Bath Products Review: Bath LightingAs bathrooms diversify so does bath lighting, with a focus on ambience, energy efficiency, and function.

It's a fait accompli.

"The bath is no longer a room with an overhead light and plumbing in it," says Charleston, S.C.-based custom builder Kevin Kalman. "The cabinetry in these rooms is so expensive now [that] the lighting has to keep up."

Many homeowners know a lot about specialty lighting. Indeed, notes GE lighting specialist Kathy Presciano, "People are exposed to more than they were 10 years ago. They see lighting in places. They hear about it. They read magazines. They visit model homes. And they look for what is going to set their home apart. Oftentimes, the architectural lighting really makes a big difference."

As Milwaukee designer and builder David Heigl sees it, "lighting has become part of the whole package. Secondary baths are still pretty basic—usually just can lights, occasionally some sconces. But powder rooms and master baths get lots of attention because [homeowners] want that spa feel."

This can slow the construction process, says Kalman, but he is adamant that good design is worth paying for—in time and money.

Sidelights
The good news, says San Francisco-based lighting designer Randall Whitehead, is that once contractors, their clients, and members of the design team start to speak the same language, things go a lot more smoothly. Essentially, explains Whitehead, there are four words to master in this lingo: task, ambient, accent, and decorative. Of these, it should come as no surprise that task lighting is the priority.

"A bathroom is very task-intensive. So the most important thing is to put light where people need it," says Presciano. "There is grooming at the mirror. There is a shower area."

Contrary to common practice, vanities should not be lit by downlighting alone. This creates shadows. "The rule of thumb is that you use lighting that bathes the face from either side," says Presciano.

For Irvine, Calif.-based designer Steve Salazar of Sea Pointe Construction, this rule presents the perfect opportunity to use sconces. Although, he cautions, "some direct light up and down and not out. So the type of sconce needs to be considered in order to provide correct illumination."

Using 100-watt incandescent bulbs—Whitehead's recommendation for high-use applications—American Standard's Town Square, adjustable toward floor or ceiling, and Kallista's Vir Stil feature frosted glass shades for functionality.

Maax, meanwhile, offers halogen models with opalescent blown or satin glass shades that can be installed vertically alongside the mirror or horizontally, in which case they would be intended for indirect, ambient illumination.

According to Presciano, halogen burns at a slightly higher temperature, which helps the efficiency of the lamp. The result: It uses less wattage and has a longer life and a quality of light that is similar to—or better than—incandescent bulbs. Halogen bulbs, such as GE's Reveal, are particularly suited to grooming, she says, an opinion corroborated by Whitehead. "All people look great under this light," he says.

Light It Right
For the powder room, Whitehead adjusts the light level down to 45 watts. Ginger's Circe maintains the necessary luminosity with a fabric shade and takes a maximum of 60 watts. A contemporary alternative, the 4.4-inch mini Glo-Ball from Flos houses a 25-watt halogen bulb in its acid-etched, opal white hand-blown glass. This too doubles as an ambient fixture.

Fluorescent strip lights also provide excellent cross illumination. The emergence of such green incentives as LEED and California's Title 24—which mandates that all new bath lighting fixtures in that state be hard-wired fluorescent, LED (light-emitting diode), or on switched motion sensors—has motivated manufacturers to develop aesthetically pleasing versions of this formerly shunned, highly efficient lighting source.

The sleek Alkco Tabbi has a swivel shield that covers the diffuser over its slender T-2 fluorescent bulb and rotates up to 120 degrees to control the amount and direction of light. The Artemide Illusa by Ron Rezek houses a 5/8-inch-diameter T-5 fluorescent bulb and casts a multidirectional glow.

Designed for grooming, Robern's M series Reflexion modular light system uses T-5 fluorescent bulbs. Mounted on and faced with mirrors, the fixtures virtually disappear into the company's M and PL series cabinets.

The layered look
"The other place you need good task lighting is in the shower," says Whitehead. Older shower lights hold regular 60-watt household bulbs, which are omni-directional. They throw as much light back into the recessed fixture as comes out, he says. Consequently, about half of the wattage is lost.

The NuTech 6-inch composite recessed compact fluorescent downlight has been engineered to overcome such issues. For one, says company president Andrew Jacoby, its ellipsoidal reflector provides 80 percent lighting efficiency. "The product is comprised of three different resins," Jacoby adds, "and all the metal parts are stainless steel so it will never rust or corrode—even in a steam room."

Whitehead suggests using recessed adjustable low-voltage fixtures rated for wet locations. "You could use a 50-watt MR16 bulb that gives you close to 100 watts' worth of illumination with no loss because it's unidirectional and throws all the light into that space." Plus, he adds that these fixtures can be directed toward niches, interesting tile detail, and art—in or out of wet locations.

Which brings us to accent lighting, found increasingly often in baths, according to Kalman, whose clients have been requesting effects such as the highlighting of pictures. Meant to create drama and dimensionality in a space, this added layer of light could be beneficial in a small room, Whitehead notes.

As for ambient light, Salazar specifies recessed cans to distribute light evenly throughout the room. "They're unobtrusive, built into the ceiling, and can deliver light for a wide area," he says.

To comply with California's stringent energy rulings, he uses recessed LED fixtures from Permlight, which he likes for their quality of color and coverage, as well as their clean profile. "They are flat and compact, so the bottom of the recess is essentially flush with the ceiling."

Bridging the ambient and decorative divide, Watermark's Fiore round single and double sconces also provide ambient light with frosted-glass tulip shades that aim up and accommodate 60-watt incandescent bulbs.

Even more ornamental are the fixtures in the Bear Creek Glass sconce collection, with brilliantly colored hand-blown glass globes, and those from Alfa Lighting with natural stone shades.

Whitehead likens decorative lighting to architectural jewelry. "It doesn't have to be anything other than what it is—the visual sparkle for the space."

On that note, both Kalman and Heigl have installed chandeliers over luxurious tubs. "We've even centered one between two facing vanities," says Heigl.

What all this amounts to, says Whitehead, is that the light layering that has been used in other rooms will become standard practice for the bath. "The language of light travels throughout the house," he says. "It's not specific to bathrooms. But, as bathrooms become more like private retreats, it's more applicable than ever before.

"Even if they're just modest bathrooms, with good lighting the whole experience of being there will be a positive one."

Mood Swings

Want a spa-like effect? Dim down the ambient light. Bring up the accent light a bit. Turn off the task light at the mirror or dim it down to a glow. "We use dimmers on everything," says San Francisco-based lighting designer Randall Whitehead. Even fluorescents can be dimmed. Indeed, agrees GE lighting specialist Kathy Presciano, people want to control and personalize the environment they're in. "Dimming controls in the home are very common, whether a simple slide dimmer on a switch or a whole-house system." According to Milwaukee-based builder and designer David Heigl, "In many cases, people are putting dimmers in the bathroom so they can mood light." The best way to handle this, he says, is to switch everything individually, which requires two dimmers. To meet these requirements, Lutron's new Vierti (above) accommodates incandescent, fluorescent, and magnetic or electronic low-voltage lighting for single and multi-location switching. There are single and multi-gang wallplate options. For baths, its LED strip control doubles as a night-light in green, blue, or white. "There are going to be times," says Whitehead, "when you get up in the middle of the night and don't need 200 watts of light hitting you."