# Why no ovehead lights in all bedroom?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 2, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443 "2013-07-02T14:31:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/61 "2013-07-06T17:59:19Z")
> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> I can’t stand overhead light. It’s harsh and unpleasant, and the last thing that says “happy home” to me is a naked bulb constantly hovering at the top of my field of vision. And it’s even worse in the bedroom, where you get the pleasure of staring right up in to it.
You don’t have to have a naked bulb. They make light fixtures, many of which cover the bulbs, diffusing the light.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/62 "2013-07-06T18:01:41Z")
Wall lights are a nice option in the bedroom.
[ ](http://img2.wfrcdn.com/lf/48/hash/418/3933241/1/Progress-Lighting-North-Park-One-Light-Wall-Sconce-in-Venetian-Bronze.jpg)
I installed one on each side of our bed with wall switches directly below. That way I can switch my light on/off and my wife has her light on her side that she uses. It’s like having bedside lamps that never get knocked over and broke. I’ve broke a couple lamps over the years. Fumbling around in the dark for the switch. There’s nothing quite like the crash of a lamp in the dark to wake everyone in the house.
I got the idea from motels and love my wall lights in the bedroom. We only use a 40W bulb in them. Just right for the bedroom.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/63 "2013-07-06T18:37:52Z")
don’t neglect using the Clapper to avoid fumbling in the dark and knocking over lamps.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/64 "2013-07-06T19:23:25Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#):
>
> You don’t have to have a naked bulb. They make light fixtures, many of which cover the bulbs, diffusing the light.
If its bright enough to make a meaningful difference in the room, it’s too bright for me to want it in my line of sight.
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### Author:  [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/65 "2013-07-06T21:49:18Z")
> [@staili](#):
>
> An awful lot of hotels don’t have an overhead light in the main area, although they have one in the entrance hallway. Does anyone know why they are set up that way? There is an overhead light, so it’s not as if the builders were averse to that idea.
>
> I find it really annoying when I can’t get the hotel room that bright. I need to do work, and I can’t see.
I can always get enough brightness in the desk/table area with lamps. The one room I’ve stayed in that was too dark recently sort of had an overhead light. It was an old fashioned “resort” in the Catskills ( think a less expensive version of the one in Dirty Dancing) and there was an old fashioned domed overhead fixture mounted on the wall and a single lamp
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### Author:  [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/66 "2013-07-06T21:56:02Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#):
>
> I’d say that 80% of the time I’m in the bedroom and want light, I want full room light, not a lamp.
For me, it’s pretty much exactly the opposite. The only time I want the full bedroom lit up is when I’m cleaning or doing some other sort of chore in there (painting etc). In which case I open the shades, as the sunlight is brighter than the overhead light. There is an overhead light in my bedroom, and it is simultaneously too dim to be useful while doing work ( because the fixture does cover the bulb) and too bright for my husband to fall asleep while I am reading. If I turn it on one a month , it’s a lot.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/67 "2013-07-06T22:00:05Z")
> [@staili](#):
>
> I find it really annoying when I can’t get the hotel room that bright. I need to do work, and I can’t see.
I never considered someone working in a hotel room. When I’m in a hotel, I’m vacationing and I’m only in the room to sleep.
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### Author:  [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/68 "2013-07-07T00:21:33Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#):
>
> Most switched outlets are wired with one of the duplex receptacles always hot, and the other switched. Have you checked yours? And if they weren’t wired that way, it’s often easy to rewire them that way/
>
> It’s easy to paint or paper a cover plate to blend in with the ceiling, all within code.
Wait, outlets without switches are common in America? All these years watching American TV shows and I never knew that.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/69 "2013-07-07T00:57:32Z")
> [@Weedy](#):
>
> Wait, outlets without switches are common in America? All these years watching American TV shows and I never knew that.
Oh yeah, that’s one of the weird things I discovered when I went to the UK: outlets with switches.
I’ve lived in six states and never lived in a house with one. Never saw one, I don’t think, except maybe once or twice. There are reset switches sometimes, but not on/off switches on outlets. It’s a good idea, though.
And given that I’ve lived 20 years in Texas, I can’t imagine a bedroom without a ceiling fan. I’d sooner sleep in a room without a ceiling.
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### Author:  [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/70 "2013-07-07T03:18:19Z")
In the US it’s virtually unheard of to have switches next to outlets as is common in Europe. We don’t have the same kind of safety mechanisms (recessed housings, shutters, insulated pins, etc.) to prevent contact with live pins either. Older standards and tamer mains voltage.
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### Author:  [@staili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/staili)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/71 "2013-07-07T05:22:09Z")
I think it’s pretty common to have to travel for work and need to prepare presentations in the hotel room. The desks have adequate light, but the desks are often pretty narrow and small, and I like to spread everything out on the bed and use my laptop. I often have to do this at night since there is work-related activity during the day, so I can’t use daylight. I would say at least 75% of the time, I don’t find there is enough light to work well this way.
I’m going to start paying attention to whether the lighting setup is different in business-oriented hotels as opposed to regular hotels. Business hotels often have bigger desks, so I end up using those, which solves the problem as well.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/72 "2013-07-07T05:32:31Z")
> [@staili](#):
>
> I think it’s pretty common to have to travel for work and need to prepare presentations in the hotel room. The desks have adequate light, but the desks are often pretty narrow and small, and I like to spread everything out on the bed and use my laptop. I often have to do this at night since there is work-related activity during the day, so I can’t use daylight. I would say at least 75% of the time, I don’t find there is enough light to work well this way.
>
> I’m going to start paying attention to whether the lighting setup is different in business-oriented hotels as opposed to regular hotels. Business hotels often have bigger desks, so I end up using those, which solves the problem as well.
I’ve been to lots of hotels for business, and I can’t recall any with overhead lights in the main area, even suites. Wall mounted lights by the door and by the sink, lights by the bed, lights by cushy chairs, and lights at the desk, but nothing overhead - just the sprinkler head.
Probably makes them easier to change for one thing. I almost always work at the desk, so it doesn’t bother me, but I mind rooms with lights on only one side of the bed.
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### Author:  [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/73 "2013-07-08T12:51:30Z")
Maybe I should make a poll. The number of [del]wackos[/del] people that have declared they do not like overhead lights is surprising to me. I wonder if there is some kind of gender/generational thing going on too.
It is also interesting to me how different people define “lit.” Several people seem to prefer a room to be darker unless “working or cleaning” and consider an overhead light to be “harsh.” Unless I am intently watching a screen (e.g. a movie), or am right about to go to bed, I want a room to be pretty bright. I do not often want a room to be less bright.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/74 "2013-07-08T13:16:02Z")
> [@Hermitian](#):
>
> It is also interesting to me how different people define “lit.” Several people seem to prefer a room to be darker unless “working or cleaning” and consider an overhead light to be “harsh.” Unless I am intently watching a screen (e.g. a movie), or am right about to go to bed, I want a room to be pretty bright. I do not often want a room to be less bright.
Right – another vote for “overhead fixture available, and ALL wall sockets always-hot” in my shopping list. “Harsh”? Maybe if it’s conventional fluorescents or bare bulbs, but unless I’m about to lay me down to sleep, I want _light_, and lots of it available, let ME choose to dim it down.
Of course, in our modern electronics-heavy world I’ll have to put on my refit list for older properties: “add at least 6 more power plugs in every room”. But I can understand they had no real way to predict that.
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### Author:  [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/75 "2013-07-08T13:32:21Z")
I prefer overheard lights. We only have lamps in the bedrooms. Otherwise, we use overhead lights.
My house is approximately 113 years old and as far as I can tell, it has always had overhead lights. When we updated some things, we found that the boxes in the ceiling were an old type that we had to update.
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/76 "2013-07-08T13:42:10Z")
> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> If its bright enough to make a meaningful difference in the room, it’s too bright for me to want it in my line of sight.
How would you feel about a crown moulding with LED rope lights in it? Just for you (well, for me actually cause I’d think it was cool), I’ll install 2 ropes: a cool white line and perhaps a red or blue line. Dimmable, of course.
Seriously, how _would_ you feel about that? Or instead of a traditional crown moulding the tops of the walls would round inward and leave about a 1/2 inch gap near the ceiling for the lights to shine through–not so obvious.
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### Author:  [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/77 "2013-07-08T14:46:19Z")
> [@Hermitian](#):
>
> It is also interesting to me how different people define “lit.” Several people seem to prefer a room to be darker unless “working or cleaning” and consider an overhead light to be “harsh.” Unless I am intently watching a screen (e.g. a movie), or am right about to go to bed, I want a room to be pretty bright. I do not often want a room to be less bright.
I don’t know if its accurate to say people prefer “a room” to be darker. I know I only said that about a bedroom - not a living room or a kitchen etc. Because most of the time I am in the bedroom, neither my husband nor I are doing something that requires the whole room to be lit - whether reading (by lamplight, which provides a more focused light than the overhead), watching TV , sleeping , some combination of those ( he’s watching TV, I’m sleeping ), or other activities for which I didn’t prefer a brightly lit room in my 20s, much less now.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/78 "2013-07-08T14:54:26Z")
Why no overhead mirrors in all bedrooms is what I want to know.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/79 "2013-07-08T16:50:51Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#):
>
> How would you feel about a crown moulding with LED rope lights in it? Just for you (well, for me actually cause I’d think it was cool), I’ll install 2 ropes: a cool white line and perhaps a red or blue line. Dimmable, of course.
>
> Seriously, how _would_ you feel about that? Or instead of a traditional crown moulding the tops of the walls would round inward and leave about a 1/2 inch gap near the ceiling for the lights to shine through–not so obvious.
I actually have a similar setup right now, with LED lights tucked into a window treatment to provide diffuse light for the living room to supplement the (LED) candles.
I’ll gladly admit that I prefer my house bright and flooded with sunlight in the day, an warm and dim in the evening. I have pretty sensitive eyes, and bright light at night tires then out and feels unnatural.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-ovehead-lights-in-all-bedroom/662443/80 "2013-07-08T17:05:06Z")
indirect lighting can be a good thing. it attempted to be trendy in the 50s and 60s with long tube florescents; though to be even it came in full perimeter style costing money and maybe too much light at times.
rope lights are great, easy to place and can give low light levels. different levels of illumination can be had with multiple strings or dimmable strings.
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