Kitchen Lighting

Kitchen Lighting:
We spend most of our time in the kitchen and it has multiple functions, many of which require care to avoid accidents. The best kitchen lighting is not only functional but also adds grace and visual interest - factors that combine to make the kitchen both an easy and pleasant place to work. Today, modern kitchens use a variety of fixtures to provide three specific kinds of lighting - general, task, and accent.

1. General lighting provides bright, even illumination for the entire kitchen. When evaluating general lighting for your kitchen, the major considerations are how much you need, the kind of light, and the arrangement of the fixtures. If the kitchen has lots of windows you should have plenty of natural ambient light during the day.

Consider the colors of the cabinets, counters, walls and floors. Dark surfaces absorb light and require you to provide more light for proper illumination. Light-colored surfaces by will reflect and usually reduce the amount of light needed. Generally, for a kitchen from 75 to 120 square feet in size you need 150 to 200 watts of incandescent light or 60 to 80 watts of fluorescent light.

Fluorescent tubes remain cool, even with extended operation. Incandescent bulbs begin radiating noticeable amounts of heat as soon as they are turned on.

Fixtures must be positioned to provide even illumination throughout the room. A single fluorescent fixture typically can be placed in the center of the ceiling because the tubes radiate light evenly along their full length. To get an equivalent spread of incandescent light, you can position two to four ceiling-mounted, domed fixtures so their light blends to form a uniform spread of illumination.

2. Task lighting provides additional light on countertops and other work areas, and provides adequate lighting in work areas where your body casts a shadow from the general lighting on the work you are doing. These are best lit with bright, shadowless light. Create task lighting by placing fixtures above counters, the sink, stove, as well as over islands and tables. There is a variety of both incandescent and fluorescent minilights to fit your needs.

To light counter areas, install lights on the underside of the overhead cabinets, close to their front edges. You'll need 8 watts of under cabinet fluorescent light for every foot of counter space. Allow 15 to 20 watts of incandescent light for every foot of counter.

To illuminate a sink or stove, place a light directly above, recessed in or mounted on the ceiling. You'll need about 40 to 60 watts of fluorescent light or 75 watts of incandescent. Or, consider installing an exhaust hood with a built-in light over a stove.

To light island or eating areas, place recessed, track, or hanging pendant lights above the area.

3. Accent lighting is used where an element of visual interest is added. Generally, the same types of under cabinet lights used in countertop task lighting can be used as accent lights. Place them on top of cabinets and direct them toward the ceiling and back wall to give a sense of height to the room. Accent lights in the toe-kick space of base cabinets emphasize cabinet-to-floor transition and also make good night lights.

Highlight the contents of a glass-door cabinet with accent lights along the inside upper or lower edge. As a general rule, keep accent lighting less bright than task lighting. A little of it draws a great deal of attention, so don't overuse it. Accent lighting is usually done with halogen spot lights mounted on the wall.

Lastly, be sure to evaluate your ceiling height. Taller rooms require brighter lights to fill the extra area and to cut down on shadows. Low-ceiling spaces often need softer light to keep reflections from bouncing off the walls.

Take windows into account for lighting during daylight hours, but allow enough fixtures to do the job after the sun goes down.

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