What kind of lighting should a child's room have? Let's figure it out.
Central lighting
A child's room definitely needs primary, central lighting that illuminates the entire room. The central fixture should provide soft, diffused light. Ideally, it has several frosted shades with warm lighting and the ability to turn them on individually. If there is only one shade, you can install a dimmer switch to adjust the brightness.
The power of the central fixture, according to regulations, is 200–300 W, depending on the room size. I personally use a simple formula: 20 W per 1 m². So, for a 10 m² room: 10 × 20 = 200 W. Considering additional local light, this totals around 300 W.
Workstation lighting
The lighting for a desk or school desk should be 60–80 W, according to regulations. However, much depends on the size of the tabletop and the height of the lamp above it.
The lamp above the desk should be positioned so that the light rays falling on the tabletop do not hit the child's eyes or blind them. This could be a high-mounted lamp in front of the seated child (a pendant light) or a desk lamp on the left (if the child is right-handed). Scientists recommend a slightly warm light for a workstation, close to daylight, as it stimulates mental activity.
Bedside light
Lighting near the bed should not exceed 80 W – warm, diffused light, preferably with a dimmer. This can be a wall sconce, a floor lamp, a table lamp on a bedside table, or a pendant light.
However, a child's nightlight is not bedside light, but an additional source that is turned on at night: if the child is afraid of the dark or gets up to use the toilet and needs a guide.
Leisure areas
If there are separate areas in the room where the child draws on an easel, plays an instrument, or builds with Lego, these also need additional lighting – with floor lamps, pendants, or clip-on lights. The lamp here should be no more than 80 W. And again, everything depends on the position of the fixture and the area that needs to be illuminated.
Examples of good lighting
Let me show you some successful solutions with real examples:
- central lighting;
- local lighting for the sleeping area and play area;
- sleeping area lighting (top photo), general lighting and desk lighting (bottom photo);
- general lighting with desk and play area lighting;
- a good example of sleeping area lighting.
What lamps to choose
There is a huge variety of lamps available now – you can easily get lost in a store. For a child's room, I recommend:
- incandescent lamps;
- halogen lamps;
- LED lamps.
However, it's best to avoid energy-saving and fluorescent lamps: they have a flicker that the eye doesn't consciously notice, but the eye muscles and brain detect it, leading to quick fatigue from such light.
As I already mentioned, I recommend warm light for a child's room. This is always indicated on the packaging: white/yellow, warm/cold.
How to understand wattage
I discussed wattage in the first part – there are guidelines in watts. Usually, the wattage of incandescent bulbs is indicated in watts: 60, 80, 100 W, and so on. On the packaging of other lamps, power is measured in lumens (lm). To make it easier for you to navigate, here is a table comparing the power of different lamps in watts and lumens.
Well, that's probably all a mom needs to know about lighting in a child's room.
Komentarze: 0