Choosing Lighting / Factsheets

• Fact Sheet 1 - Bathroom Lighting
• Fact Sheet 2 - Ceiling Fans

FACT SHEET 1

Bathroom Lighting

IEE (Institution of Electrical Engineers) and Building Regulations

The regulations surrounding lighting in bathrooms (a room with a bath or shower in it) have become increasingly complex over the last four years. Subsequently, bathrooms have become the most difficult area to light. Our very strong advice is for you to talk to your qualified electrician before you buy fittings to make sure he/she will be prepared to fit them in the positions you want.

For practical purposes, bathrooms are now divided into Zones (see diagram below). You need different fittings with different ingress protection ratings (IP rating) for different zones.

Most recently, Part P of the Building Regulations has come into force and it is now mandatory that householders do not alter or install light fittings in bathrooms. Such work has to be carried out by a properly qualified electrician. (See the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister)

If you DO want to do it yourself, special permission has to be obtained from your local Building Regulations Officer and a certificate obtained to show that the work has been carried out in accordance with the regulations, i.e. you will have to get the work inspected. A telephone call to your local Building Regulations Officer may be a useful start.

To further complicate issues, it is mandatory that metal light fittings installed in bathrooms should be earth-bonded. Again, we urge you to get your electrician to explain this to you and to see whether you can meet the regulations in your particular circumstances.

You are not permitted to use light fittings on leads of any description in a bathroom or to run a supply into the bathroom from an adjoining room. e.g. table lamps.

Shavers and electric toothbrushes are permissible but must be run from a special isolating transformer. Some light fittings, mirrors and bathroom cabinets now incorporate these.

There are other regulations governing heating in bathrooms. We do not recommend combined light fittings and heaters. Indeed if you have such fittings or the type using large infra-red bulbs we recommend you should have them checked out by a qualified electrician for safety. Preferably they should be removed. (In any case, some of the bulbs are no longer available.)

Switching

If your light fittings are switched within the bathroom, the switch must be of the pull type and this includes any wall lights or illuminated mirrors. We very strongly recommend that any wall lights or illuminated mirrors should be switched along with the ceiling lights. This is usually far more convenient and you will find it much easier to find unswitched bathroom lights than ones switched with cords.

Bathroom lights can also be switched from outside the room. Dimmers can only be mounted outside the bathroom although there are now some pull switches on the market that include a dimming function.

Zones

For the installation of light fittings, bathrooms are now divided into zones as per the diagram above.

Each zone requires a fitting or fittings with an IP rating (Ingress Protection rating) except zone 3 (some areas of the bathroom are considered to be outside the zones ). For Zone 2 an IP rating of IP44 is considered to be the minimum (where no water jets are used for cleaning). In Zone 3, there is no specific requirements but it is still a good idea to talk to your qualified electrician in order to see what he or she is prepared to fit in the locations in your bathroom in accordance with other IEEC regulations. We still recommend an enclosed fitting.

There is no specific requirement for wash-hand basins in bathrooms unless they fall into zones 1 or 2. However for lighting purposes wash-hand basins are normally treated as zone 2. Other regulations may well apply. Again you need to talk to your electrician to find out what he or she is prepared to fit.

Cloakrooms with wash-hand basins do not fall within the Zoning regulations. However, you should still check with your electrician.

Zone 1 requires an IP rating of 68 or greater and it is almost impossible to find fittings which meet this criteria and are suitable for use in this area. A better proposition for zone 1 or 0 (actually over the bath or shower tray) is to use fibre optic as no electrical current is present at the light source. However the projector needs to be outside the bathroom and the fibres themselves run to it. You can create effects by the use of special dimmers and colour wheels and different heads for the fibres. The switching will need to be outside the bathroom or you will need to use a remote controlled system.

LEDs

LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are a possibility for the interior of the shower cabinet or just above it. They will need to be driven by an SELV transformer which will have to be mounted outside the zone and be switched from a pull switch like any other switch inside a bathroom, be of no more than 12v, be IP 68 rated and be permanently fixed into the shower surround. They are not suitable for submersion. You must seek advice from your qualified electrician on the practicality of fitting LEDs in Zone 1 and remember that you also need to take into account the difficulty of removing them if something does go wrong with a head.

Recessed Lighting

Ceiling Recessed lighting works well in bathrooms and, where properly installed, can provide a good spread of light. In our opinion 12V is best using wide angled bulbs. This will also provide you with a sparklier reflection from your tiles and fittings. Use good quality SELV transformers (Safe Extra Low Voltage). Fittings with an IP rating of 65 are required for positions in zone 2 or above a shower cabinet.

Choice

We get very frustrated by the limited range of good lighting on the market for bathrooms, especially in terms of traditional lighting for zones 2 or 3. Matters have improved slightly recently but obtaining fittings in different finishes is still very difficult. Surprisingly, some of the cheaper fittings come in a wider range but please take into account the fact that they will be cheap plate on steel or painted finishes which will not last as long as quality finishes on brass.

The choice of bulbs used in bathroom fittings has also increased recently with G9 (mains halogen) becoming increasingly popular. The main reason for this is its small size which makes it easier to enclose in a vapour-free way. These are now used extensively in flush fittings and wall lights.

For ceilings. low-energy fittings are a good choice and, while larger, are excellent if you leave the fitting running for long periods. People with children take note. The bulbs last up to 10 times longer than an ordinary bulb. The 2D bulb is particularly well suited for use in Zone 3 fittings but there are now quite a few fittings becoming available for Zone 2. (This lamp is also used a lot commercially.) There are also many flush fittings available for conventional and G9 bulbs. While being plain they do work well.

Spot lights in bathrooms have been a problematical area but there are now some GU10 fittings on the market that are sealed at the back of the bulb. They are usually suitable for Zones 2 or 3.

Mirrors with integral lights are a fantastic step forward in making mirrors more useful in bathrooms. This is because the light is reflected on the subject and not the face of the mirror. They also throw the light over a wide area as the lights usually run down both sides of the mirror. This eliminates the shadows you get on your face when using a light that is only coming from one direction.

Some external, enclosed light fittings are suitable for bathrooms as they have an IP rating. The same zoning requirements apply. We would not however recommend them for zone 0 or 1.

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FACT SHEET 2

Ceiling Fans

Many people make the mistake of choosing a ceiling fan which is too small for their room.

It is more efficient (and more relaxing!) to run a larger fan on a slower speed than a smaller fan on a high speed.

The following is a rough guide to give you an idea of the size of fan suitable for your room size (although it is not recommended to use a 36" fan in a conservatory as it just would not be sufficient to affect the build up of heat that a conservatory creates).

The above are based on rooms with ceiling heights of 8ft (2.43cm). For rooms with higher ceilings, a drop rod should be used to drop the fan down to 8ft (2.43m) above the floor. Should the room be abnormally warm, go to the next fan size up to the one suggested.

In general, larger fans move more air than smaller fans. Five-bladed fans are usually more efficient than 4-bladed fans. Remember that the faster the fan needs to turn to move the air, the more noise it will make (usually blade noise).

To make your fan more effective, it is a good idea to have an air input and output in the space that you are trying to cool. For example, if, in a conservatory, you can open an exterior door and a roof light and leave the fan running, then it will pull cooler air in from the roof light and send some of the hotter air out.

Most Fantasia fans are reversible and therefore you can set the direction in which you wish the air to move. In general, during the summer, you would have the fan blowing down to give you a wave of cooler air which hopefully will exhaust out of the area. In winter, when the area is more sealed, you would set the fan to blow upwards thereby forcing the warmer at the top of the structure back down the walls to help redistribute the heat in the room.

Most fans, and especially those with inductive motors, use a relatively small amount of electricity to drive them and this is usually less than a standard 60w bulb.

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