ᐅ Living Room Lighting for 47 m² with Philips Hue Slim 90 mm – Is the Grid Too Dense or Appropriate?

Geomanne schrieb:

I welcome constructive criticism,

You’ve received that. Both a personal assessment (which, as you can see, is shared by others) and a plan/idea highlighting what is important in the planning process.

If you were only looking for confirmation of your plan, you shouldn’t have asked.

By the way, all the responses have been kept in a professional tone – it’s not anyone here being presumptuous or rude. It may be that the content of the replies is hard for you to accept, but that’s on you, not on the way people have written here.

Yes, we don’t know each other. Yet, we are taking the time during our free time to help you without expecting anything in return. We don’t have to. But we do it gladly, even though you’re a stranger.

nordanney schrieb:

By the way, all the responses are given in an objective tone

That’s true for this forum, and also for the Ruhr area. But having spent some time in Swabia, I experienced a bigger culture shock there than in some foreign countries. My typically straightforward tone from the Ruhr region was not well accepted there.

I think your personal judgment calling it “ugly” and “unnecessary” was interpreted very much in a Swabian way. Although I would agree with “unnecessary” right away, since that can be objectively justified.

Geomanne schrieb:

Unfortunately, that’s all too complicated for me. In the meantime, I found several old 500-watt work lights in the attic. I wrapped some old fabric scraps around them and let them hang from the ceiling. It’s something different. So my issue was resolved faster than expected after all. Thanks anyway for your efforts.

Good idea. But before you turn them on, call the fire department so they can be on their way.
Good luck!

Given your question, you really shouldn’t be surprised if all you get is criticism. 23 spotlights for a 47m² (505 ft²) living room… that kind of lighting is suited for a spray booth, not a living area…

Geomanne schrieb:

Maybe someone can offer constructive support to help me, as a lighting novice, achieve reasonable lighting.

Sure. Philips Hue can be used to light rooms effectively. Take a look at the examples on the manufacturer’s website. Not one of them is designed even remotely like what you propose in your sketch for living spaces. This is because a cozy atmosphere only arises when there is a combination of direct and indirect lighting as well as interplay between light and shadow, which zones different areas of a room in terms of lighting. The recessed ceiling lights, arranged as you suggest, are more than sufficient to provide very even and bright functional lighting within the room. However, the aspects that create a cozy ambiance cannot be achieved with this arrangement.

Therefore, your question about spacing can be answered as follows: the distances are more than adequate with typical beam angles of recessed lights.

Since you are aiming for “Hue coziness,” it is technically correct to say you will not achieve that with this arrangement alone. Additional lighting elements are needed for that. Of course, you can add those to your planned setup and reach your goal that way. It’s not commercially optimized, but you didn’t ask for the lowest installation costs either.

Not because the original poster (OP) was especially polite, but for the sake of the readers, I will still address the question: the schematic drawing of the living room — we have no information about the room height, window height, shading, or anything similar — is not really suitable for lighting advice when furnished only with the corner sofa and the dining table (shown with or without an extension?). This is true even on the level of an open forum consultation. I don’t understand what is meant by a grid of one meter twenty or sixty with 90 mm (3.5 inches) spacing.

Lighting is generally divided into “direct” and “indirect” light, and a simple evenly spaced distribution of pure downlight spots (i.e., “watering can holes” aiming straight down at 0° from the vertical) would certainly fail to achieve the ideal of uniform illumination—if that were even the goal. If this theoretical ideal worked—which thankfully it does not—it would be distracting that the spacing between columns and rows, at 128 cm (50 inches) and 160 cm (63 inches) respectively, is visibly uneven.

I will take the dining table as an example: in the many apartments I’m familiar with, aside from the chairs, it is the furniture piece most often shifted around. People sit there together, wanting to see each other clearly without glare and to recognize the food without color distortion. They don’t want to be disturbed by their own shadows caused by light from behind them, nor do they want a spotlight shining directly onto the board game.

As mentioned, we don’t know about any room dividers or similar objects (and their shadows), nor what natural light will mix with the artificial light. Without meaning to offend the OP, this seems like a technically theoretical plan lacking the perspective of a woman of the house. Moreover, it is incomplete, as I don’t see any mention of lux, lumens, or candela, and simply describing the light as “white” only suffices in a black-and-white world. This probably just means “lamp instead of disco light.” In short, even I, not a lighting specialist, can immediately tell that it’s not productive to discuss on such a basis (which makes me admire the efforts of previous contributors all the more). Some questioners and their behavior are truly not an enrichment for a forum community; as I said, I’m only responding here in service of the benefit of readers who bear no responsibility for such a failed introduction.

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