Kitchen Lights
Ensuring that your kitchen lights are adequate is really quite simple, especially with a little help from our friendly Universal Lighting team. It does require a little thought and forward planning to get it right, though. Essentially, kitchen lighting can be divided into three main categories, ambient, accent and task lighting.
These lights are not just for kitchens but can be used in almost any room in your home too. Any light fitting can be used in a kitchen, but what sets them aside is light levels and function. For example, a romantic pendant that gives soft light is not suitable for the kitchen as it will create shadows. This makes cooking and preparing food difficult.
Kitchen ceiling lights can fall into both ambient and accent lighting. Ambient lighting creates an indirect overall light source to enable you to carry out everyday tasks. Accent lighting highlights particular areas of interest or certain objects within the kitchen.
A good example would be a pendant light hanging over a breakfast bar or dining table. Our selection of kitchen ceiling lights falls into four main categories, fluorescent style, flush, pendants and down lights.
No single kitchen light is best, as they all perform different functions. You should aim to use a combination of all lighting types to give the best overall lighting. This will depend on the size and layout of each individual kitchen.
The kitchen main light, down lights and task lights should be as bright as possible without producing glare. Ambient and accent lighting should be more subdued. They should all be separately switched, so you can use each type when needed and build lighting levels in layers.
Fluorescent Style Kitchen lights
Some of us will remember the dreadful fluorescent lights of the past. Typically, they were a plain white metal body with a bare fluorescent tube. They would hum and buzz with a plink-plink until they finally illuminated. Thankfully, those days are behind us.
Today’s modern fluorescent style lights feature bright LED’s and integrated control gear that eliminates the buzzing and flickering completely. They use very little energy, last for a very long time and are available in a variety of colour temperatures. Some use replaceable LED tubes and others have integral LED’s, where the whole fitting must be disposed of at end of life.
Flush kitchen lights
If your home was built in the last forty years or so, the chances are that it will have lower ceilings than older properties. Lower ceilings were introduced to save energy in heating costs by reducing the air volume that required warming. Flush kitchen lights are bright, stylish and available in every style including modern, traditional and rustic. They are a great choice if you have a low ceiling.
Kitchen pendant lights
Pendants look fantastic in any kitchen. For those of us lucky enough to have high ceilings, pendants can be positioned almost anywhere to create the effect we would like. They have the ability to bring the ceiling down into the space and make it appear cosier.
In reality, most of us are only able to use pendants over a kitchen worktop, breakfast bar, dining table or sink. They perform well as accent lighting and also help to outline different areas of the kitchen, for example, the dining area.
Downlights in the kitchen
Kitchen down lights are very popular as they are versatile, can be adjustable, and you can have as many or as few as you would like. They are easy to install, come in a variety of styles including adjustable and eyeball and are available in a huge range of finishes. They provide good targeted light and are dimmable.
They are, however, expensive to run and generate a lot of heat, unless you use LED fittings or GU10 LED bulbs in them. Down lights can be used in conjunction with any other type of kitchen light. They can be positioned around the edge to target worktops or other areas where a direct light is required. Further information about down lights can be found in our article entitled Recessed downlights explained.
For more information and inspiration, please look at our Kitchen lighting design guide. If you require help, have a question or need further information on finding your perfect kitchen lights, please contact a member of our specialist team on 0151 650 2138 for expert advice.
Kitchen Lights FAQ’s
Q) What are kitchen lighting fixtures?
A) Kitchen lights are not just for kitchens but can be used almost anywhere in your home. Any light fitting can be used, but what sets them aside is light levels and function. For example, a romantic pendant that gives soft light is not suitable for the kitchen as it will create shadows. This makes cooking and preparing food difficult.
Q) What type of kitchen lights are best?
A) No single kitchen light is best, as they all perform different functions. You should aim to use a combination of all lighting types to give the best overall lighting. This will depend on the size and layout of each individual kitchen.
Q) How bright should kitchen lighting be?
A) The kitchen main light, down lights and task lights should be as bright as possible without producing glare. Ambient and accent lighting should be more subdued. They should all be separately switched, so you can use each type when needed and build lighting levels in layers.
Q) What is the best kitchen lighting for high ceilings?
A) Pendants for high ceilings can be positioned anywhere to create the effect we would like. They have the ability to bring the ceiling down into the space and make it appear cosier. Use pendants over a kitchen worktop, breakfast bar, dining table or sink. They perform well as accent lighting and also help to outline different areas of the kitchen, for example, the dining area.
Q) What is the best kitchen light to replace fluorescent?
A) Many fluorescent style kitchen lights are now available in an LED option. They use very little energy, last for a very long time and are available in a variety of colour temperatures. Some use replaceable LED tubes and others have integral LED’s, where the whole fitting must be disposed of at end of life.
