The bathroom needs lights. LED lights. Please.

March 25, 2011 4:58 PM

Please help me find LED lighting options for the bathroom.

Yes, this bathroom remodel is probably going to kill me.

I need to choose an overhead light for the water closet and ...something for the vanity areas. Track lighting? Sconces?

I don't know what I want, but it doesn't really matter because I can't find any. Home Schmepot website provides lots of bulbs, but no fixtures.

I realize that LED lights aren't the most affordable on the front end, but I'd like whatever I get to be...moderately priced. Maybe on clearance, or closeout, or just affordable.

posted by bilabial to home & garden (7 answers total)

The web site Think Geek, of all places, has a lot of funky LED lighting options -- some designed expressly for bathrooms.

Granted, some of their ideas are a little gimmicky, but others are more straightforward... here's the whole light section.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:10 PM on March 25, 2011

I just today pulled all the LED light bulbs out of my kitchen and replaced them with halogen. They're just not bright enough. These were LEDs (and are now halogens) that plug into your regular old lightbulb incandescent/compact flourescent socket. Anyway, if you buy bulbs that fit into standard sockets you should be able to use most fixtures. But if I were you, I wouldn't.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:32 PM on March 25, 2011

There are standardised 2-pin LED bulbs that simply swap in for where you'd otherwise put halogens (eg downlights). You'd probably want to take care to select "warm white" rather than "cool white" (does anybody on the entire planet actually *like* cool white?!?? If so, WTF is wrong with them?!??)

Just mentioning in case it is of interest...LEDs also come in a kind of flexible strip light, enclosed in plastic, a bit like a flattened out small transparent garden hose. You can just stick this on wherever you like...eg if you wanted a "backstage" kind of surround for your mirror....?
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:51 PM on March 25, 2011

Oh....I was recently looking for LED lights for a kitchen remodel. My experience was the same as yours: could only find "catalogue" style websites with all kinds of bulb models, but no fittings nor even anything to help make an informed decision...ie basically they're just shopping sites for tradesmen etc who already know exactly what they want.

I found it much better to look up a local store that specialised in LED lights so I could see the options & discuss them for myself. You really need to see the things in operation, to get an idea of how bright they are, what colour, whether they are dimmable, etc etc etc.

"green eco +LED" could be an alright google, plus wherever you are in FL.
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:56 PM on March 25, 2011

LEDs are becoming really popular in the outdoor lighting industry. most of the distributors we work with have also started doing LEDs indoors also. An architect or interior designer could help provide you with some sources for quality indoor products. I just don't think there is enough of a demand for these for the big box stores to carry quality fixtures yet. They are low voltage and require transformers; not really the kind of thing the DIY'er wants to get involved in for hardwired installation.

(we do have some cool led's behind our tv from ikea. They plug in and and change colors & are awesome, but I don't think that kind of thing works in a bathroom.)
posted by Kronur at 5:56 AM on March 26, 2011

I haven't remodeled a bathroom, but I've bought a lot of LEDs from Superbrightleds and always been happy with their prices and selection. It looks like they have "screw-in" replacements for household bulbs, as well as the strip lights and other mounting types mentioned above.
posted by aaronbeekay at 10:06 AM on March 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

It turns out you can buy LED bulbs that go into standard fixtures.

So, now I'm back to choosing a fixture I like from the sea of kajillions, instead of having the field narrowed for me.

And I'm ok with that.
posted by bilabial at 7:53 PM on March 30, 2011