Lighting

[Phil_Stein]

Calling all aspiring interior decorators/home lighting technicians.

So, I've got a fairly large family room (~15' x ~22') that has been difficult to light.

The only pre-wired lights in the room are a couple of small eyeball canisters that light the fireplace mantel, but aren't all that effective otherwise.

We've been mainly relying on 2 floor lamps with 50/100/150 watt incandescent bulbs. They aren't really strong enough to light the whole room, and one of them just broke, which has me thinking about different alternatives rather than a straightforward replacement. I'm open to fixtures using different kind of bulbs, and more efficient is better than less, but I also want warm lighting that isn't harsh, and dimmable is a big plus. This is a heavily used room - I want nice lighting.

I'd be open to getting an electrician to install stuff in the ceiling, but the ceiling is only standard height (~8'), so anything hanging down significantly from the center of the room would be a problem. It's probably better for us to do stuff in the corners or on the sides of the room. Simple stuff that I could install myself (i.e. brackets mounted to the walls, and a standard plug to a wall outlet, or just more floor lamps) would likely be cheaper/easier than bringing an electrician into the picture.

Our family room decor is sorta middle-of-the road - neither overly modern nor overly traditional/antiquey.

Any specific recommendations and/or websites that are particularly good for this sort of thing?

[Marged]

I need pictures!

In a room that large, are there areas reserved for different purposes? Is there a reading area, or a TV area? I would arrange the lighting around the area so that it makes sense for different purposes. So you'd need strong task lighting for a reading area, but table lamps on side tables next to a couch would be better for TV watching.

Oh, and you can get CFLs that are warmer than they used to be. Apparently the number to pay attention to is the color temperature (http://www.eartheasy.com/live_energyeff_lighting.htm).

[fire]

Have you considered something like this for behind the couch?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21z5jnl3zhL._SL500_AA250_.jpg

Otherwise, I'm a big fan of 2D fluorescent floor lamps. I have a 55-W one at my mom's house which makes a bright, warm, light. The lamp itself is ugly, but at least it lights the whole room (similar size to yours).
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21zigHaiN4L._SL500_AA280_.jpg

[Phil_Stein]

OK, here's my high quality ASCII picture :)


------ -----------------------
|L ====TV====+BOOKSHELF+|
| C |
| |
|M
|M
|M
|M A
| F
| P O
|L S |
---\ SOFASOFASOFASOFA /--------
\ /
-----------------

WWW
iii


Hehe - it was fun making that.

A quick explanation:

The two 'L's are the position where the floor lamps are (the top left one gone now since it broke). There's a big chair where the C is, but it doesn't block the light, and protects the floor lamp from our kids (ages 3-9). The P in the bottom left is a tall plant, which protects that floor lamp, but also blocks the light a bit. The MMMM on the left is the fireplace mantel. There's a low coffee table in front of the sofa and a small one on the side, not shown in the ASCII art. Room entrances are top and right. Windows are along the bay on the bottom. We mostly hang out on the sectional sofa and watch TV sometimes read, etc.

[Slainte Mhath]

I have 9' ceilings in my family room and we use a low profile ceiling mounted fan with two-bulb 60watt light fixture underneath. Not only does the light fixture light up the whole room, but the fan is great at cooling the place down in the summer. Granted, our room is a fairly perfect rectangle with the fan located dead center, so it pretty much sits right above where the coffee table will always be, and thus doesn't pose a danger to anyone less than 7' tall.

If your room is shaped in such a way that a fan/light wouldn't work, then perhaps some track lighting along the wall where your seating is located, and a center fixture out in the middle of the room? Low profile light fixtures are not expensive and would provide ample light for the room, though you'd still need and electrician to run the power out the the middle of the room. Track lighting over the seating area provides additional light for reading and also provides light for when you want the rest of the room dark, say for optimal TV viewing. Any of those types of lights should also have models that can support dimmer switches, so you could have the center light, track lights or both be dimmable for "mood lighting". Grrrrowl.

[Phil_Stein]

fire - that floor lamp (second picture) looks rather similar to what we've been using (though the shades on our floor lamps are opaque).

What kind of bulb does it take?

The last time I looked (maybe a year or two ago), the floor lamps at the hardware store were mostly (entirely?) set up for incandescent bulbs. You could stick a CFC into the slot, but IIRC, it would be tall and protrude above the shade. Having to look directly into an unshaded CFC as I walk around a room is bad news, IMO - too harsh and glare-y.

The top lamp is interesting - perhaps a bit too modern for our decor. Still, it seems like it might be like pseudo track lighting without having to have an electrician install anything.

[wisefool]

Dimmable 26 watt compact flourescent track or recessed¿

[Marged]

What about an adjustable floor lamp behind the corner of your sofa? Maybe something like this (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60103854), or maybe something a little less flashy.

If the bookshelves are high, I'd consider putting small lighting on top of them to help illuminate them.

The window complicates things a bit. I would definitely try to have a lamp behind the sofa, though, if that works. And I would consider some sort of lamp near the bookshelf.

Maybe you could have wall sconces instead of floor lamps on the wall with the fireplace.

[Jojo]

In my opinion you need some overhead general lighting, which is used when you need to actually see everything in detail. You can do this with a few recessed lights, or with a flush-mounted ceiling light. It's nice if this is dimmable.

You also need mood and task lighting. These light up areas of the room, and are used when the overhead light isn't on, which is probably most of the time. Its nice to bounce lights off the ceiling (assuming its white), the floor lamp that Fire linked above will do the trick without any wiring shenanigans. Some lights around the sofa (behind or next to) are good for sitting, reading etc. A light next to the chair for reading.

Check out the ikea website, I seem to remember they have a fairly simple overview of how you should go about lighting rooms.

Edit; to address your concern about Fire's suggestion, buy one that's taller than you :)

Edit 2: Here's the link. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/furnish_with_light/fwl_living_room/index.html

[Phil_Stein]

I think years ago we used to keep a lamp on the little table that sits to the left of the sofa, but that required a plug to an outlet behind the couch. Little kids LOVE crawling around behind the couch, which, IIRC, led to at least one lamp fall, and the current floor lamps positioned in 'protected' corners. I think we used to have another floor lamp in the bottom right, but again, that's an unprotected corner, and tall, not super-stable metal lamps and young kids are not a great match.

I probably need to bite the bullet and have an electrician install track lighting.

[fire]

fire - that floor lamp (second picture) looks rather similar to what we've been using (though the shades on our floor lamps are opaque).

What kind of bulb does it take?
It's a 2D 55W fluorescent. Bulbs run $15-25 each (weird, cause the whole lamp costs $50). It doesn't buzz or leave trails like a CF, which I appreciate (I'm pretty sensitive to seeing trails when I wag my hand in front of a light bulb -- hate hate hate).
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41HcxEBGD3L._SL500_AA280_.jpg


The top lamp is interesting - perhaps a bit too modern for our decor. Still, it seems like it might be like pseudo track lighting without having to have an electrician install anything.
I had one of these for a while, and loved it. However, it wasn't the sturdiest contraption -- I went for price over quality. However, it's cheap enough to experiment with, and lights up a good portion of the room with specific reading light directly underneath. You can turn some of the heads to point up at the ceiling or at a wall for a more muted light. It takes small incandescent light bulbs. The only issue is your relatively low ceilings -- incandescents get hot, so you'd have to make sure no one could accidentally get burned or brained.

[Ben Sones]

Another advantage of using CFLs in floor lamps is that you can go with something much brighter than you could use if you went with an incadescent, because CFLs run cooler, and at much lower wattages for equivalent lumens. So if your floor lamps are rated for 150 watts maximum, you could drop in something like this 55-watt CFL (http://www.1000bulbs.com/55-Watt-Compact-Fluorescents/), which puts out light equivalent to a 250 watt incandescent bulb. It's also about the same color temperature (2700K). Not dimmable, though you can find dimmable CFLs.

[Phil_Stein]

BTW, am I right in thinking that having an electrician install something fairly simple is perhaps $250-400 and something more complex is likely ~$500, plus the cost of the fixture(s)?

Does installed lighting like this typically require the permit process and all that? (I know - varies by locality - but in general?)

[Case]

We had a very similar problem, and had an electrician install eight large in-ceiling can lights. Each can uses a 14W CFL reflector, 2700K color temperature. The amount of light given off is phenomenal, and all eight turned on uses less power than one 300W halogen torchiere.

We had the electrician wire up two switches, so we can just turn on four at a time.

[Phil_Stein]

Case - Do you remember (and mind sharing) how much that ran you (either all total, or labor and fixtures separately)?

[Case]

Unfortunately, not. It was part of a larger rewiring / lighting project. The entire affair, including rerouting all my broadband and cable connections, plus installing some in-ceiling speakers, adding lights to the living room (mentioned above), plus the dining room and family room, came out to about $9K. Based on the time and materials, that one living room was probably around $1,000 - $1,500 (but probably towards the low side.)

Case - Do you remember (and mind sharing) how much that ran you (either all total, or labor and fixtures separately)?

[Midnight Son]

Get thee to HGTV!

[Lorini]

Depending on whether or not you expect to sell the house, you probably want to get permits if they are required by your locality. On the other hand, if you don't think you'll be moving, then you can ask the electrician to safely install the lighting without the permits. I did this for my house, as I had inherited the house and it didn't seem worth it to have permits for the lighting when everything else was not permitted.

I'm a big fan of recessed lighting and have really enjoyed mine. You can use different switches for different areas too, which works well. The problem with ceiling fans is that they don't cover a large room. On the other hand, you can have an electrician install the hookup for the ceiling fan, but install the actual fan yourself, this will save some money.

[Phil_Stein]

So I ended up just buying another floor lamp - probably much like the one fire is talking about with the 55W fluorescent bulb.

So far, I'm unimpressed. Part of it is related to the mechanical side of things - the construction is a bit different from the older lamps we had in ways that compare unfavorably - I'll skip the details.

Re: the light itself:

The good:
* Very bright - much brighter at highest setting than the 50/100/150 watt incandescents
* Semi-dimmable

The bad:
* Semi-dimmable. The box talked about full range dimming or something like that, but it only dims from about 40% to 100% brightness. Since the light is so bright anyways, ~40% brightness is pretty bright. i.e. It's not great for low level lighting
* A bit glare-y. Tolerable probably, but a bit harsh when looking at it, even mostly dimmed.
* Light quality is inferior, IMO. It's not flickery - that's good. But it is much whiter - not as warm as incandescents. Not ideal for our family room.

I may end up swapping it with another floor lamp I have in my upstairs office (which uses a halogen bulb). The latter has good light qualities and dimmability, but it's pretty hot when fully on which can be a problem in the upstairs room during the summer.

[Pogo]

Fluorescent bottom-up lighting does a great job of lighting a whole room with soft light.

[Phil_Stein]

That's what this lamp is, mostly.

The shade is translucent though, which exposes a bit of the glariness of the bulb. And the color of the bulb they included with the lamp is definitely a bit harsh, at least in comparison to the incandescents I'm used to in that room.

[Phil_Stein]

Follow-up:

I swapped the new lamp with the fluorescent bulb for the older halogen lamp I had in my office. I'm happy with the results.

The halogen, in the family room, gives off warm light, has basically full dimmability, and at the highest setting, kicks off a lot of light for that big room.

The fluorescent, in my office, has the whiter/colder light, but that doesn't really bother me in that setting. It's not quite as powerful as the halogen, but the room is smaller, and I'm usually looking at a screen anyways, so I don't need a whole lot of brightness. Plus, the upstairs office was often too hot with the halogen on, whereas the fluorescent runs a lot cooler.