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Light fixture dimensions


How to Determine the Ceiling Light Size for a Room | Home Guides

By Michelle Radcliff Updated December 06, 2018

If you want to decorate your home like a professional, you will quickly learn how important lighting is to the overall design scheme. There is much more to lighting than just picking out stylish lamps and fixtures. Placement, size, wattage and light color also have a big influence on the appearance of the room, the other furnishings and the atmosphere. Ceiling lights are primarily used for ambient or general lighting in the room. Installing the appropriate fixture size is the first step in creating a harmonious lighting scheme.

Types of Ceiling Lights

When determining what type of ceiling light to use, the height of the ceiling will be the biggest determining factor. Ambient light can be provided from a flush mount or semi-flush mount ceiling fixture, a chandelier or hanging pendant. If the ceiling height is 8 feet or less, a flush mount or semi-flush mount will still leave enough head room clearance for people walking under the light. Chandeliers and hanging pendants work best on ceilings at least 10 feet high or on cathedral ceilings.

Size Guidelines

A general rule of thumb formula can be used to determine an appropriate diameter for ceiling fixtures. To determine this, measure the length and width of the room. Add those two numbers together and then convert the total into inches. So if your room is 10 feet by 12 feet, the ceiling fixture should be 22 inches wide. However, if you are installing a chandelier or pendant over a dining room table, you must measure the width of the table. Subtract 12 inches from the total width of the table to determine how wide your pendant or chandelier should be.

Exceptions

Ceiling light fixtures come in a wide variety of materials, styles and colors. The design of the light can actually affect how large or small it appears. A ceiling fixture with a complex design, such as one that has a Tiffany stained-glass shade may actually appear larger than it really is. In this case, you may want to scale down the size of the fixture slightly to keep the room looking balanced. Also, don’t worry if the fixture you find is a few inches larger or smaller than the number you came up with, as long as it is close to that size.

Ceiling Fans

If you plan on installing a light fixture with a ceiling fan attached, the size of the room will also be a determining factor in choosing a fan with the appropriate blade dimensions. Ceiling fan blades range from 29 inches to 54 inches. The American Lighting Association recommends the following guidelines for room and ceiling fan size: a room with up to 75 square feet can accommodate fans in the 29 to 36-inch range. A room between 76 and 144 square feet can accommodate fans that are 36 to 42 inches in diameter. A room between 144 and 225 square feet can accommodate fans up to 44 inches in diameter and rooms between 225 and 400 square feet can accommodate fans that are 50 to 54 inches in diameter.

References

Writer Bio

Michelle Radcliff owned a retail home furnishings business for eight years. Radcliff offers decorating advice on her blog, Home Decorating News, is a regular contributor on interior design at LoveToKnow.com and earned certification as an interior decorator from Penn Foster College in 2013.

Light sizing: tips for choosing the right size ceiling light

Light sizing is an important element of interior design. For lighting to make the desired impact in a room it’s vital that it has the correct scale. Its size in relation to its situation is key to a successful interior design.

But getting light sizing right doesn’t have to be a matter of expensive and time-consuming trial and error. There are guidelines you can follow so that your choice (or choices) hits the sweet spot and is scaled perfectly to the space.

‘Thinking about the location and scale when selecting pendants is all important,’ says Sally Storey, Creative Director of John Cullen Lighting. ‘If you have a big living room and then put a small pendant in the middle, it looks inappropriate and mean. You want to choose a pendant that makes a statement.  

‘In a corridor or hall one pendant might still look mean if it‘s too small but two or three might look cooler.’

Read on for expert advice on assessing lighting scale, and what should be considered in terms of its shape and the material it’s made from, too.

1. Assess living room light dimensions

(Image credit: Future / Davide Lovatti)

A simple light sizing calculation can prove a useful guide to scaling a pendant light to a living room. This also works if you're looking for bedroom lighting ideas, too. Measure the length and width of the room in feet and add the two figures together. Then substitute inches for feet in the result, and use this as a size guide for the diameter or width of the pendant light. 

As an example, the room is 10 by 12 feet, so the sum is 22 feet. Swap in inches and the light should be around 22 inches across.

See: Living room lighting ideas – ways to light your living space

‘We tend to encourage our clients to be brave with scale when it comes to pendant lighting, particularly if their home has a high ceiling with lots of space,’ says interior designer Emma Sims-Hilditch of Bath and London-based Sims Hilditch . ‘A large statement pendant(s) not only helps to fill the space, but acts as an eye-catching focal point in the room, creating interest and character.’

As for the height of a light fitting in a living space and other rooms, a useful principle is to allow the base of it to sit at one third of the room’s height. 

2. Choose the right size light over a dining table

(Image credit: Future / Davide Lovatti)

When you’re hanging a pendant light over a dining table the proportions of the table can guide your choice. A light like a chandelier or modern statement pendant that’s one half to two thirds the width of the table below in diameter will be large enough to draw the eye, but won’t verge into overpowering territory.  

With light sizing, bear in mind that the height at which the light is hung is important, too. A pendant light should never impede views across the table, but it does need to be sufficiently visible to make a statement.

As a guide, allow a distance of around 32 to 36 inches (81 to 92cm) between the dining table’s surface and the lowest part of the light. In a room with a low ceiling, this might mean some lights aren’t going to work because of their depth. Conversely, in a space with a lofty ceiling, a chandelier-style light with two or three tiers could be the ideal choice.

 ‘A room with a high ceiling works well for low hanging larger pendant lighting over a dining table,’ says interior designer Emma Sims-Hilditch.

3. Size lighting to a kitchen island

(Image credit: Original BTC)

Rather than a single large light, you might instead hang a series over an island or a dining table. ‘Smaller multiple pendants can work well in a kitchen or dining area,’ says Sally Storey at John Cullen Lighting .

In this case, the scale of the lights you favor for the room will influence the number of them in the series, bearing in mind that the entire island or table should be highlighted. If you want to size up to make an impact, aim for pendants with a width that’s around one quarter of the length of the island.

As for the height at which these are hung, they should be at a lower level than lighting in a living room or over a dining table. Bear in mind, though, that they should still be ‘above eye level when standing’, says Sally Storey. An approximate 32 to 36 inches (81 to 92cm) between the base of the pendants and the counter is a good starting point for assessing this.

See: Kitchen island lighting ideas – how to light up this prime spot to perfection

4. Factor in lighting shape

(Image credit: Sims Hilditch)

The radically different shapes of light fittings influence the impression of size with some shapes lending themselves particularly well to scaling up. ‘A globe-shaped pendant looks great when oversized,’ says Emma Sims-Hilditch. 

Bear in mind that while a round or tiered design has some height as well as width, a pendant light could have appreciable scale width-wise, but be of a relatively modest height. 

‘These days there are many pendants that are more constructed, that is they may move laterally across the ceiling and might even work not centered, for example those from CTO Lighting or Lindsey Adelman,’ says Sally Storey. ‘There is no hard and fast rule. It visually depends on the style.’

5. Take materials into account

(Image credit: Future / Davide Lovatti)

The materials used for a pendant light also affect our perception of size – and are an important factor in light sizing. 

‘Glass or wicker pendants can be bigger as there is a transparency to the fitting but usually pendants are constructed of a combination of materials and what is more critical is getting the right light source to ensure the pendant can dim softly as the mood changes,’ says Sally Storey.

‘I recommend a pendant with a 2500K or 2200K color temperature if you want to have atmosphere in your room at night or else it can look too starkly white. Alternatively, use a dim to warm bulb, which works very well. 

‘It is important to check the dimmability of any pendant you purchase. Some LEDs are embedded so this is key, or if you can add your own bulbs you have more control.’

Can light fixtures be too big?

Light fixtures can be too big for a room – although it's more often the case that light fittings chosen are too small. Use the size guide calculation we've mentioned before: 

1. Measure the length and width of the room in feet and add the two figures together (for example, 10 by 12 feet = 22 feet). 

2. Substitute inches for feet in the result (for example 22 feet becomes 22 inches), and use this as a size guide for the diameter or width of the pendant light. 

Choosing the right size and height of the lamp

Ceiling lamp is an important decor element of any room. It can decorate the interior with itself, but it can completely destroy its harmony and aesthetics if the device was chosen incorrectly.

When buying a chandelier, one should be guided not only by its design and external attractiveness, it is also necessary to take into account the dimensions of the luminaire and their compliance with the dimensions of the room in which it will be placed.

Calculate the required diameter of the ceiling lamp

The width or diameter of the ceiling chandelier is measured at the extreme protruding points of the fixture. To determine it, taking into account the dimensions of the room, there is a special formula:

Lamp diameter = (Width + Length of the room) / 10

For example, for a bedroom with a length of 4 meters and a width of 3.5 meters, the maximum diameter ceiling lamp should not exceed: (4 + 3.5) / 10 = 0.75 meters or 75 centimeters.

If the chandelier is larger, it can make the room visually cramped. In the event that the device has a diameter significantly less than the calculated value, the lamp will simply “get lost” on the ceiling and will look completely out of place there.

Selecting luminaires according to ceiling height

The height of the main luminaire is equal to the length of the fixture from its lowest to its highest point (the length of a chain or other suspension is not taken into account when measuring). According to this parameter, the luminaire is selected in proportion to the height of the ceilings in the room.

You can determine it using the following formula:

Luminaire height = Ceiling height / 4

For example, in a living room with standard ceilings 2.7 meters high, you need to select a chandelier whose height is no more than 67.5 centimeters. Ideally, there should be a free distance of 210 centimeters between the extreme point of the device and the floor. With this placement of the ceiling lamp, it will in no way be able to interfere even with those users of the room whose growth is much higher than average.

When choosing luminaires for various purposes, other nuances of their placement should be taken into account:

A few more tips for choosing

  1. Ceiling spotlights with shades turned down, it makes sense to place only in rooms with high ceilings. With standard or low ceiling heights, the luminous flux from these chandeliers will be too harsh for the eyes.

  2. Appliances with open shades turned upwards are able to visually "raise" the ceilings.

  3. The chandelier in the hallway or corridor must be selected according to its dimensions in such a way that it does not interfere with the opening and closing of the hinged doors of the cabinets located here or the doors of other rooms facing the room.

  4. In the bathroom, the ceiling light should be placed as close to the ceiling as possible, with such an arrangement there is less risk of flooding the fixture with water or touching it with hands or a towel.

Ceiling lights are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. When choosing such devices, it is necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of the premises in which they will be located. Only this approach will allow you to create the most comfortable and functional lighting in the house.

Go to All Ceiling Lights

Home Downlight Dimensions, Typical LED Downlight

Residential lighting requires very high quality white light. White LED lamps have a longer life and higher efficiency than most other traditional lamps, and the size of the spotlights is so compact and versatile that they create a unique lighting design for rooms.

Light Emitting Diodes

An LED is a small semiconductor device. The diodes are enclosed in a plastic lamp that emits light in a certain direction. It does not have a filament, as in traditional and fluorescent lamps , and it does not lose heat, as conventional light bulbs do.

While an incandescent lamp is a simple wire circuit in a glass case, a small electrical circuit called a driver is built into the body of the LED lamp. This is what maintains a constant electrical current for the lamp. The diode emits light through a "pn junction" which is formed by a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor. The connection between these two types of semiconductors is known as a "pn junction". These connections are the basis of every semiconductor electronic device.

Electrons from n-type semiconductors are simply coupled to carriers in a p-type semiconductor. The flow of electricity is unidirectional, the transition is possible only from n to p, and not vice versa. Electrons change their orbit, moving from a higher orbit to a lower one - when they do this, they automatically lose energy in the form of light. The more energy is lost, the more powerful the photons of light.

The color emitted by an LED depends on the material of the lamp as well as on the current passing through it . The semiconductor materials are designed in such a way that they allow you to adjust the amount of electricity that passes through them, and this automatically changes the color of the light. Then the LED starts producing light. This phenomenon is known as "electroluminescence", and is different from any other light emission because it does not produce heat.

Although LEDs are much more efficient and made from recyclable materials, the complexity of manufacturing makes them much more expensive than traditional incandescent bulbs. However, this drawback is more than offset by the savings from a long service life, which is a multiple of the operating time of traditional lamps.

Types of spotlights:

Design

LED spotlights are specially designed to replace compact fluorescent bulbs or classic incandescent lamps.

General Purpose LED Emit light in a small band of wavelengths. In order to emit white light, LEDs use two design options: they are either a phosphor, converting part of the light into other colors, or they mix light from green, red and blue LEDs.

The first method is that LEDs in combination with a phosphor get additional colors from one LED. Some of the light from the LED is absorbed by the phosphor molecules, causing them to fluoresce to emit light of a different color through an effect called Stokes shift.

The most common method is to combine a blue LED with a yellow phosphor, producing a narrow band of blue wavelengths and a wide band of "yellow" wavelengths virtually covering the entire spectrum from green to red.

The CRI value can range from 70 to 90, although a wide range of commercial LEDs of this type have a color rendering index of around 82. They are commonly used in living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms, as well as to illuminate spaces above furniture . Some are also designed for outdoor use and most offer bichromatic or polychromatic light instead of the traditional monochromatic light.

LEDs usually include heat dissipation elements such as heat sinks and cooling fins, and high power lamps for industrial use are often equipped with cooling fans. Instead of increasing the current level, brightness is usually increased by combining several LEDs into one lamp.

The aluminum shell makes the lamp very light and easy to use and install. The optimum operating temperature varies depending on the type of LED. High power lamps work normally in an environment with a temperature between - 40 and + 70 degrees Celsius.

LED driver

LED chips require adjustable DC power, appropriate circuit and LED driver to convert AC to DC. LED drivers are essential components of LED lamps or fixtures. A quality LED driver can ensure the long life of the LED system and provide additional functions such as dimming and control.

LED drivers are installed inside a lamp or luminaire, which is called internal or outside - external. According to the purpose of different applications, different kinds of LED drivers are used, such as external driver for street lighting, indoor spot driver for space lighting, and built-in linear driver for panel lighting.

Installation of LED luminaires

Installation of LED recessed lamps is a very simple process. Before starting work, you need to fully turn off the voltage in the lighting circuit and check its absence with a tester.

Luminaire installation order:

Benefits of LED Lights

LED technology is rapidly improving, more efficient and economical LED lamps are released on the market every day .

A typical LED luminaire uses at least 60 individual LEDs for mains power and has the following benefits:

  1. Increased durability.
  2. Reliability.
  3. Compact dimensions.
  4. Low energy consumption.
  5. Wide range of colors from cool white to warm.
  6. Environmentally friendly. Does not contain mercury.
  7. Energy saving.
  8. Presence of a thermal management system.
  9. Operating time. It ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 hours, as a rule, incandescent lamps have a lifespan of no more than 1000 hours, while fluorescent lamps have a lifespan of about 8000 hours.

Popular fixtures

Downlight sizes to fit GU10 fittings with 5 year warranty:

  1. LED Lightwell LUX TM - 4W GU10 non-dimmable fixture available in both cool and warm white. Dimensions 50×57 mm.
  2. 60 SMD Glass Covered - 4.5W GU10 LED Bulb. Designed to be used as a straight lamp 50W GU10 LED is one of the best selling LEDs. With a wide beam angle of 120 degrees, this LED provides maximum illumination with minimum power. Dimensions 50×56 mm.
  3. Superb LED COB TM - 6W GU10 COB. Now available in natural white, LightRabbit's Superior COB TM - 6W GU10 COB LED Spotlight has been designed as a replacement for the traditional 60W bulb. This LED is designed to fit standard GU10 turns and connections. Dimensions 50×58 mm.
  4. Budget COB XTRA TM - 7W High Powered GU10 COB LED Spotlight replacement for traditional 75W bulb, 50,000 hours lifespan and 60 degree wide angle is a high quality LED. Dimensions 50×58 mm.
  5. OSRAM lamps with GU10 base. LED consists of three high quality and durable LED spotlights with GU10 base. The luminaires have an adjustable head and are particularly easy to install, making them ideal for a wide range of uses. The corresponding OSRAM LED lamps are available with a power consumption of 3 W, a luminous flux of 230 lumens (corresponding to a 35 W halogen lamp) and a beam angle of 120. Particularly easy installation. Ideal for ceilings in kitchens, living rooms or hallways.
  6. The new TheLeda S with motion detection is ideal for outdoor applications such as awnings and building entrances. The built-in lens has sophisticated mirror optics for PIR detectors. The 180 rotatable LED module allows the lighting to be used on walls, facades and also for creating wall mosaic effects. The area of ​​use can be limited to 180 degrees. It has a custom dimming level feature. High light output - module with 10W and 840 lumens. Longer service life of 50,000 hours thanks to optimized heat conduction through integrated aluminum cooling elements.

Lamp Types for Different Rooms

If the user decides to implement an LED lighting system in their home, then it is important to choose the lamp type that best suits their needs. Here are the most common types of lamps and their installation locations:

  1. Diffused LEDs are suitable for entrances, rooms and corridors.
  2. Track Lighting emit very little heat, are 90% more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, and are ideal for sub-caliber lighting.
  3. LED Dimmable Globes are ideal for washrooms and are adjustable from 100% to 10% and typically consume no more than 10W of power.
  4. Flame Type LEDs - Just like their name suggests, these LEDs are ideal for chandeliers because the light does not scatter downwards.
  5. LED which are available in 8W and 16W. They are usually used in commercial buildings because they generate a lot of light, however, they can also be used for large rooms in residential buildings.

Choosing LED bulbs for the home

There are several factors to consider before choosing them for home use:

  1. Rated brightness. Lumens are the unit of measure when comparing brightness between bulbs - the higher the lumens, the brighter the light.
  2. The type of light is another important parameter: whether you need a cool white light (suitable for general lighting) or maybe you need a warm light that is used to complement different areas of the house. On the other hand, they can be both standard and dimmable. The latter are ideal for setting pleasant spatial light, as they allow you to adjust the desired amount of light in the room.
  3. Certification. Another important point - always get acquainted with the certificates when buying (especially if you buy a large number), and be sure to buy them from reliable sellers, otherwise they may fail prematurely. If it's too cheap, chances are it's low quality and short lived.

LED lighting using LEDs has a significant advantage over traditional lighting in helping to reduce carbon emissions, save energy and improve the quality of life in cities. New developments and research by scientists confirm the prospects for further progress in this extremely important technology on the way to the sustainable development of mankind.

Learn more