What is track lighting? Types, costs, ideas and more

Contemporary, modern, sophisticated... These are the words many people use to describe track lighting. Visit your favourite gallery, art studio, or boutique shop, and you’re certain to come across elegant examples of it. If you want to achieve that same polished look, then there is a lot to learn and understand before making any decision for your home or business.

Track lights are a type of light that can independently swivel and pivot to highlight different focal points. They are customisable when in place and they attach to a fixed surface, typically a ceiling or a wall. The light fixtures used in track lighting attach to a continuous track consisting of electrical conductors. This allows the user to move the lights (called the track heads) along the track and position them as needed.

Track lights can highlight important features in a home. They’re the perfect way to illuminate artwork, photos, or unique architectural elements. You can also position them to illuminate a dark corner of a room. Their design blends industrial origins with an elegant aesthetic to create a sophisticated and adaptable light source.

Track light fixtures come in a range of styles from decorative accents to more prominent industrial designs. The four main types of lighting heads include:

• Round black head: Has a rounded back and works great with modern design
• Step head: A simple and common design that works with most tracks and designs
• Pinhole head: An industrial appearance with an exposed back, making it ideal for art galleries and other functional needs
• Gimbal head: Has a camera light appearance that’s functional, sleek, and can swivel 180 degrees.

Not all track light fixtures and tracks are compatible with one another. There are three main types of track rails known as Halo (HT), Lightolier (LT), and Juno (JT). Make sure you check the acronyms on both the rail and the light fixture to ensure they’re compatible.

Lighting kits are a great option for those who are new to track lighting or want a ready-to-install option with compatible components. These components include the railing, track heads, and adjustable or fixed swing arms. You can find these kits in a variety of styles, finishes, and colours to fit both your functional needs and home decor.

Related article: The complete guide to ceiling lights

Like with other ceiling lights, there are many materials, colours, styles, and finishes of track lighting for you to choose from. You can find track railings and fixtures designed to match one another. Common materials for light fixtures include:

• Metal
• Plastic
• Clear glass
• Frosted glass
• Fabric

Popular track fixture and railing finishes include:

• Black powder-coated
• Brushed nickel
• White powder-coated
• Oil-rubbed bronze
• Polished chrome
• Brass

Bespoke options and custom styles also exist. Most homeowners try to choose track lighting fixtures and rails that complement their home’s current finishes, such as the trim and cabinet hardware. This ensures the lighting hardware matches the home's style.

Others like to contrast, for example, black powder-coated fixtures against a white ceiling, for a dynamic contemporary look.

Track lighting offers an array of benefits and advantages for the home, both functional and stylistic.

Versatility

Track lighting gives you the flexibility to move and install it anywhere in your home. You can also adjust the light fixtures to focus light on different places in a room if you decide to move things around or want to create a different mood in the space.

Track lighting can work well in almost any room. You can place kitchen track lighting above the breakfast bar, above your bathroom vanity, in a hallway of wall art — and that's just a few ideas.

Sophisticated and sleek designs

Track lighting is seen as a contemporary, sleek and sophisticated form of residential lighting. The tracks themselves are designed to be streamlined and the lighting fixtures themselves a minimalist in design. This makes them perfect for modern-style homes where sleek and elegant forms are preferred.

Their modest form and functional strengths also allow other elements in your space to shine, quite literally, which is why they are so often used to highlight art and sculptures.

Space-saving and multi-functional

The slim form of track lighting just mentioned also makes it a great space-saving option making it great for small spaces. Their multi-functional attributes, with the ability to light more than one area from a single fixture, also often removes the need for other lights like wall lights and lamps. This helps you save even more space in a tight situation.

You'll also find tracks in all sorts of different shapes and configurations, again allowing you to really tailor your lighting.

Fourth Dimension Lighting io Micro 24V Tracklight

Easy installation and cost-effective lighting

Compared to some other lighting options, installing track lighting fixtures is relatively simple for an experienced lighting installer which means less of their time is required making it a quicker and cheaper job.

Also, the fact that track lighting can do the job of two or three individual light fixtures will mean that you don't have to spend as much on upfront costs, reducing the overall budget for lighting your home. On top of this, most modern options are LED track lights giving them excellent energy efficiency too.

Related article: The ultimate guide to LED lights

Now that we've covered the fundamentals of track lighting it's time to share some ideas that you can directly apply to your own home and experience all the benefits they have to offer.

1. Highlight specific features

As discussed, track lighting has been used successfully in commercial spaces to highlight specific features like art, sculptures, products and more. This being the case, there's no reason why you can't apply the same principles at home, and many do, highlighting their own collectables and art collections that take pride and place.

2. One-stop shop kitchen lighting solution

Track lighting systems are perfect for the kitchen, a space that often needs multiple light sources to cover many different areas where tasks take place. This can include over a kitchen island, around your kitchen sink, near your oven, close to your kitchen cabinets and more. Instead of having multiple fixtures to cover each, one track lighting fixture can do the job for all.

3. Hallway illumination

Hallways are characteristically long and narrow which makes them the perfect space to install track lighting. Again, this is often more efficient and cost-effective than the alternative of multiple light fixtures that would otherwise be needed for sufficient illumination. As a place that also often features artwork or photos, track lights make even more sense.

4. Brighten your bathroom

Like the kitchen, the bathroom is a space that often requires multiple areas of lighting for important tasks, in this case, cleaning and grooming. Above the bathroom vanity, in the shower, over the bathtub etc. Once again, track lighting can be the perfect solution to accommodate all these demands. Furthermore, as bathrooms tend to be smaller spaces in the home, the case for space-saving light fixtures like track lighting is even stronger.

5. Home office or bookshelf lighting

The increasing prevalence of working from home has increased the importance of a healthy home working environment which means a well-lit home office. As a task-orientated space, track lighting can make its mark by covering desks, reading nooks, bookcases and more.

Along the same lines, track lighting can be used to light large bookshelves. This can present many decorative display opportunities for prized books, ornaments, sculptures, plants and more.

Related article: How to make a bookcase look good — 11 styling tips

The cost of track lights can vary quite a bit due to the customisable nature of the fittings. For example, the bigger the space you have, the longer the tracks, the greater the number of track heads, connectors and caps etc you'll need.

As a customisable lighting solution, these parts are often (but not always) sold separately. The approximate costs for these parts are as follows.

• Lighting tracks: $40 - $80 per metre
• Track heads: $50 - $400+ each
• Connectors (various): $20 - $80+ each
• End caps: $5 - $10 each

Most people will need to enlist the services of a professional lighting installer or electrician to install the track lights they've chosen. These professionals usually charge between $85 - $130 per hour in New Zealand, with the first hour typically charged at a higher rate than the ones that follow.

Most track light installations should take more than an hour or two, but some could involve more work depending on the complexities involved.

As you can see, there are many situations where track lights make the perfect lighting option for your home. Their flexibility, versatility, cost-effectiveness, space-saving sleek aesthetics complement modern design wonderfully so be sure to give it thorough consideration if you're looking to upgrade your lights soon.

Discover an extensive range of high-quality track lights on ArchiPro

(This article was updated on 26 November 2024)