A Quick Guide to Beautiful LED Bathroom Lighting

The family bathroom: often a scene of havoc and consternation in the morning as everyone jostles for space and time to brush teeth, fix make-up, shower and ... other things. It's also a place that has to be multi-functional and versatile for handling different demands. That's why the bathroom lighting you choose is so important: so that it can accommodate detail-orientated tasks while also providing a soothing ambience when you simply want to relax.

Why choose LED lighting for your bathroom?

When creating a lighting plan for your bathroom, there are a number of things to consider: • Energy use – how much it costs to install and power the lighting • Colour temperatures – what shade of light should your bulbs cast? • Brightness – how bright do you want the bulbs? • Safety – bathrooms are wet areas and the lighting you choose needs to protect against potential hazards LED lighting, compared with traditional lighting methods, wins on all-fronts when it comes to these 4 important factors. Significantly, it's far, far cheaper to run – 90% cheaper to run than traditional alternatives, in fact. They also last years longer, so you'll save money on buying replacement bulbs. You can also choose different colour temperatures – ranging from very warm white to cool white – so you can create more bespoke lighting schemes. Here are the available colour temperatures and their respective kelvin ratings: • Very warm white – up to 2200K • Warm white – 2200-2700K • Daylight – 4000-5000K • Cool white – 5500K + And finally, there’s LED strip lighting, which comes with waterproof options, so you can use them safely in areas that are likely to get wet.

The different types of LED bathroom lighting

Here are some of the most popular choices of LED bathroom lighting:

LED spotlights

LED spotlights are great for task-orientated lighting because they're more focused and direct. Opt for a 'cool white' colour temperature for a really crisp and clear tone throughout. Top tip: it goes without saying that bathrooms can get a bit wet. Keep this in mind when creating your next lighting scheme and have your eyes peeled for 'IP54' rated bathroom downlight fittings that'll offer protection against condensation and splashes. Shop our range of LED downlight fittings

LED strip lights

The beauty of LED strip lights is that they are subtle, versatile and decorative. These strips can be taped to pretty much anything you want, offering you more flexibility. Top tip: the best bit about LED strop lighting is that there are both splashproof and waterproof options. Be on the safe side and go for waterproof strip lighting – it'll give you more flexibility and you can even place them within alcoves in the wall by the bath to create a really relaxing atmosphere. Shop our range of waterproof LED strip lights

LED candles

Looking to create a little romance? You can't go wrong with a candle to set the mood. LED candles are particularly effective because you can find real wax models that run-off a battery, so they're longer lasting than standard flame wax candles, and they don't melt either. Shop our range of LED candles

What are IP ratings and what should I look out for?

IP rating stands for “Ingress Protection rating” and it’s the value used to measure a light’s resistance to dust and water. The higher the IP rating, the more protected the light is against the elements. The first number is a rating, out of 6, for how protected the unit is against physical elements. The second number, which is a rating out of 8, indicates how protected the unit is against moisture. Below is a table of those numbers and what they protect against. As a general rule of thumb, units with an IP44 rating are regarded as ‘splashproof’, while IP67 rated units are fully ‘waterproof’.

1st number	Protection against solid objects	2nd number	Protection against moisture
0	Not protected	0	Not protected
1	Protected against object greater than 50mm	1	Protected against dripping water
2	Protected against object greater than 12.5mm	2	Protected against dripping water when tilted up to 15°
3	Protected against object greater than 2.5mm	3	Protected against spraying water
4	Protected against object greater than 50mm	4	Protected against splashing water
5	Dust protected	5	Protected against jetting water
6	Dust tight	6	Protected against powerfully jetting water
x	N/A	7	Able to be temporarily immersed in water
x	N/A	8	Can be continuously immersed in water