You're asking for a very specific item. I recommend going into a showroom and looking at them in person. That will help you choose. The questions you're asking are extremely general without having an idea of your taste and style.

As for other lighting, you will need general lighting for your bathroom if a lighted mirror is all you have. However, if you have a regular mirror and a light over/beside it, it depends on the size of the room whether you need additional lighting or not.

Thank you. We are having a hard time finding a place to view these mirrors in our areas. We have a modern design bathroom.

We have an overhead ceiling light in the bathroom but didn't know if a 2 or 3 light fixture would also be required. I know there are varying powers of light in these mirrors and would like to avoid another fixture if we could.

Have you heard of pitfalls to avoid when purchasing these? Appreciate your comment.

Thats a very specific size you’re looking for, your options may be limited. In mu quick search, I didnt find one lighted mirror at 40x36. You may find some though. Go to some lighting store, they’ll likely be the only place to actually see one in person. General things to consider :

-Look at reviews for the look or mirror you like. You’ll likely find out fast what is good and what is garbage. Normally you get what you pay for, but you can really pay a lot for some of these mirrors.

-Surface mount or in-wall? If you want in-wall, make sure the ones you look at are rated for in-wall mounting. Surface mounts can stick out a fair amount from the wall.

-What are your lighting requirements? Is it just for ambiance or general lighting, or do you need specific lighting for makeup or other tasks? That should help narrow down if you need a full surround light, side lighting, top/bottom, or back lighting.

-I’d opt for something fairly bright, with a dimmer so you can adjust as needed. The brighter lights will also reduce your chances for wanting/needing an additional fixture.

-Get something with a decent warranty, or lighting that is fairly easy to fix or replace. If the lighting fails in 5 years after your warranty is up, you have a very expensive mirror that you need to replace, or live with.

-I would try to buy locally, if the mirror breaks during shipping, thats an akward box to deal with returns/exchanges if shipping.

I'm having same dilemma. Can I ask what you ended up doing and if you have pix?