The ideal kitchen lighting includes a suitable work lamp, a well-lit dining area and mood lighting for added comfort. The right combination of work light, dining area lighting and decorative kitchen lighting provides optimal lighting in your kitchen.
Work lighting in the kitchen
To avoid accidentally cutting your finger while cooking or burning your steak in the pan, there are a few basics to consider when planning the lighting in your kitchen : neutral white light has a stimulating effect, increases your concentration and ensures optimal working conditions. Light intensity (lux value) : To avoid accidental injuries when cutting onions, you should also pay attention to the lighting level. It indicates the amount of light that reaches the work surface. The recommended lighting level for the kitchen is 500 lux. Color Rendering (Ra value) : Professional chefs among you should also look at the color rendering value, called the Ra value or Color Rendering Index. According to EU regulations, indoor lamps must have an Ra value of at least 80. In the kitchen, the color rendering value should not be less than 85. This is the best way to evaluate the quality of food.
Ceiling lighting
For sufficient light on your work surface, you must ensure that you choose the right distance from the wall when using ceiling lighting. If ceiling spots are installed too close to the walls, wall units may prevent optimal lighting of the work surface. If they are too far away, you will place yourself in the cone of light and cast a shadow on the work surface. Therefore, when lighting the ceiling as a work lamp, the following should be taken into account : wall luminaires are available in different depths, therefore these are only approximate values. Make sure that neither the wall elements nor your own body casts a shadow on the worktop when you want to install ceiling lights. Adjustable recessed spotlights in the ceiling are ideal for adjusting the light cone at a later date. With good lighting of your worktop, cooking is more pleasant and less tiring for your eyes.
Under-cabinet lighting
Without under-cabinet lighting, there is no optimal lighting in the kitchen: those who often and willingly cook and prepare food on the worktop should light their cupboards from below and take the above-mentioned values into account when making their choice. Most under-cabinet lighting is now equipped with LEDs because they are particularly durable. However, with the right ceiling lighting, this can be sufficient. With the wide range of base unit lighting available, it is difficult to make the right choice. Therefore, there are other criteria to consider : If you already have under-cabinet lighting, you should check whether it is halogen lamps. Although they are characterized by their particularly high color rendering value (up to an Ra index of 100), they are "power guzzlers" and most halogen lamps can therefore no longer be sold since September 2018. The "power guzzler" is to be replaced in future by energy-saving LEDs. If you also want to save electricity, you can replace your halogen lighting under the kitchen cabinets with LEDs.
A few tips :
For an optimal lighting of the kitchen, it is also important to light your dining table. Suspended luminaires are best suited to illuminate your table.
The optimal height of suspended luminaires above the dining table is 60 to 70 centimeters between the top of the table and the lower edge of the lampshade. Hang the light too high, it will blind you. If you have so many lamps above the table, the bigger your table, the more lamps you need to have above it. Odd numbers seem more harmonious. For this reason, we recommend using at least three or five lamps for a larger table.
To determine the exact positions of the lamps, proceed as follows : with three lamps, divide the table into four parts, with five lamps into six parts, and so on.
If you use the dining table as a work surface for cooking or if your children do their homework there, you can also use lamps with neutral white light. They are particularly suitable for the dining room if you use the table not only for eating but also for working.
Before you hang five hanging fixtures above your kitchen table, you should consider the overall lighting of the kitchen. Working light is often sufficient as basic lighting, so you may want to plan for fewer work lamps above the dining room.
No kitchen lighting without decorative lighting
The kitchen is often also a common room where you can sit for hours, do handicrafts at the table with the children or have a beer with friends in the evening. For more comfort, you should therefore always provide ambient lighting for your kitchen in addition to the working light. Indirect light can be mounted on wall units, on the baseboard of kitchen cabinets, under the kitchen counter, on the ceiling or even on the poorly lit refrigerator in the corner. LED strip lights are particularly suitable for ambient lighting. LEDs have the advantage of being dimmable and being able to change the color of light. Warm white light is ideal for ambient lighting in your kitchen. Various manufacturers have already developed intelligent lighting that can be controlled via an application and with which you can adjust the mood of your kitchen according to the use.
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