Toilet lighting: ideas and practical tips

• Posted on 18 July 2023
• By INTOLED
• 0

Let's not beat about the bush: toilet lighting is also important. And how many people forget about this little room in the house? Yet it's a place we visit regularly, so it's best to make it comfortable. Getting the right lighting in the bathroom will definitely help. Take our advice and read our tips and tricks in this article.

Probably the smallest room in the house, or maybe you have a CV loft or staircase cupboard that deserves the honour. While these are all places where lighting can be useful, in this article we will focus on the toilet. You don't spend much time there, but you do spend more time there than you think. You can easily spend 50 minutes a week on the toilet, or 43 hours a year. In a lifetime, that is 1 to 3 years. So it is time to spend some time on the lighting in your toilet. And we mean LED toilet lighting, of course.

What to look out for in toilet lighting?

You want the light in the toilet to be functional, but not cold and harsh. It can be quite comfortable when you are peeing. It's also practical because you don't really need to see all the details in the toilet. And if you are freshening up in the middle of an evening with visitors, you want a light colour that makes you look good in the mirror. Not the kind of light you occasionally encounter in a dressing room, where you are startled by your own reflection.

What colour of light in the toilet?

When we talk about cool, cold or cosy light, we are talking about Kelvin values. Light colours are expressed in Kelvin and usually have a value between 2000K and 6500K. Here 2000K is a very warm white light, almost orange, and 6500K is a very bright white, almost blue. The most common colours are around 2700K for ambient light, 4000K for neutral light and 6000K for functional white light. In the toilet, we recommend a colour between 2700K and 4000K. It doesn't have to give you a candlelit dinner feeling when you're sitting on the seat, but nobody wants studio light either.

How many lumens on the toilet?

Drips on the seat or on the floor, limescale in the toilet and a piece of paper left next to the pot: you don't always see everything in the bathroom. So it is not necessary to choose a luminaire with a very high lumen rating. Lumen is a measure of the brightness of light. And in the toilet, the light can be a little dimmed. On the other hand, you don't want to be unable to see. For example, it's nice to be able to look in the mirror and see how you look. And to see if the spinach has got stuck in your teeth after you ate it. On the other hand, you don't want bright fluorescent lights next to the mirror. It's nice to see an atmospheric and comfortable reflection. So choose a number between 500 and 1000 lumens, or make sure you can dim the light.

What IP rating for the toilet?

When choosing a lamp for the toilet, it is worth taking a moment to consider the IP rating of the lighting. This is a rating that indicates how well the lighting can withstand moisture and dust. An IP rating always consists of the letters IP followed by 2 digits. The first digit indicates how well the luminaire can withstand dust and the second digit indicates how well it can withstand moisture. For example, a lamp with an IP rating of 20 can withstand a little dust but not moisture. A lamp with an IP rating of IP44 can withstand dust well and moisture well. Literally, this means that the lamp is protected against contact with objects larger than 1mm and against splashing water from any angle. This means that the lamp is suitable for use in damp and dusty environments. The lamp can withstand small particles of dust and rain from any angle. However, the lamp will not withstand the smallest particles of dust or a water pistol aimed directly at it. If you want to know more about IP ratings, you can read this blog. Now, with your LED toilet light, moisture is not necessarily a problem unless you are up to some very crazy antics. If you are lighting your toilet, an IP20 rating is generally sufficient.

Which toilet light is best?

There are different types of toilet light to choose from. Which toilet light will you choose? Do you want one light in the toilet? Or several toilet lights, such as spotlights? Or go for cool toilet lights? We take you through several options for lighting this small space.

Ceiling light

Often there is a light point in the ceiling of the toilet, just as there is in the living room, bedroom, in fact in every room in the house. They are there for a reason. It's nice to be able to light up the toilet at the touch of a button. This is useful in any room in the house, but where in the living room you work with different lamps for ambience and nooks and crannies, this is not necessary with a lamp for the toilet.

With a ceiling lamp in the bathroom, you're done in one go, and this choice of lighting does what it needs to do. You can vary light colours, lumens and appearance. Do you want a spotlight, a cute pendant or a practical ceiling light? The only thing you need to consider with a ceiling light is that it distributes the light in the right way. It's annoying to stand or sit in your own light, so watch out for shadows. After all, you want to be able to see yourself in the mirror without standing in your own light. Curious about our ceiling lights?

Wall light

What applies to a ceiling lamp as a one-touch light also applies to a wall lamp. Except that it hangs much more in plain sight. For example, you can hang a wall lamp next to the mirror so that you always know you have good light when you look in the mirror. A wall light can also add a lot of atmosphere because it is more eye-catching than a ceiling light. And that's a choice. What do you choose? Take a look at wall lights for indoors.

Recessed lighting for the toilet

Recessed spotlights are useful in any room, so when it comes to lighting a toilet, they can be a good choice. Recessed lights are stylish, sleek and modern. They create a calm and beautiful look and are ideal for when the toilet is not such a large room. After all, how many WC spotlights do you need? Often one or two WC spotlights are enough to light the small space.

A recessed spotlight can be broadly divided into two categories: with or without a replaceable light source. The big advantage of a recessed spotlight with a built-in light source is that your spotlight has a shallow mounting depth. There is no need for a lampholder to screw the lamp into, which saves a lot of space. And space is often at a premium in a toilet anyway. You can build a suspended ceiling to hide the spotlight, but you don't have to take up a lot of space.

There are also drawbacks to recessed spotlights with a built-in light source: you can't just change the bulb if it breaks. Then you have to replace the whole spotlight and luminaire. There is no right or wrong, it just depends on your preference. Incidentally, all our recessed luminaires have a minimum life of 25,000 hours. That is about 10 years, assuming the lighting is on 250 days a year, 10 hours a day. And let's face it, few people achieve these figures with toilet lighting. Curious about the choice of recessed luminaires? Choose your toilet light below or click here for a full overview.

Surface mounted spots

Between recessed spots and ceiling spots is a surface-mounted spot. A surface mounted spot is a spot that you hang from the ceiling. It is actually a ceiling light, but with the look of a spotlight. And you don't have to build it in. Surface-mounted spots come in many different shapes and sizes, take a look below or browse all our surface-mounted spots.

How much does toilet lighting cost?

We understand that you are curious about the cost of toilet lighting. Of course it depends a little on the type of lighting you want to install. Let us give you some examples:

3 pieces of white and tiltable recessed spotlights cost less than €20. These spots are supplied with a GU10 warm white light source. See our Pittsburg recessed spotlight here.

A nice ceiling light like Tommy costs €59.95. Tommy is also available with two spots instead of three for €39.95.

If you want a wall light, Denver is a nice option. This is a not too big wall lamp and Denver costs €29.95.

How do you install toilet lighting?

There is no clear answer to this question, as it depends entirely on the type of lighting you have chosen. Recessed lights are built-in, so you need to cut a hole with a round-hole saw before you can connect the lights. Would you like to know how to install recessed spotlights? Then click here. A wall light is hung on the wall and then connected, a ceiling light is screwed to the ceiling before being connected. Need help with this? Feel free to contact our specialists for information and explanation. We don't call them specialists for nothing!

A few more tips

Don't forget to hang one or more nice mirrors in the toilet. Not only are they handy for you and your guests, but they also make the room look bigger. And your guests will appreciate it.

It is also nice to work with a theme in the toilet. Different styles can be used in one bathroom. Use matching accessories such as a (fake) plant, dried flowers and a pot or basket for things you don't want to show off, such as air fresheners or cleaning tissues. You can make a shelf above the toilet for this. Or maybe you have a concealed cistern, then you already have a nice place to put some cosy things.

It can also be nice to add a nice scent to the toilet. This can be done by using a toilet freshener, but there are also nice scented sticks and blocks on the market that you can grate a little bit off and spread a nice scent.