ᐅ Front door with or without a sidelight

Alessandro schrieb:

The hallways in a single-family house are usually longer and get more frequent use due to access to the upper floor and basement.
In my apartment, I also have a dark hallway, and I must admit it’s a bit annoying to have to turn on the light every time...

Exactly, in an apartment, the hallway light is on all day, and it also gets more frequent use than in a single-family house, since typically 100% of the rooms are accessed through that one hallway in an apartment, whereas in a single-family house it’s only about 50%. In the evening, when everyone is upstairs in the bedrooms and bathroom, the ground floor is hardly used anymore.
For me, aesthetics come before functionality... if a door with a glass element doesn’t fit the overall design, I will just turn on the light when needed. With artificial light (design), you can create atmosphere much better anyway, rather than having everything brightly lit by daylight. The main thing seems to be bright, bright, bright... regardless of whether it gets too warm in summer or whether every passerby can watch you take your shoes off.

Alessandro schrieb:

In my apartment, I also have a dark hallway, and I have to say it’s a bit annoying to have to turn on the light every time...

Fortunately, our hallway is not dark:

For this reason, I always advocate for as many sources of natural light as possible, especially around the front door area.

By the way, we completely avoided installing light switches in the hallway and instead had indoor motion sensors installed on each floor:

This way, the light always comes on as soon as you enter the hallway. The sensor even works through the glass panel in the front door, so the hallway lighting turns on as soon as you stand in front of the entrance.

driver55 schrieb:

Door width: The door leaf or the clear opening including the frame?

Just the door leaf... less would be somehow tight...

AxelH. schrieb:

Fortunately, our hallway is not dark:

Therefore, I always recommend having as many sources of natural light as possible, especially around the front door area.

By the way, we completely avoided light switches in the hallway and instead had indoor motion sensors installed on every floor:

This way, the light always turns on as soon as you enter the hallway. And it even works through the glass panel in the front door, so the hallway light comes on as soon as someone is standing outside the door.

We have those too, and I’m somewhat happy with them… The cat always triggers the light, and at night it’s way too bright for me, so I usually just turn them off. Unfortunately, we forgot to install a separate switch in the hallway to turn the lights on manually; we only have the motion sensors. So anyone wanting to see anything in the cloakroom after 11 p.m. needs to know that the light only comes on via the motion sensor—and it has to be sensitive enough for that (-;

Snowy36 schrieb:

If you want to see anything in the cloakroom after 11 p.m. … you need to know that the light only turns on at the main switch and has to be bright enough for that (-;

Seriously, how high are those installed? In our case, they are at the usual height where a light switch would be. They are basically always set to automatic.

Georgian2019 schrieb:

For me, aesthetics come before functionality... if a door with glass panels doesn’t fit the overall design, I’m willing to turn on the lights when needed. You can create a much better atmosphere with artificial lighting (design) than by having everything fully lit with natural daylight... as long as it’s bright, bright, bright....

Uh… light switches and atmosphere // daylight and lighting… to me, that sounds contradictory.

Alessandro schrieb:

and I have to say it annoys me a bit to have to switch the lights on every time...

That’s exactly the point: it’s not about overly bright or task lighting, nor about capturing southern sun to get more light in the living area. This is about well-functioning practical use.

AxelH. schrieb:

By the way, we completely skipped light switches in the hallway and instead had indoor motion sensors installed on every floor:

A benefit for cramped niches. But for circulation areas, it could be a big drawback if you want to control the lighting yourself. Not everyone wants hallway lighting when trying to unwind at night.