LED bathroom lighting and lamps for bathrooms

When retreating to your bathroom for a relaxing bubble bath, mood light is a must. A dim and not too bright light will create a cozy atmosphere which is just right for relaxing body and soul.

This spa-like experience in your very own bathroom can be achieved through table and battery lamps shedding a soft and diffuse light. You can place them on a shelf or the windowsill and simply enjoy the warm and pleasant atmosphere.

In the bathroom, and especially around the mirror, we recommend using a rather cool light color of at least 3.000 kelvins (K). Neutral-white (up to 4.000 K) or cold-white light (more than 4.000 K) is particularly well adapted for putting on make-up. If you apply make-up using warm-white light, it may look artificial when exposed to daylight.

But the color rendering is even more important in the bathroom than the light color. It is measured in Ra and tells you how faithfully colors of illuminated surfaces are revealed. The sun has the highest possible Ra value, Ra=100. A high color rendering index is very important in the bathroom, because otherwise your face may look pale and ashen. We recommend a luminaire having a color rendering index of at least Ra=90.

The protection class tells you which safety measures have been taken for preventing electric shock. Contrary to frequent assumptions, there are no legal requirements as to a particular protection class – with one notable exception: the reaching area in the shower.

If you plan to install a luminaire inside or directly above the shower or the bathtub, up to a height of 225 cm, protection class III is required. Devices of this class use very low voltage, called safety extra-low voltage. For a light that is installed higher – for example at the ceiling at more than 240 cm – protection classes I and II are also permitted.

But there are exceptions: the areas around the shower, the bathtub and the washbasin.

• Protection area 0: Inside the bathtub or in the lower are of the shower, bathroom lights are required to have protection type IP 67. They are suitable for temporary immersion. What is more, you are only allowed to mount bathroom lamps having 12 V alternating voltage or 30 V DC voltage.
• Protection area 1: Surfaces up to a height of 225 cm inside the shower require bathroom lights with IP code IP 65. ZThey endure water jets. Also make sure to only mount lamps having 25 V alternating voltage or 60 V DC voltage.
• Protection area 2: If you would like to install a lamp in a 60 cm perimeter around the bathtub, the shower or the washbasin, make sure that the product meets the requirements of protection type IP 44. Splashing of water will not be a problem for these luminaires.

For all other areas (protection area 3), no specific protection type is needed. Therefore, if you decide to mount a mirror lamp above the bathroom mirror or a ceiling light in the middle of the room, there are no special requirements concerning the protection type.

One important aspect of mirror lamps is the light distribution. We recommend a low-shadowing illumination of the face, which is obtained by using bathroom lamps with opaline diffusors for an even light distribution. Furthermore, a mirror lamp should have at least 800, or even 1.000 lumens and a color rendering index of Ra=90 or more.

You would like to install an oblong mirror lamp in a horizontal position above the bathroom mirror? Adapt the luminaire dimensions to the width of the mirror. For a mirror lamp, we recommend a length that corresponds to 40 to 60 % of the width of the mirror.

• A mirror with a 60 cm width needs a bathroom light with a 25 to 35 cm length.
• A 100 cm wide bathroom mirror should be illuminated by a 40 to 60 cm long lamp.
• A 100 cm wide bathroom mirror should be illuminated by a 40 to 60 cm long lamp.

Our advice: A mirror lamp is an essential element of bathroom lighting, but it is not everything. An optimal illumination of the room as a whole also benefits from a proper room light, for example a ceiling light or spotlights and spots.