How to Select the Right Incandescent Lightbulb for a Bathroom

The bathroom is where you start the day washing up, putting on makeup, shaving and fixing your hair for the day. Incandescent bulbs create a warm and attractive ambiance while providing natural light for makeup application and other chores.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. During the course of a few days, keep of track the time of day in which the bathroom receives sunlight.

2. Keep track of when you feel like you want to turn on a light. This will help you determine your comfort level with the amount of light in the room.

3. Note the direction from which the windows and doors let natural light into the bathroom. Check the Tips (below) to see the color effect the natural light has on your bathroom.

4. Buy incandescent lightbulbs for daytime lighting that are in the same color range as the natural light in the room. For example, if your bathroom faces east, for daytime lighting use a bulb that has a yellowish intensity. This does not mean buy a yellow-colored lightbulb.

5. Plan how you want to light the areas of the bathroom. Do you have overhead lighting, lighting from a table lamp, floor lamps, track lighting, spotlights, a light connected to a ceiling fan or hanging lights?

6. Buy reflector or floodlights if the bathroom has overhead canister lighting or track lighting.

7. Buy frosted incandescent lightbulbs for use over the vanity where makeup is applied.

8. Buy clear or frosted incandescent lightbulbs for use in an overhead ceiling fan with a light, an overhead light fixture or a hanging light.

Tips & Warnings

• Northerly light is blue, easterly light is yellow, westerly light is orange-red and southerly light is orange-yellow.
• Read the instructions about the incandescent lightbulb wattage requirements on the lighting fixtures—using too high a wattage bulb can cause a fire.