Centre Light Fitting

Ceiling light fittings are the ones that do the heavy lifting. Fitted in the middle of the room, they set the light level everything else works around, and they are usually the first thing a visitor looks at. Our range runs from three light fittings for a small bedroom up to thirty light designs for a stairwell or a double height ceiling, in centre fittings and pendant ceiling lights.

What is a centre light fitting?

A centre light fitting sits in the central spot of a room and lights the whole space rather than one corner of it. It is the fitting the room is planned around. Everything else, table lamps, wall lights, a reading light beside a chair, adds to it rather than replaces it.

The distinction people usually want is between a centre fitting and a pendant. A centre fitting spreads its lamps outwards on arms or a frame, so the light goes in several directions from one point. A pendant hangs on a rod or a cable and throws its light down. Centre fittings suit a room you want evenly lit. Pendants suit a spot you want picked out, like a table or an island.

How many lights do I need?

More lamps is not automatically brighter, and it is the wrong thing to buy on. A three light fitting with 400 lumen lamps beats a nine light fitting with weak ones. What the lamp count really controls is how the fitting looks, and how wide it spreads the light.

As a rough guide for a room with a standard 2.4m ceiling:

• Three to five lights for a bedroom, a small sitting room or a hallway. This is where most of our range sits.
• Six to nine lights for a family living room, a dining room or an open plan kitchen and living space.
• Ten lights and up for a stairwell, a landing, a double height ceiling or a large dining room where the fitting is meant to be the feature of the room.

Diameter matters more than most people expect. A five light fitting is typically 45 to 60cm across, so measure the space above your table or between the sofas before you buy. A fitting that looks generous in a showroom can crowd a small room.

Which ceiling light fitting suits which room?

Living and sitting rooms. This is the room where a centre fitting earns its place. Living room ceiling lights work best on a dimmer, bright enough for the room to function in the evening but able to drop right down. Choose ceiling lights for sitting room use with fabric or opal glass shades rather than bare lamps, because a bare lamp at eye level from a sofa is uncomfortable.

Bedrooms. Bedroom ceiling lights want warm light and a diffuser. Three to five lights is usually plenty. Avoid anything that puts a bare lamp directly above the bed.

Hallways and landings. Hallway ceiling lights have to work hard in a small space and are often seen from below on the stairs, so the underside of the fitting matters. If you have a stairwell with height, this is the one place a ten light or larger fitting genuinely pays off.

Dining rooms. Centre the fitting over the table, not over the middle of the room, and hang it so the bottom sits roughly 75 to 90cm above the table top.

Shades, glass and drum fittings

The shade decides what the light feels like. Ceiling light shades in fabric give a soft, warm spread and hide the lamp completely, which is why they suit bedrooms and sitting rooms. Clear or ribbed glass throws more sparkle and more light downwards, which suits a hallway or a dining table. Opal and frosted glass sits between the two.

Drum fittings, where a single wide shade covers several lamps, are the safe choice in a room with a low ceiling, because there is nothing projecting outwards at head height.

Shades on most of our fittings are replaceable, so a fitting you like the frame of can be brought up to date later. See our range of shades.

Finishes: black, brass, chrome and gold

Black ceiling lights are the default on new builds and work with grey walls, oak floors and anthracite windows. Matt black reads as modern, black chrome as slightly more formal.

Brass is the biggest part of our range and the most forgiving. Antique and aged brass suit older houses, painted walls and anywhere a cold finish would look wrong. Brushed brass is the newer, flatter version and sits well in a modern room.

Gold ceiling lights and polished nickel both go with warm colours and darker walls. Polished chrome and satin silver are the neutral options and are the safest choice if the room already has a lot going on.

Should I use a dimmer switch?

Yes, on any ceiling fitting in a room you sit in. A dimmer changes the atmosphere of a room instantly and lets one fitting do two jobs: full brightness when you need to see, low light when you want to wind down.

One thing to check first. A dimmer switch for LED lights has to be an LED compatible dimmer, and the fitting itself has to be dimmable. An old style resistive dimmer on LED ceiling lights causes flicker and buzzing, and shortens the life of the lamps. If the fitting takes replaceable lamps, buy dimmable ones. If the LED is built in, the product description will say whether it dims.

Who do you buy your lights from?

Find A Light source quality affordable lighting from around the world. Among others we source from Dar Lighting, Maytoni, Searchlight, Endon and Ideal Lux. We also stock a full range of LED bulbs to suit them.

Our range of ceiling light fittings covers contemporary to traditional, modern to vintage. It includes fittings with shades, multi-arm fittings, glass and drum fittings, in finishes from black chrome and polished nickel to antique brass, gold and copper. All electrical work should be carried out by a registered electrician. We deliver across Ireland, direct to your door.

Related categories

• Ceiling lights – the full range, including flush fittings, spotlights and pendants.
• Flush and semi-flush ceiling lights – for rooms with a low ceiling, where nothing can hang down.
• Cluster and spiral fittings – several pendants dropped at different heights from one ceiling plate.
• Chandeliers – crystal and glass fittings for a dining room or a stairwell.
• Living and sitting room lighting – ceiling, wall and table lighting planned together.
• Hallway and landing lighting – fittings for entrances, corridors and stairwells.