Uplighters

Uplighters are light fittings that direct light output upwards. The light is bounced off a white ceiling.

Uplighters come in several flavours, each with their own strengths & weaknesses.

Pros & cons

Advantages:

More even lighting spread than other lighting types
Minimum shadowing
Glare is eliminated
Light fittings use shrouded bulbs, enabling a wide range of bulb types to be used
Thus relatively futureproof

Disadvantages:

Uplighting requires a white ceiling to be effective
Ill suited ot exposed beam properties
Not suited to very low ceiling properties (eg 6')
There are some types of uplighter that perform poorly, though these are easily avoided

Types

Main types are:

Halogen uplighters
Half moon plaster uplighters
Spotlight fittings, eg R80
PAR38 spotlight fittings
Trough fluorescent lighting
Shelf fluorescent lighting

Halogen Uplighters

These are usually free standing floor lamps

Typically 300-500w.
High powers create excessive lighting in one area
Thus it fails to eliminate glare and give even lighting, which are some of the main advantages of uplighting
Power consumption is high
Increases indoor temps on summer evenings
Relatively expensive to run
The lightbulbs run hot enough to ignite anything that lands on them, making them a fire risk
Ignition temperature bulbs plus the ability to be knocked over are also not a good combination from a fire safety point of view
Halogen bulbs run at high pressure and are known to very occasionally explode. A shower of high speed & very high temperature broken bulb pieces is probably not beneficial for health.

Half moon plaster uplighters

The problem

The bulb is positioned quite close to the wall, and this results in:

every little blemish of the plaster is shown up, including the many slight blemishes no-one had ever noticed before.
light intensity on the wall above the fitting is unnecessarily high
So it fails to eliminate glare and give even lighting, which are some of the main advantages of uplighting
Because of these shortcomings and the existence of better options, plaster half moon uplighters aren't a great choice

R80 Spotlight Fittings

These hold the bulb in a shroud on the end of a stalk.
Spotlight fittings that leave the bulb unshrouded produce glare
GLS lamps (lightbulbs) are used in these fittings for uplighting rather than spotlight bulbs
R80 fittings can also take small CFLs, but only a minority of bulbs that fit can provide as much light as a 60w filament bulb
Bulb is positioned far enough from wall to avoid glare and excessive lighting levels just above the fitting
Spotlight fittings are position adjustable
Larger PAR38 fittings can take almost any CFL
Ability to use GLS, CFL or LED makes this approach more futureproof
R80 spotlight fittings are usually white inside the shroud. Non-white interiors require spotlight bulbs
The fittings usually look pleasant

Open spotlights

Extra glare compared to enclosed spotlights
Plastic discs can crack and deteriorate

PAR38 spotlight fittings

Shrouded fittings are large enough to take pretty much any type of bulb
Fittings that leave the bulb unshrouded & visible are less versatile
GLS lamps (lightbulbs) or CFLs are used in these fittings for uplighting
Bulb is positioned far enough from wall to avoid glare and excessive lighting levels close to the fitting
Ability to use either GLS, almost any CFL, LED, mains halogen, plus the large lamp space available makes this approach the most futureproof of all
PAR38 spotlight fittings are much larger than R80 fittings. The appearance of the fittings is thus particularly important
PAR38 fittings are often white inside the shroud, any fitting that isn't can only take spotlight bulbs

Trough Fluorescent Lighting

These use linear fluorescent tubes
Fluorescent tubes permit choice of colour temp, covering the whole range from 2700K to daylight.
Highest efficacy and thus energy efficiency of all uplighter types
This minimises running cost & summer heating
Fluorescent Lighting can give very good lighting, but some precautions are needed with Fluorescent Lighting to avoid the common mistakes and achieve this.
Fluorescent uplighters give a very wide lightspread, maximising the benefits of uplighting.
The large size of fluorescent tubes restricts their positioning options
Fluorescent lights can often be hidden, and their cool running temperature increases the possible positions.

Shelf Fluorescent Lighting

Similar to trough uplighting, but the fitting itself is visible

Less visually appealing, but as simple to use as plugging a light in and putting it on a white shelf.
Good choice for garages & workshops, where good lighting is wanted but appearance of fitting is not important.

Wood & Copper

An uncommon type of uplighter uses a varnished copper reflector to reflect coloured light upwards. These really emphasise the character and richness of timber ceilings. The energy efficiency is inevitably low, due to both reflector and timber being a non-light colour.