How to Choose the Right Shower Light

• Qualities
• Types
• Considerations
• Tips
• FAQ

Showers often lack sufficient lighting. While general bathroom lighting might be enough for basic needs, adding specific shower lights can greatly improve visibility for tasks like shaving, scrubbing, or soaping up. Additionally, shower lighting enhances safety, cleanliness, and design. Proper illumination can help prevent slips and falls, makes it easier to clean surfaces, and can highlight the aesthetics of your bathroom, creating distinct zones in this multifunctional space.

When installing a light inside your shower, it's important to choose a suitable wet-rated fixture. There are also ways to enhance general bathroom lighting to illuminate the shower area better. Read on to learn more about shower lights and how to choose the best option for your space.

Qualities of Good Shower Lighting

• Properly Located: The most effective shower lighting is placed within the shower enclosure itself. General room lighting can help, but it won't cover all areas of the shower. Typically, shower lights are installed on the ceiling, keeping them away from most water exposure and making it easier to access electrical power. Position the light fixture at the center of the ceiling, though larger showers may require two or three lights.
• Wet-Rated Fixtures: Any light fixture within a shower enclosure must be damp- or wet-rated. According to the National Electrical Code (NEC) 2020 410.10 (D), lights installed within a shower and up to a height of eight feet must be rated for damp or wet locations.
• Brightness: Shower light fixtures should provide ample light for tasks such as bathing and shaving, allowing you to move safely and see all your toiletries without being excessively harsh or jarring.
• Style: While recessed and surface-mount fixtures are the most practical, there are other stylish options like sconces, spotlights, showerheads with integrated lights, and strip lighting within niche shelving.

Types of Shower Lights

Fixed Wet-Rated Recessed Shower Light

Sealed recessed lights are a common feature in showers, providing safe and reliable illumination. These units, which include a junction box and a light housing, fit into a hole in the ceiling plenum. A special trim package ensures everything is watertight.

Wet-rated recessed lights are affordable, easy to install, and available in a variety of styles and sizes. However, they can take up significant space in the ceiling plenum and may not always be insulation-contact rated.

What Is the Plenum?

The plenum is the space between the ceiling drywall and the floor above.

Low-Profile Wet-Rated Recessed Shower Light

Thin, low-profile recessed shower lights, sometimes called can-less shower lights, are a newer option compared to traditional deep-ceiling recessed lights.

Can-less shower lights are less than 1/4-inch thick. While the top portion does extend into the ceiling plenum, it typically does so by less than 1/2 inch, allowing for insulation contact.

These low-profile lights are ideal for grouping several lights in a small ceiling, as they don't have a true housing and the junction boxes sit loosely on top of the ceiling drywall.

However, low-profile shower lights are always LED. While LEDs consume less power than halogen or incandescent bulbs, their stark white light isn't universally appreciated. Many can-less LED fixtures offer adjustable switches to change the light color to resemble incandescent or halogen lights more closely.

Tip

Low-profile lights can be controlled with a wall dimmer switch to reduce the intensity of the LED bulb.

Gimbal Wet-Rated Recessed Shower Light

A gimbal light can swivel 360 degrees and tilt up and down between 0 and 35-40 degrees. In a wet-rated recessed shower light, the entire unit is waterproof, meaning the bulb is no longer sealed behind a watertight lens.

Gimbal recessed shower lights offer the flexibility to direct light in nearly any direction, even towards the shower wall for a soft glow. They are particularly useful for showers with sloped ceilings.

However, gimbal lights can be up to three times more expensive than fixed lights, and fully tilted units might lose some brightness.

Wet-Rated Ceiling Surface-Mount Shower Light

While recessed lights are often preferred for their low profile, surface-mount shower lights are an option, especially if the ceiling height allows for it.

Surface-mount lights can illuminate the entire shower area, but design choices are limited, usually to plain white units in either circle or square shapes.

Tip

A surface-mount shower light requires an electrical box within the ceiling plenum for proper mounting.

Considerations When Choosing a Shower Light

Size

The size of your shower light should be proportional to the size of the shower. Too large or too small, and it will look unbalanced. Common recessed light sizes are 4-inch, 5-inch, 6-inch, and 7-inch.

Wattage

For overall bathroom lighting, 60-watt incandescent bulbs or 7 to 9-watt LED bulbs provide adequate brightness while still being flattering. For larger or brighter spaces, 75-watts may be used. If 60 watts is too bright for the shower, opt for a lower wattage or install dimmers to adjust the light level. Watts indicate energy usage rather than actual light output, but incandescent watt equivalents are often displayed on LED light packaging as a guide.

Color Temperature

Decide whether you prefer a cool or warm color temperature for your shower. Cool, bright light is ideal for tasks like makeup application and shaving, while warm, yellow light is more relaxing for bathing and less harsh for late-night bathroom trips. If you choose cool light—labeled as daylight, cool white, or bright white—consider adding dimmer switches for more control over the brightness.

Style

Most shower lights are mounted on the ceiling to avoid water exposure. Recessed lights and surface-mount lights are the most common styles, but other creative options include sconces or recessed lighting in shower niches.

Trim

Shower light fixtures should have water-resistant trim. Trim comes in various finishes—from white to bronze, nickel to black—to match other fixtures in your bathroom.

Water Resistance

To ensure safety, shower light fixtures need to be water-resistant. Choose fixtures that are either damp-rated, suitable for moist environments, or wet-rated, capable of direct water exposure. Given the enclosed nature of showers with considerable water splashing, wet-rated fixtures are generally preferred.

How to Increase Light in a Shower

Besides installing a light inside the shower, you can also enhance the intensity of general bathroom lighting to better illuminate the shower area. Even with a wet-rated shower light, improving the room's overall lighting quality can be beneficial.

• For shower/tub combos, replace the shower curtain with a glass enclosure.
• Use frameless glass shower enclosures to allow more light to pass through than framed glass ones.
• Opt for lighter colors in the shower surrounds.
• Rotate gimbal recessed lights in the main bathroom area toward the shower.
• Paint the bathroom in light colors.
• Replace the main bathroom area ceiling light dome with a clear one, or clean the existing dome to allow more light to pass through.

FAQ

• What kind of light goes in a shower?

  The most common shower fixtures are recessed lights, but various styles can be used as long as they are damp- or wet-rated. Damp-rated fixtures can withstand moist environments but not direct water contact, while wet-rated fixtures can handle direct water exposure as their wiring components are fully sealed.

• How many lumens do I need for a shower light?

  Wattage indicates the energy a bulb uses, while lumens measure its brightness. Higher lumens mean a brighter light. While the conversion from lumens to watts varies due to different bulb technologies, a 40-60 watt incandescent bulb, translating to 450-800 lumens, is suitable for a shower light. Generally, bathrooms need 50-80 lumens per square foot.

• Is a light in the shower a good idea?

  Yes, having a light in the shower improves visibility while bathing, enhances safety, facilitates cleanliness, and adds to the bathroom’s design. Proper shower lighting helps you see clearly, move safely, clean effectively, and highlights the shower area as a design feature.

• Where do you put lights above a shower?

  For typical shower enclosures, placing the light in the center is usually best. For larger showers, consider installing two or three lights inside the enclosure.