difference in how good it looks and feels to use.
2- General Ambient Ceiling Light
For when you are limited to a surface mounted ceiling light, you need one that has a low profile so not particularly deep and out of a higher IP rated zone if at all possible. You need a choice that diffuses the light broadly so it spreads evenly and as high up the surrounding walls as possible and with a suitable color temperature.
How to Choose Shower Lighting
Choosing a shower light can be categorized in two ways:
Selecting a product suitable for a typical shower, usually a recessed ceiling light.
Designing the balance of lighting in the shower area as part of an overhaul of a bathroom. This opens up way more choices but would involve more work and cost.
Selecting a recessed shower light is dependent on five main factors:
– Size of shower
– Size of light
– Wet rating required,
– Output
– Color temperature
Size of Shower:
To be sure you’re getting a unit that will suit, it’s best to measure up your bathroom and shower first before making any choices. Typically a shower light is chosen along with the rest of the bathroom’s recessed lighting and is surrounded by glass panels so the overall lighting contributes to your washing experience.
However, you need some direct or reflected light onto the person washing, so consider which direction you face under the water and make sure there is light falling onto the front of the user as if catching the light in their hands.
Size of Light:
Recessed lights are available in many different sizes & styles so you can easily find to suit your design.
Recessed can light sizes are traditionally expressed in diameter, which is the measurement from one side to the other.
Wet Rating:
Depending on where you are in the world your local building regulations and codes will stipulate the level of protection against the ingress of moisture your lighting fixture will require.
The varying levels of protection are defined as IP Ratings in the EU and UL listed for Wet Locations in the US.
Output:
You do not need to worry about achieving a particular lux level within a shower area but do consider that a useful level of light for washing should come from directly reflected light or an overhead source.
A typical shower would always need at least one recessed can light of at least 300 lumens.
Color Temperature:
3000K is in our opinion the best color of white light for showering as it is still a warm white but a fresher version that is still a flattering light for skin tones.
Tips on Shower Lighting Design
When you choose a shower light as part of the overall bathroom lighting, it’s important to take into consideration the size of your shower and whether or not there is enough room for any fixtures. Any opportunities should be taken.
1- Niche lighting is an ideal solution because it creates a pocket of light that helps build up the layering of bathroom lighting.
2- Think about installing recessed lights in walls at low level to light up shower trays and the wider room or
3- Alcove’s are like larger niche’s that when lit create a focal point.
4- The main thing you want is good illumination: so make sure that your chosen fixture emits enough brightness with the right amount of lumens in all directions. It should be bright enough to allow people to see the shower and its surroundings, but not so bright that it’s uncomfortable to look at.
5- This is best built up with minimal overhead lighting and a lower source
6- Shower lighting should be more directional: you want the light coming from your fixture to shine on user instead of going everywhere unless the master-plan for the bathroom lighting relies on it as a main layer of light. Keeping the illumination restrained will create a more comfortable environment where people can feel like they have their privacy while still being able to see everything around them.
7- The recessed ceiling light in a small shower should be installed directly over the middle of the cubicle so the user is lit whilst washing without shadowing.
8- A larger shower or wet room would benefit from being a little more sophisticated and start to think about reflecting light off of the back wall or combining more than one source of light. Our shower lighting ideas offer some great solutions.