Hire a lighting planner or not?

I personally would not spend money on that, since you know best yourself where something should be illuminated anyway. You know where dressers, cupboards, etc. will be placed and where you would like to have light. I once visited a house that had a lighting plan for 600 euros and I wouldn't know what was supposed to be special about it. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they need something like that.

Kind regards
Sabine

I somehow find it better that the people who plan it also implement the whole thing. Otherwise, such matters end up in mutual blame.

No, the fact that the architect neither bricks nor carpenters does not harm the houses.

Otherwise, pure planning is of course worth its weight in gold, as it is planned in the financial interest of the client and not in the financial interest of the planner, seller, and installer.

That's right. Since 1991 (with telephone systems, not houses), my profession has been pure planning, with no selling interest mixed in.

There are - increasingly in the general high-tech trend - more and more things whose complexity requires specialized consultants, as top-notch mechanics often are not good writers or have little ambition to do so. The days when light was simply "on or off" are over. This turns more and more electrical work into electronics. Many electricians are not really fit for this and can only sell something from their wholesaler's catalog, but would still be able to connect it perfectly if it were planned by a specialist.

And you wonder why you shell out half a million for a house....Sabine is so right. Karsten

Why should a lighting planner know better where YOU need light than you do yourself?! I wouldn’t spend a cent on that.

With spotlights, you should do some research so that the distances are neither too small nor too large. Furthermore, the light color and brightness should be considered (living room possibly different light than in the bathroom...).

Why should a lighting designer know better where YOU need light than you do?!

No, they cannot and that is not their task either. You need a lighting designer so that no one mistakes Schiele for a Kandinsky just because it is lit incorrectly. Or, more prosaically: to prevent a large monochromatic surface from looking patchy due to uneven lighting (applies to lilac or lavender-colored walls as well as if they are orange or lime - and of course for Yves Klein). Here I think that a lighting designer in the classical sense can certainly be dispensed with, but planning the lighting with regard to the interplay of placement and control makes sense.

One could of course consider using a lot of yellow light in the living room (full coverage, of course) to somewhat neutralize the lilac [emoji848] I think that's already a good start!
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