Lighting a conservatory

Properly lit, a conservatory can be a magical place.

For most people the colour of a conservatory is green, meaning that this is the colour of the garden, as seen through the glass. During the day natural light will be coming in from the outside creating a light and airy room. At night the situation is reversed.

A conservatory is ideal for low level lighting, illuminating what is needed, minimising reflections and reducing light pollution. A lighting ring can easily be used for lamps, with a number of points at low level switched as normal by the entrance, this saves having to walk across the conservatory to switch every light on. This gives all the advantages of low level lighting with the convenience of switched lights. A light can also be attached to the ceiling fan.

Recessed floor lighting particularly LED based lighting can turn a conservatory into a highly individual place. These are recessed into the floor and can be flush or slightly proud of the floor.

Low-level lamps are best for creating an atmospheric environment. If lighting is to be kept to a minimum, the natural light from the evening sky, the moon and the stars, can be the best illumination of all. Another option would be to produce ambient light the conservatory from the garden. Low level lights illuminating plants and wall uplighters and downlighters would make the garden part of the conservatory at night. These can take the form of individual solar garden lights to low-voltage systems. The main watch point is to avoid directing the light straight into the conservatory.

Another option is to install suspended wire fibre optic lights, this kind of lighting can look amazing if positioned correctly.


Anne Stuart