That is way too many downlights. What are you planning on doing in the bedrooms that needs so much lighting? Good question about your bedroom and power point placement. In the master the bed will be in front of the power points which isn’t necessarily bad.

Hi bigreader

Thanks for your feedback. I agree about downlights, usually how many are needed per bedroom?

You have way too many down lights in bedrooms. I single centred light is sufficient with bedside table lamps. It is going to cost you a fortune. Regarding bedside power points… how wide are the beds, for example a king bed is 1830mm wide, so have the power points about 1950mm apart. However, I would recommend, in minor bedrooms, you have one double power point on each wall to the side, not in the middle. Then you are not restricting placement of furniture.

Hi Dreamer

I get you on downlights. Will reduce those and also look at changing the powerpoints. And thanks for the king bed dimensions and distances too. Where do you think the Internet hub should be ? Garage or middle of the house?

For example. The purple is double power point placement, and the red is a single centred light.

Is one of those rooms a study or office? That’s where I would be putting it. With such a large home, you will probably need a wifi extender anyway.

In the kitchen you need to have a light between your head and the cooktop, and your head and the sink. Otherwise you’ll be working in the dark. Agree with one centred light/fan in the bedrooms with lamps. With some of the downlights you’re saving I’d add a couple more to garage, near where you have the power points.

And add a powerpoint to your walk in linen.

And more…. One centred light in laundry. One light in ensuite above the sink, and one light centred in ensuite. Separate switches.

Thanks dreamer and bigreader. Yes it is a big home and would appreciate the savings.Will reduce the downlights and have the option of bedside lamps. Yes , there is a study. Any thoughts on how many powepoints are needed on the outside if any?

I’d have a tap and powerpoint near the laundry door. Are you having a top loader washing machine? If you’re planning on a front loader I’d delete the sliding door in the laundry room- adding a standard door and extending the bench the full width of the room. I’d also have a powerpoint near the front entry.

do you have a plan with dimensions?

This is from Juda Petros previous posts. The idea about changing laundry has been already raised in previous posts. Obviously past the point of design, and hasn’t changed…..unless there is another final plan.

There was also comments about the double bathroom entrance doors for guest ensuite/powder room…..has this been changed to one door?

1. Yes there is a bulkhead over the kitchen i.e over the benchtop and cooking area. And high 34cc ceilings over the kitchen sitting area

2. Doors for Guest/Powder have not been changed. still has the too many doors!

Personally I would only do one height over the entire kitchen,dining,living area. From the plans it looks like the kitchen is dropped to 28cc, and then the other area is 32cc , then the tray ceilings are 34cc. So much labour and extra costs involved. You could have one 32cc ceiling across the entire area. The other parts of home are 32cc, I would keep it all the same height 32cc = 2.743m ceiling.

Shame about too many doors in guest ensuite/powder room. That could be money savings as well.

Hi there, I suggest getting a pendant in the bedrooms rather than 4 LED's your bedroom never needs this amount of light, then you have the option to have something pretty too to gain some layering.

Pendants over the island bench are a nice touch too.

Let your electrician know your bed sizes so he can change the power points accordingly.

I usually allow about 250mm either side of the bed so that it will sit behind bedside tables but check with your electrician to be sure.

Hi Lauren

Thanks for the suggestions and power point spacing info. Now would a single ceiling light in the middle be bright enough for the bedroom as well compared to a pendant?

No I wouldn't suggest to do that, I don't agree that there are too many LED's but you can add a dimmer to them to soften the light too.

You might find this interesting

How many candles does it take to replace a lightbulb?

Answer: 61

That's to replace a 60-watt bulb.

How is that?

A 60-watt bulb gives off 800 lumens of light. A single candle produces 13 lumens. Simple math dictates 600 divided by 13 = 61.

Throw in LED lighting and dimming and it's a different result. For instance, LED lights generate far more lumens with much less wattage.

With winter closing in, indoor lighting is becoming more important.

As you may have noticed with the candle question above, there are lighting units of measurement.

The two main ways to measure lighting:

1. Lumen (lm):

• Measures the total amount of visible light emitted by a light source.
• It indicates the brightness or light output from the source itself, regardless of where the light is going.

2. Lux (lx):

• Measures illuminance, which is the amount of light that falls on a surface.
• One lux is equal to one lumen per square meter.
• It's used to assess how much light is actually reaching and illuminating a specific area.

3. Foot-Candle (fc):

• Another measure of illuminance, similar to lux.
• One foot-candle is equal to one lumen per square foot.
• It's more commonly used in the United States, whereas lux is used in most other countries.

Short version:

• Lumen is about the total light emitted.
• Lux and Foot-Candle are about the amount of that light that actually lands on a surface, with lux using square meters and foot-candles using square feet as their respective units of area.

Which begs the question... which is a better measurement for figuring out how much lighting is needed for a room?

The better measurement is lux or foot-candle because that's how much light falls on a surface.

That said, lumens is used for quick and dirty lighting needs. When choosing lighting, you can check out the lumens it gives off.

For instance, the average-sized living room needs 1,000 to 2,000 lumens. If a shaded lamp gives off only 250 lumens (shades will impact lumens emitted), you can roughly calculate how many you need to properly light the space.

That's quick and dirty.

If you have a reading spot, you'll want to measure the foot-candle or lux where the book surface will be. In case you're wondering, 50 foot-candles is good for reading.

Which means you'll want to purchase a reading lamp for the spot that delivers at least 50 foot-candles to the reading area (most reading lamps do this but it's worth checking).

Keep in mind that you would not want to illuminate a living room at an intensity of 50 foot-candles throughout. The non-reading area of a living room is good at 10 to 20 foot-candles.

How do you figure out how many lumens (roughly) to achieve a specific foot-candle

In other words, once you know your living room's square footage, and you know that you want it illuminated at 15 foot-candles throughout, how do you figure out how many lumens you need?

The formula is as follows:

Lumens = Foot-Candles × Square footage

For Lux it's as follows:

Lumens = Foot-Candles x Square meters

If your living room is 250 sq ft and you want 15 foot-candles throughout, you need lighting that gives off 3,750 lumens. Keep in mind that lighting sources usually emit light in all directions so it might be more than that.

How do you measure foot-candles / lux?

That's easy.

You can buy digital light measuring meters on Amazon for $30 to $50. If you're renovating or aren't happy with your current lighting, it's a handy tool to have.

Should you change up lighting when adding candles to a space?

No, not necessary.

A candle gives off 13 lumens which isn't much. Unless you put 50 candles in the room, candlelight will add ambiance but won't over-light the space.

Besides, most rooms now have dim lighting. Adjust as needed.

Does lighting matter?

Yeah, big time. The above lighting information is merely the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more when it comes to planning lighting in a space. IMO, it's one aspect of interior design that many people undermine.

TIP: If you're in the process of hiring an interior designer, ask about lighting. If they don't get technical like this, they may not be the designer to hire. It's a good way to vet the good from the bad.