General contemporary bedroom lighting solutions include surface-mounted ceiling luminaires, wire and rod systems and power track. For task lighting, wall and table luminaires are recommended. Standard luminaires are an alternative where enough space is available to ensure they are not an obstacle at night. As for lamps, the brilliant warm white light of tungsten-halogen lamps or low-voltage tungsten-halogen lamps is a popular choice. Apart from general lighting service lamps, other options include energy-saving and compact fluorescent lamps (light colour: warm white).
To enable the modern bedroom lighting atmosphere to be varied, the lighting system - as least on the ceiling - needs to be designed for dimming. It is useful to be able to switch all luminaires on and off from each bed as well as from the doorway. This convenient and practical solution calls for multiple switching circuits, which can be created by an electrician even after wiring.Bedside lighting is provided by a table luminaire on a bedside table or wall luminaires mounted beside or over the bed. These luminaires need to ensure glare-free lighting and should feature a rotatable and swivellable reflector as well as an adjustable arm to enable them to be positioned to meet individual requirements. Soft diffuse lighting is found agreeable. Lamps with a narrow beam spread are thus unsuitable.
For double beds, it makes sense to wire bedside luminaires for separate switching and dimming. A partner who goes to sleep earlier is thus less likely to be disturbed. Light switches at beds should be within easy reach. Two-way and multi-circuit switches permitting all other separately switchable luminaires to be operated from the bed are a convenient and practical solution. Wardrobe lighting Even where general lighting is bright, there is often not enough light to enable garments in a wardrobe to be clearly and easily identified. Help is provided here by luminaires or spots mounted around 50-80 cm from the wardrobe on the ceiling and angled to illuminate the inside of the wardrobe when the doors are open. This task lighting can also be incorporated in the general lighting system, e.g. where individual spots on a wire, rod or power track system are directed into the room.
Alternatives to this lighting concept are recessed furniture luminaires. For deep wardrobes, recessed luminaires are often the only solution because light from the ceiling is blocked by shelves and cannot adequately illuminate the lower part of the wardrobe. Important note: recessed luminaires which are mounted on wood need to display fire protection symbol. Mirror lighting - Either alone or combined with a dressing table, a mirror normally forms part of the basic furnishings of a bedroom. To ensure shadow-free reflections in a mirror, wall luminaires should be positioned on either side of it. For larger mirrors, this side-lighting can be usefully supplemented by luminaires over the mirror. All luminaires need to be of glare-free design.
At the same time, mirror lighting sets accents. Additional wall luminaires, picture lights, wallwashers or one or two luminaires providing indirect lighting can be other elements of an accentuating lighting system.
