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What makes a light OK to put in a shower? There are different types of lights that can be installed in a shower, or around water. There are DAMP location, and WET location fixtures. Both will have descriptions that will indicate in which application they can be installed.
Definitions:
Damp Location: An exterior or interior location that is normally or periodically subject to condensation of moisture in, on, or adjacent to, electrical equipment, and includes partially protected locations.
Wet Locations: A location in which water or other liquid can drip, splash, or flow on or against electrical equipment. A wet location fixture shall be constructed to prevent the accumulation of water on live parts, electrical components, or conductors not identified for use in contact with water.
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Showers are wet locations. All shower lights will be enclosed and gasketed to prevent water from seeping into the electrical.
There are a few questions to answer when purchasing lighting for inside your shower area.
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New construction or remodel?
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Are you replacing an existing light?
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Is there insulation in the ceiling?
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What are the local building codes going to allow?
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Recessed or Decorative?
Once you have answered these questions, we can move on and make a selection on the following products.
Best Shower Lights
Juno offers recessed IC rated housings that are AIR TITE for shower applications. Recessed is a very popular and clean design.
The housings are available in 4”, 5”, and 6” diameter. The trims are available in different finishes. White, Bronze, and Satin Chrome will match most of the finishes available in today’s faucets, and shower heads. Here are some examples of the trims.
Juno 4" Trims 441W-WH (Left) and 4401-WH (Right)
Broan actually has an interesting shower recessed fan and fluorescent light combination.
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Model 744FL -
High Efficiency Centrifugal Fan Delivers 70 Cfm, 1.5 Sones
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Trim Matched To Designs Of Major Recessed light Manufacturers
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Multiple Units Can Easily Be Used In Larger Rooms
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14 Watt 4-Pin R30-Shaped Fluorescent Bulb Included
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6 7/8" High Housing Appropriate For New Construction And 2" X 8" Ceiling Joists
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4" Round Duct Connector
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Not For Use Over Cooking Surfaces
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Optional Wall Control Switches Available
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UL listed For Use Over Bathtubs And Showers When Connected To A GFCI Protected Branch Circuit
Decorative
There are many choices, and these are strictly personal choice items.
Creative Systems Lighting has a wide variety of decorative fixtures ranging from $170-$290 per fixture. They are available in various finishes, and some are available in LED for an additional charge.
Creative Systems wet-rated wall/ceiling fixtures
As you can see, they can be wall mounted or ceiling installations. Refer to manufacturer’s specification for installation locations.
Tech Lighting has some really attractive lights that can also be installed in a shower. Have a look at a few pieces...
Tech Lighting Boxie flushmount installed in shower area
Remember: Placing a light in the shower is different than any other room. You must ensure that the light is rated appropriately (before your inspector does).
Additional Resources
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WHY SHOULD YOU TRUST US?
A few review sites have placed this at the bottom of their articles. So here is our take: Our mission is to find reliable products for you to buy. Other review sites may say this as well.
However, we don’t love every product. Quite frankly, it costs us way too much money in repair costs to support less reliable brands.
In fact, we sell fewer brands than most appliance stores. Here is why:
We feel it is our responsibility to repair your appliances after you buy them.
We now have 30 service technicians, each averaging 8-10 calls a day Monday through Friday, plus another 110 on Saturday. That's over 30,000 service calls logged in one year.
The labor rates of fixing an appliance do not come close to the true cost in any product’s warranty period.
That is why no major retailer has a service department. It costs too much labor, money and time.
Our Blog is a bit different than most others you will read. We cannot write glowing reviews of unreliable products.
Hopefully, the bloggers and organizations who write such glowing product reviews for every brand consider servicing these products first. Only then they will understand the consequences of their marketing.
A Note About Pricing
Pricing on this blog is for reference only and may include time sensitive rebates. We make every attempt to provide accurate pricing at time of publishing. Please call the stores for most accurate price.
