I'm doing a small, in the home beauty shop with one or two stations. Any thoughts about luminaire selection? The ceiling is 8' with attic above. I'm sure color rendering is a concern but am unsure of which fixture and lamp type to use.

I would consider a recessed fixture with a
75w halogen bulb. Halogen gives out a true color. May need 2 over each location with a dimmer.

I'd have to agree with Bob.

Halogen is said to be approximately 96% the quality of natural sunlight for colour rendering and is an excellent choice over the colour station.

Over the cutting stations, you may want to consider fluorescent with Full Spectrum lamps which are approximately 88% the quality of natural sunlight. Or a combination of fluorescent and halogen.

The difficult balance comes with determining what the customer is looking for and how they feel about fluorescents vs halogen. Fluorescents of course produce much less heat, but the halogen produces by far the best colour rendering.

I sort of disagree.

Halogen is hot, glaring, and often uncomfortable.

The more I use them, the more I like compact fluorescents. The go in any standard bulb socket, and are available in "daylight" colors. And- best of all- the light is somewhat softer, with fewer hard lines, than a halogen.

Which brins up another issue... shadow lines. I'd suggest several lights, with overlapping spreads... to a single big fixture.

Think of the savings with Halogen, no need for hair dryer.

"Which brins up another issue... shadow lines. I'd suggest several lights, with overlapping spreads... to a single big fixture."

For a working area, spacing will be critical.



[This message has been edited by LK (edited 08-29-2006).]

Thanks for the response guys!!

What do you think of using flexible track lighting w/halogen or fluorescent bulbs in a semi-circle around the work station?

[This message has been edited by Helectric (edited 09-01-2006).]

I wouldn't go with down light exclusively. You should have either a sconce or bar light to minimize shadows.

Sinfield had an episode where he was dating a girl they referred to as "two-face" because in different lighting she went from pretty to ugly. You want to avoid that here.