Wall Washer vs. Wall Grazer: Which One is Best for Accent Lighting?

Both indoor and outdoor lighting arrangements need accent lighting. It highlights minute surface details and improves the environment of a specific area. Washing and Grazing are the two most used accent lighting methods for walls. Each type of lighting has a distinct appearance, feel, and use. Which one therefore best meets your needs?

To assist you in choosing the ideal lighting style for your walls, this article provides a detailed examination of the two lighting styles and their uses.

Accent Lighting: What is it?

Accent lighting is a type of lighting that use directional lights to draw attention to a particular object or space. The intention is to draw attention to and emphasize details that would otherwise be lost in the backdrop.

Accent lighting a wall refers to illuminating it in a way that brings out the wall's features or itself.

Wall cleaners

Wall washing is a lighting technique that eliminates all wall flaws and shadows by illuminating a wall surface with brilliant accent lights. Consistency is the main objective. There was even lighting all over the wall. Any surface flaws will be hidden by the laser beam's brilliance.

Wall washing lights have a lovely and practical rectangular shape. To illuminate a wider flat surface, connect multiple of these devices in series. Since wall washers are typically intended to be recessed or hidden, the fixture design is typically irrelevant. The majority of units have a neutral color palette that blends nicely with the design of your building.

Wall washer installation requirements

For an even wall washing effect, wall washers are mounted at or above ceiling height. The washers can alternatively be mounted on the floor as well. However, mounting the wall washing light will cost you significant floor space. The best way to use wall washers is to install the lights on the ceiling with the floor serving as the main focal point. The ground will then shine softly as a result of this.

The following are crucial considerations for installing wall washers.

It should be farther away from the wall surface than 12".

The best solution is typically ceiling mounting.

A wall wash will be less intense on taller walls.

To eliminate shadows, the light must strike the wall from a respectable distance. Contact the maker of the lamp to inquire about the specifications for installation. The washer lights will become wall grazers if they are placed too closely together.

Beam Angles: Things to Keep in Mind

A sound wall cleaning approach necessitates a larger beam angle. Since the light sources are farther from the wall, a beam angle of at least 20 degrees is needed to prevent shadows. To achieve the smoothest wall wash, the lights must be parallel to the wall. However, such a location for light fixtures is unworkable.

A vertical surface that is a few feet from the wall and has ceiling-mounted lights will be largely consistently lighted. The desired outcome is so potent that it is no longer visible to the naked eye. The best wall lighting technique is called wall wash because it brightens the area and eliminates shadows.

Exterior Wall Cleaning Examples of Wall Washers

The exterior walls of most business buildings will be sleekly painted and well finished. Wall cleaning is a quick and simple method to improve such surfaces' visibility at night.

Projections in color

To add some color to your wall, use colored or addressable LEDs. There are other types of paints, but they don't have the same brightness as LEDs. Wall washing LEDs in various colors can be used for accent and mood lighting.

Lighting Up Artworks

The ideal way to view art is from the front, where the original painting was done. The atmosphere of the entire area is ruined by poorly illuminated artwork. For the best viewing experience, washers give the artwork a consistent, gentle luminance.

Plant Accent Lighting

Plants and art share many similarities. They have favorable and unfavorable viewing stances. Wash lighting makes your plants look their best. The leaves and stems are illuminated, and unwanted shadows are reduced.

The Wall Grazers

A narrow-angle light is used in the lighting technique known as "wall grazing" to emphasize vertical surfaces with texture. Wall grazing, as opposed to wall washing, aims to produce shadows that are more active. Wall grazing transforms an everyday surface into a one-of-a-kind work of art.

A wall serves both a functional and aesthetic purpose, making it a special kind of structural element. More lights are needed for graze lighting walls than for its counterpart. More pronounced architectural characteristics will come from a closer distance between the surface and the light.

Wall grazing lights often have a rectangular, boxy design comparable to wall wash lighting. But more crucially, you may achieve the same result by using wall sconces or spotlights as well.

Wall washing and wall grazing are two lighting techniques that are extremely similar but provide quite different lighting effects.

Wall Grazer Installation Requirements

Wall grazers can be fixed to the wall, the floor, or even the ceiling. For wall grazing, the sole installation need is that illumination be placed closer to the vertical space.

Here are important things to think about before installing wall grazers.

Less than 12 inches should separate you and the wall.

Grazers can be positioned in any orientation and on any surface.

There won't be much of a brightness loss on tall walls.

Wall textures can have different degrees of embossing. Some textures might stick out a millimeter or two from the surface, while others might be an inch or more. A light will struggle to illuminate the more projecting areas of the wall if it is too close to the wall. The smaller textures, on the other hand, won't be well highlighted if the light is too far away.

The versatility of wall grazing's mounting is an extra feature. You don't need a long row of lights set on the ceiling because your purpose isn't to wash the entire vertical surface. Only a small number of lighting fixtures are required for effective highlighting. You can put your lighting units sideways on the wall surface if your wall textures are horizontal.

Beam Angles: Things to Keep in Mind

In comparison to wash lighting, graze lighting requires a much narrower beam angle. The angle of a typical wall grazer will be around 5°. Those striking shadows and highlights are the result of the stark angle between the walls and the lighting.

When viewing from a place with a particularly high ceiling, a broader angle is preferable. In contrast, if your walls have more protruding components, you can use wider angles. The beam angle that highlights the best features of your wall is the best one for your room. Consider beam angles as general suggestions rather than strict lighting regulations.

Examples of Exterior Wall Highlighting Using Wall Grazers

You can design your home's walls whatever you choose; they are like blank canvases. Graze lighting will assist highlight the lovely texture of your home's outside, whether it is made of tiles or wood panels.

Brick Wall Accentuation

Brick walls already have a great and distinctive texture. The wonderful red bricks that you have are held together by the gray mortar. Wall grazing highlights the slight surface variations between the bricks and gives the room a fresh appeal.

Columns and Pillars

The illumination of pillars is a fantastic application of graze lighting. Many of the little niches that have been created into these great vertical structures can be improved with wall grazing.

Colored LEDs shouldn't be used with grazing lights in general since the colors might sometimes mask the texture of the grass. Colors are a needless distraction from the goal of wall grazers, which is to highlight the beauty of the textures.

Which type of accent lighting—wall washing or wall grazing—is best?

Simple lighting techniques that are quite close together are wall washing and wall grazing. The application and wall design determine which of the two methods to use.

Not everyone enjoys the hard surface texture of drywalls. Such textures can be concealed with wash lighting, which will make the wall appear smooth to the human eye. Wash lights will also aid in eradicating aesthetic flaws if your walls have undergone a subpar paint job.

Graze lighting helps to accentuate the attractive rustic surface quality of brick walls. Wall grazing can help highlight those surface details if you utilize a brick facade or other bespoke wall designs.

It all depends on whether you want to highlight or conceal those surface features. Wall Grazers accentuate those aspects whereas Wall Washers cover them up.

For Your Wall Lighting Project, Why Choose BENWEI Lighting?

The manufacturer and supplier of facade lighting solutions is BENWEI Lighting. Our wall washers are a top-selling item among the various Outdoor Wall Lighting fixtures we provide.

Additionally, we provide no-cost consultations, volume savings, and technical on-site assistance. You need proper illumination if you want to succeed in any line of employment. Therefore, trust BENWEI Lighting to assist you in achieving that achievement. Call us right away!
 

Interior Wall Washer

Feature:

● Independent Mode:Choose the build-in programs via the buttons on the end cover.

● DMX Mode:International standard DMX512.

● Master/Slave Mode:Auto online and synchro working.

● The white LEDs cannot mix together with RGB at the same time.

Specification: