Which angle and colour intensity LED downlighters should we choose for
winterfloods
7 years ago
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Clever And Simple
7 years agowinterfloods
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Kitchen diner lighting design
Comments (4)Hi there, Sounds like an exciting time with your project! Having been through something very similar in the last 6 months I have to say, I couldn't agree with your final statement anymore if I tried! We had given very little thought to our lighting and I have to say, what we have ended up with enhances the room more than I couple possibly have imagined! I was a real sceptic about lighting at the outset! We have ended up with a very cleverly 'zoned' lighting system so that we can highlight the kitchen, dining and living areas of our open plan room separately. I am not sure if this is helpful but this is what we ended up with and how 6 months down the line of daily use and entertaining we actually use it in the room; 2 pendant lights on dimmers over a 2.5m dining table, with no downs lights in this area. 3 pendants over our island, also on a dimmer but with down lights in this area. 1 ceiling / pendant light in our seating area with additional down lights in this area. Additionally we have warm led strip lights on open shelving above our sink run in the kitchen. All of our down lights are on a dimmer in the main 'kitchen' and living parts of the room. In reality we next to never have the main down lights on, even with the dimmer as it feels like an airport runway, although I wouldn't want to be without them for the rare occasions where I am prepping a lot of food in the evenings prior to guests arriving etc. Whilst sitting in the living area watching TV we never have the down lights on and most commonly have the dining pendants on for some dim backlighting. When at the dining table we have the pendants there dimmed and use the LED strips on the shelving which creates a lovely glow in the rest of the room as background light. When cooking the LED strip and pendants on full above the island are plenty sufficient. All of the above was created by our very clever designer! Have you thought about getting someone to do you a professional lighting plan? It's a fraction of the cost of your electrics not to mention light fittings! Low hundreds in terms of costs. The other huge advantage from our perspective was we ended up with a very professional PDF document in 'electrician speak' which we were able to print and hand (or email) to the electricians who came to quote for the job. This meant there was no uncertainly, no communication errors and no room for the price to move once we got underway. It also meant we were comparing completely like for like with the different quotes! On top of that our designer got great trade discounts with fabulous lighting companies and passed her discounts onto us! I've attached our floor and lighting plan so you get a feel for the space and some reference to all my comments above. Hope it helps with a few ideas! Best wishes, Claire...See MoreLighting Plan for Open Plan Kitchen / Diner / Lounge
Comments (4)If it were me firstly I would have one switch for task lighting- I think your planned 4 spots in the island boxing is enough but would have them in a row. I would have an additional 4 in a row in the ceiling above the walkway between the island and the main run of kitchen cabinets plus an additional two behind the sofa (but put a softer bulb in these). I would have two in the ceiling above the sink as I think it is tidier than having a wall light. Don’t forget to put a few in the laundry cupboard too. Since your extension ceiling is sloped I would have inset spots that you can angle. Personally I think that when you use the desk you switch on a desk light. I would have a ring of 3amp sockets so that you can switch on two table lights in the sitting area and two standard lamps in the dining area (or two table lights on a console table) and the LEDs above the bookcases. In my opinion you specify more than you need as you don’t have to plug something into every socket but the flexibility is useful. Personally I don’t think you need the coving light in the sitting area and think the idea is odd in an area with sloping ceilings. Next I would have additional kitchen lighting - I would have a run of LEDs under the base cabinets near the plinth and around the base of the island- these are nice to have on at night when watching TV as the kitchen is not fully lit but is light enough to navigate. Additionally I would have lights above and below the wall cabinets. I also like your idea of the boxing above the island having a shadow gap to conceal further LED strip lighting. Pendant lights- I agree that you won’t want one in the sitting area. I think it is messy to have pendants over the island with the additional boxing. I would have one over the dining table and choose an oversized fixture later- ensure that this lighting flex is near somewhere strong enough to mount a ceiling light of some size. Additionally I would have walk over lights in the floor near the garden doors. Remember these will reduce the focus of the garden at night- you might prefer to put these on the outside of the door to reverse the effect. Don’t forget to specify at least one socket behind the cabinets/ under island should any of the kitchen cabinets include lighting- this is especially useful in pantry cabinets. Don’t forget that you will likely need additional sockets in the laundry cupboard as you might well have a charger in there for a vacuum or drill. Personally I would have extra sockets around the desk and contain the router, you home answer phone, etc etc all in the same place. Don’t forget you can also get sockets that include a USB charger inlet. Since you are doing a plan for electrics don’t forget tv/ satellite aerial points. You should also take this opportunity to consider outside lights and power- consider sockets outside for garden lights, outdoor heaters, awnings, water features, mowing the lawn etc. LEDs unless you like decorating in very dark colours choose warm white lighting- a lot of strip LEDs can be adjusted to color match other lights in the room. LEDs- Last time I sourced these I was disappointed with the quoted costs from the electrician- do your own research online about price. Pay attention to the lumen levels and consider if you want disable LEDs. Boxing over the island. Choose your extractor before specifying the size of the boxing- I think the shallower extractors are deeper than the 20cm you stated....See MorePaving colour for driveway - To match or not to match?
Comments (138)These are my Japanese acers, I selected the shorter varieties since the drive isn't huge. The red one is approximately 10yo, the other two are 6-7 yo. They grow quite slow and stay compact,in my opinion. I tried to take the photos in front of our Cooper so you get the idea of the sizes. They are Garnet (2+ m) Bi Ho (2m) and Winter Flame (1.5m and it grew 50cm during the last three years). Acers can be shaped, I'll be removing some lower branches to add some structure. They are gorgeous in autumn and passers-by often stop to admire....See More3D Kitchen Render - Downlights Query?
Comments (9)Wow, that’s going to be a very dark kitchen. I think you will need most of those downlights, plus under cabinet lighting. Be careful to choose warm white 3000k or even very warm white 2700k to avoid the operating theatre look. Also presume you will have dimmers. Make sure you have several circuits so you can have some lights bright/some dim/some off. For example you could have the downlighters on one circuit and the the pendants and under cabinet lights on another, so you can have just the latter on when you want more evening atmosphere. Then the dining area and sitting area lights should also be separate circuits. Also consider a feature wall light in the under stairs space where you have the open area. And/or under breakfast bar lighting, or even plinth lights if you like that look (I’m not a fan personally). You are going to want a lot of layers of light. As regards layout I would suggest keeping the down lights along either wall where they are but playing around a little with the two central rows of lights so that they are more staggered and more random. Consider where you actually need and want them - eg one or two over/very near the hob (if your extractor doesn’t have built in lights), also above the prep space to the side of the hob, and maybe one just beyond the waterfall end of the island to light up the marble. Even just staggering those two rows so they are offset from the wall rows will help a lot with avoiding the grid effect. Electricians will go for a grid as it is much easier!...See MoreVictoria
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Clever And Simple