Bathroom Lighting Design Rules

This guideline must be coordinated with guideline 9.

Bathroom lighting design rules.

In the master or guest bathrooms use fixtures that provide at least 75 to 100 watts of illumination says randall whitehead a well known lighting expert and author of residential lighting a practical guide. Increase this by 50 to 100 for recessed lights indirect lighting or a room with dark surfaces. In a small bathroom the mirror lights can also provide the ambient light. Side lighting is best for minimizing shadows but if it s not possible place a fixture such as a horizontal bar with multiple lights above your vanity mirror.

Ventilation is a classic example of good design rules picking up where code leaves off. Lighting the vanity right. The center of each fixture should be roughly at eye level or about 66 inches above the floor. To eliminate shadows under the chin eyes and cheeks fixtures should be mounted on either side of the vanity mirror or on the mirror s surface if it s large 36 to 40 inches apart.

General lighting rules for bathrooms. The usual minimum size is 32 x 32. As a rule of thumb provide one watt of incandescent or 1 3 to 1 2 watt of fluorescent light per square foot of floor space. This fixture should provide the equivalent of 150 watts of incandescent lighting and be long enough to spread light evenly over your face.

The minimum height of 80 6 8 over the fixture includes the required minimum clear floor space in front of the fixture which must also have a minimum height of 80 6 8.