Advice on Smart Home Lighting Design

Lfinancialminimalism on 17/03/2018 - 23:13

Hi everyone, we're mid renovation and just having the sparky through. I want to make sure we've got enough light in the living / dining / kitchen area, so looking for some advice, ideally from those in the trade. Attached is the current lighting design with proposed lighting (mainly 8w LED GU10 bulbs, with a few pendants). The roof is sloping in the centre, from about 2.7m to 3.4m at the highest point (rear of house), with the two sides of the room flat roofed at 2.3m. The room size is approximately 8m x 5-6.

Room Dimensions: https://ibb.co/dqfrNx
Ceiling Heights: https://ibb.co/nAYd2x

Over the living area we have plans for essential a 2x3 configuration (6 lights) with 1 removed to allow for a fireplace / tv. Over the Dining is 2x2 with an additional pendant in the middle. The kitchen has 3 down lights in the middle, and then 2 pendants over the breakfast bar (note the plan has 3, however the sparky rightly pointed out it would be weird to have 2 of the pendants at 2.9m and the other at 2.3m, so we've decided to remove one of the pendants.

I suppose what I'm wondering is should we replicate the two lots of 2 lights under the lower flat ceiling areas onto the sloping ceiling (making it an additional 3 + 2 lights)? Or do you think this is fine the the size of the room?

Current Lighting Design: https://ibb.co/bQYZaH
Alternative Design: https://ibb.co/muEwpc

Ideally I'd like to install LIFX GU10 Downlights in some of this space as well for automation. But I'll just see how the budget goes! They are 6w, produce 400 lumens and have 60 degree beam angle.

Thanks!

Home & Garden Smart Home

Comments

  • Wibbleman on 18/03/2018 - 08:59
    +1

    Current lighting design looks fine to me. Kitchen is the only place I think you need strong lighting.
    As for the rest - Its not a hospital - living areas generally require reduced light. Consider warm white

  • tdth99 on 18/03/2018 - 10:31
    +1

    I can't comment on the specific lighting design or even the quality of Lifx vs Philips Hue, but I figured I'd mention my experiences owning both.
    If I was installing a lot of lights (be it downlights or globes), I'd probably go with Hue. Yes you need to stump up for a bridge but a starter pack (including a downlight starter) will include one and pretty much offset the cost.
    With Lifx each individual light will be it's own wifi connection, and I've found they can sometimes just lose connection altogether. I have a really good router, and you'd want to.
    And if you turn them off at the switch they take considerably longer than the Hues (running on the Zigbee non-wifi standard) to reconnect so you can control them again.

    They also have a slightly different behaviour when turned off at the switch (or lose power). Hues default back to full bright warm white, Lifx to their last state. That can be preferable so it's really your choice. I find I (or guests) do tend to turn them off every now and then thanks to years of conditioning, so the lifx going to a very dimmed light I might have at night again in the morning, while waiting for them to reconnect to turn them up again can be a bit annoying.

    Hue also come with a much wider range of accessories and a wider range of 2nd party apps and accessories. Just my thoughts, you'll be happy with either.
    Or even just get smart switches (given you're getting a sparky in either way), huge thread on that at whirlpool

    • financialminimalism on 24/03/2018 - 13:41

      Thanks for the advice tdth99.

      I'm wanting to align to Homekit and have been tossing up between LiFX and Hue. Both seem like good options, but to be honest smart switches make much more sense than smart bulbs, so they retain the full functionality of the switch. I think in the future we'll see no switches on the wall and it will be voice and motion controlled.

      I'd love to use Lutron's Caseta switches, if they ever come to Australia.

  • vinni9284 on 18/03/2018 - 11:23
    +1
    • I would place another in the top-middle of the cluster of 4, underneath the word "SLOPING"
    • I would also place 4 instead of 3 in the kitchen/overhead cupboard area. LED's aren't that bright, and you generally need a lot more to light a room vs baton (depending on W)
    • This is a tip - if you want to save power then have a separate switch for 1 or 2 x LEDs in one area that will have a lot of interaction and want to create a darker mood. That way, all 4 doesn't have to turn on.

    Edit: I just saw your alternate design and I would recommend that but 4 in the kitchen instead of 3

    Cheers

  • Euphemistic on 18/03/2018 - 14:00
    +1

    Make sure that the down lights in the kitchen are not behind you where you work. We have 4 in our kitchen main area and they cast a shadow over the bench unless we use the extra lighting over the bench (range hood, extra downloghts or pendants over our benches).

  • kiwijunglist on 30/03/2018 - 15:38

    If i was installing smart lighting i'd use dumb light bulbs and smart switches. Upgrade to z-wave light switches. smart light bulbs only work if they are on at the light switch. if the light switch is off then you can't turn the smart bulbs on using automation software, it's pointless. smart light bulbs are for people who are renting.

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