Put your bathroom design on the right track
When track lighting first migrated from art galleries and large commercial spaces into people’s homes, it was most frequently employed as task or supplement lighting in large spaces like kitchens and living rooms, often exposed in order to underline a sleek minimalist style. In the years since, track lighting technology and design has come a long way, creating opportunities to apply it in new ways and in different spaces, such as the bathroom.
Here’s what you need to know to find the track lighting solution that will make your face light up every time you use the WC—whether you’re remodeling your bathroom or building a new one.
Track lighting describes a set of different lighting features that provide electricity to each fixture through a mounted rail or track. There are four distinct styles you should understand before shopping for the one that’s right for your bathroom. Whatever type of system you use, installation is not a DIY job—hire a local electrician or handyperson service near you.
When you picture track lighting, you probably imagine the classic linear track made up of straight, 2-to-8-inch bars, arranged in a straight line that runs parallel to the wall (or that connect to form a square shape). There are three different standard track configurations in North America—H-, J-, and L-styles—which feature different kinds of contacts. If you’re adding to an existing track or buying components separately, make sure they all share the same configuration, since they are not all compatible.
With a standard track, you have a choice between:
Low voltage: Featuring a transformer that steps down the electrical current, these systems provide 12–24 volts, providing additional safety and allowing the use of dimmers.
Line voltage: With the powerfeed connected directly to your wall, line voltage systems—the most common type with a residential standard track—provide 110–120 volts.
Like a standard track, fixed rail lighting is attached to a linear bar—but here the bar is mounted to a wall instead of the ceiling. The track heads can be individually positioned, but the spacing is permanent, with each light held in a particular spot along the track. Because of their placement on the wall, it’s the type of track lighting most easily integrated into small- and medium-sized bathrooms.
Monorail lighting (sometimes called flex track lighting) is attached to a flexible single rail that is suspended from the ceiling with standoff rods. Because the shape can be customized, it is a perfect solution for illuminating rooms with non-standard shapes or contoured features, like bathroom islands. The exposed rail itself carries the current, so most monorail systems support lower voltages than other track styles—but the flexibility and organic shaping of the design mean that it’s eager to integrate into a wider range of design styles than standard track lighting.
Though technically a form of track lighting, cable lighting requires no bars or rails. True to the name, cable lights are suspended from the ceiling by an exposed cable. Perfect for rooms with large ceilings, they establish a raw, industrial look—and are thus inappropriate for most bathrooms.
Track lights are most often used as a form of task lighting, with the adjustable track heads perfectly suited to illuminate this or that particular area. In this bathroom, it might be the vanity or another mirror—or perhaps supplemental lighting for the shower or any cabinets or corners left dark by the overhead ambient lighting.
Track lights can also serve as striking accent lighting, highlighting a particular area to create drama and space, or to draw attention to a specific feature. This is particularly useful in large bathrooms, where the overhead and vanity lights meet all your general and task lighting needs, but require a supplement to achieve a more comfortable, elegant feel.
If your bathroom is illuminated by recessed lights, or you’re deciding between recessed and track lighting, consider adding track lighting for your vanity. Recessed lights cast shadows over your face in the mirror, making grooming more difficult. Those hard-to-reach places don’t need to be hard to see: the adjustability and variable spacing of track lights means you can arrange the heads to bring light exactly where you need it.
Like other types of vanity lighting, the track should be positioned 75 to 80 inches from the floor and the fixtures set between 28 and 30 inches apart.
While the idea of track lighting often conjures a very specific image of a standard linear track and track heads, in white or black, illuminating a minimalist, 1980s-style apartment, there are a wide variety of different track lighting styles, which achieve different effects. Not only can you choose among different track styles and fixture types (including pendants), there are also track systems that support different kinds of bulbs, whether incandescent, LED, CFL, or low-voltage halogen or krypton.
The adjustability of track lighting systems also means that you can use a single fixture to illuminate different parts of the room simultaneously or supplement in your overhead light from multiple angles. In the bathroom, this array of options is unbeatable, since space is often tight and the lighting requirements are particularly fussy; you need light to reach specific places, but you don’t want it to be too harsh. Because different track lighting systems are ideal for ambient, task, or accent lighting, it can be the perfect supplement to your other lighting solutions.
Homeowners are often advised to avoid track lighting in rooms with low ceilings—and for good reason. With many track systems suspended from above, they can make for a lower clearance and bring the ceiling down further.
In certain cases, though, well-chosen track lighting can be used to create the impression of a larger space. When it comes to overhead lighting, for example, small, unobtrusive track heads will be less cluttered and claustrophobic than a big pendant, while illuminating a much bigger area than sconces attached to the wall. When track lights are positioned to hit the ceiling rather than the floor—especially on a fixed-track system mounted to a wall or a curving fixture on the ceiling—they can also add height.
