A single ceiling light in the middle of the room is the reason so many bathrooms feel flat, however good the tiling is. Planned properly, LED lighting can make a compact Bearsden bungalow bathroom feel bigger and a tall villa bathroom feel warmer. Here is what works, what it tends to cost, and what has to be decided before the tiler starts.
The bathrooms that look best after dark almost always have three separate layers of light, each on its own switch. Ambient light fills the room, task light lets you see your face properly at the mirror, and accent light adds the glow that makes the room feel finished.
Splitting the circuits matters more than the fittings themselves. You want bright, clear light for a shave at 7am and something close to candlelight for a bath at 10pm, and one switch cannot do both.
A recessed shower niche with an LED strip tucked into the top edge is the most requested feature we fit, and for good reason. It lights your shampoo shelf, shows off the tile and doubles as a soft night light.
Under-vanity strip lighting makes a wall-hung unit appear to float and washes light across the floor, which helps a narrow room feel wider. Wire it to a PIR sensor and it comes on at a low level for night-time trips, with no glare to wake you up.
In older Bearsden villas with high ceilings, downlights alone can feel clinical. A strip concealed above a dropped ceiling section or along a coving line throws light upward and makes the height a feature. In bungalows with a sloping ceiling, wall washers or a strip along the base of the slope often work better than trying to fit downlights into the pitch.
Colour temperature is where most DIY schemes go wrong. Warm white at 2700K to 3000K suits ambient and accent light, while 4000K is a better match for daylight at the mirror. Mixing them at random looks patchy, so pick deliberately. Ask for a CRI of 90 or above so skin tones and tile colours look true.
Water ratings are not optional. Anything inside the shower or directly above the bath up to 2.25 metres needs to be at least IP65 in practice, and strip lighting in a niche should be IP67, run at 12V or 24V with the driver housed somewhere dry and accessible. Always fit strip into an aluminium profile with a diffuser, otherwise you see a row of dots reflected in glossy tile.
Bathroom circuits need 30mA RCD protection and the work should be done and certified by a registered electrician. If your consumer unit is an older type, which is common in local houses that have not been rewired since the 1980s, it may need upgrading first.
Costs depend on access, the state of the existing wiring and how many separate circuits you want. As a rough guide for homes around Bearsden and Milngavie, the figures below are typical for supply and fit as part of a wider refit.
Timing is the bigger issue. Cables for niches, mirrors and vanity strips are chased into the wall before boarding and tiling, so lighting has to be decided at design stage. Bungalows with a loft above the bathroom are the easiest to wire. Flats and rooms under a converted attic take longer because the ceiling usually has to come down.
Downlights and an illuminated mirror usually can, especially in a Bearsden bungalow with loft access above. Niche and under-vanity strips need cables hidden behind the wall finish, so they are best done during a refit.
Yes, provided the strip is IP67 rated, runs at low voltage and the driver sits outside the wet area on an RCD-protected circuit. It should be installed and certified by a registered electrician.
Warm white at 2700K to 3000K is the most comfortable choice for general and accent lighting. A slightly cooler 4000K at the mirror gives a truer view for shaving or make-up.