Will 2 pendants w/60-watt bulbs be enough for a bathroom?

13 years ago

It's not a large bathroom. Thinking of two of these high up in front of the edges of the mirror at a 48"-wide vanity. besides that in the room, there's a toilet, a bathtub alcove that doesn't need a lot of light, and a small strip of floor space.

Do you think bathrooms need at least a 100-watter? (I don't recall whether light is really additive, like whether 2 60-watt bulbs are as good or better than a 100-watt bulb for light.)

Prior there was a 6-strip 'Hollywood light' - the kind with the little makeup bulbs - shrouded by a white translucent thing. That gave off a LOT of light. Most of the time I kept it dimmed.

Here is a link that might be useful: 10

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Comments (3)

macv
13 years ago
Be careful, a pendant light is not allowed within a certain distance of a bathtub by the NEC.
DavidR
13 years ago
Assuming we're talking incandescents, a single 100 watt lamp will produce about as much light as two 60 watt lamps, while using 20 fewer watts.

FWIW, I use two 15 watt compact fluorescents (equivalent to 60 watt) in my small bathroom, and it's plenty. However, my fixtures don't have a dark shade, which your fixture appears to have. (Seems counterproductive, doesn't it?)
cinnamonsworld
Original Author
13 years ago
It's more than 3' from the tub.

Yes, my fixture has a dark shade. :) The rest of the bathroom is black. It'll work I think, just be a little more directional. (If it doesn't, moving on to Edison lights and steam punk.)

I was wondering if CFLs run cooler such that you can use a 100w CFL bulb where a 60w incandescent is the max rating. I wasn't sure about that but had heard that with LED bulbs that are 60w, they've been tending to look quite a bit brighter according to some people on this forum. Might try those.