QA

Quick Answer: How To Arrange Recessed Lighting

A good general rule for placement is to divide the height of the ceiling by two. The result is the amount of space to leave between each light. For example, recessed lighting spacing for an 8-foot-high ceiling would be 4 feet between each light. This will provide good spacing for general room lighting.

How do you stagger recessed lighting?

The typical rule is to place the lights the same number of feet apart as the bulb’s diameter, in inches. So a bulb with a four-inch diameter should be four feet away from the next light.

What is the best placement for recessed lighting?

If you plan to illuminate an entire wall or accent particular architectural features or pieces of art, the rule of thumb is to place your recessed light fixtures between 1.5 feet and 3 feet from the wall. If your fixtures are fixed, they should be placed a bit closer to the wall.

Do recessed lights need to be aligned?

The lights do not need to be aligned with your general or task lights. If more than one light is required, the lights should be equally spaced and aligned. Use adjustable trims to direct and hide the source of the light.

How many LED recessed lights in a room?

Measure your room to see how many fixtures you will need. A common rule of thumb is that you use one recessed light for every 4 to 6 square feet of ceiling space. Doing so provides even, overall illumination.

How do you plan a recessed lighting layout?

A good general rule for placement is to divide the height of the ceiling by two. The result is the amount of space to leave between each light. For example, recessed lighting spacing for an 8-foot-high ceiling would be 4 feet between each light. This will provide good spacing for general room lighting.

How far from wall should recessed lights be?

Keep your fixtures between 1.5 and 3 feet away from the wall. Space fixtures equidistant from each other. Place adjustable trim away from the wall.

How far from wall should recessed lights be in kitchen?

The typical rule-of-thumb is 24″ from each wall, and then 3-5 feet between cans. So in a 12′ room you’d probably want two rows of lights.

How many can lights in a 20×20 room?

If you have a center light fixture, you should be able to use 4 inch line voltage cans or low voltage for supplemental lighting. I would go with at least 8 three inch cans for a 20 foot room.

Should can lights be symmetrical?

If you use recessed lighting as task lighting, the general rule for symmetry is if you have more than one light, they must be aligned evenly. Their small size makes them perfect for specific tasks rather than general lighting.

How do you calculate recessed lighting spacing?

To determine how far apart to space your recessed lights, divide the height of the ceiling by two. If a room has an 8 foot ceiling, you should space your recessed lights approximately 4 feet apart. If the ceiling is 10 feet, you’ll want to put about 5 feet of space in between each fixture.

How many LED ceiling lights do I need?

To determine the needed lumens, you will need to multiply your room square footage by your room foot-candle requirement. For example, a 100 square foot living room, which needs 10-20 foot-candles, will need 1,000-2,000 lumens. A 100 square foot dining room, which needs 30-40 foot-candles, will need 3,000-4,000 lumens.

How many Potlights should be in a bedroom?

The typical rule-of-thumb is 24″ from each wall, and then 3-5 feet between cans. So in a 12′ room you’d probably want two rows of lights. Considering it is a bedroom and you don’t need it as bright as a kitchen, you can probably get away with 2 rows of 4 lights for a total of 8.

Can you have too many recessed lights?

It often seems that installing recessed lights is a cure all, but they cannot properly wash light upon walls and all dark corners, which would bounce reflective light into the room. In fact, using too many recessed light may leave areas of your room dark and may even cost you more on your electric bill.

How do I calculate how many LED downlights I need?

A general rule of thumb for spacing your downlights is to take the height of your ceiling and divide by 2. For example, if your ceiling is 8 feet high, then your downlights should be around 4 feet apart from each other.

How many recessed lights can be on a circuit?

The main limitation to the number of recessed fixtures you can run at the same time is the rating of the circuit breaker that controls the circuit. Each fixture with a 60-watt incandescent or halogen bulb draws about 1/2 amp, so a 15-amp breaker for a standard lighting circuit would be able to handle 30 of them.

How many lights should be in a room?

As a handy rule of thumb, a sitting room or bedroom will generally require around 10-20 lumens per square foot, while a bathroom or kitchen will need a stronger level of lighting, at around 70-80 lumens per square foot. To work out the lumens you need, simply multiply the square footage of the room by this figure.

Should I wire recessed lights in series or parallel?

Parallel. White to white, black to black throughout. If you wire them in series, you will only get a dim glow based on the number of units you wire in. Half of Communications is Listening, and You can’t Listen with your Mouth.

Can I daisy chain recessed lights?

Remember that you must run one ultra-thin extension cable (or run of low voltage wire) for each light. You can not daisy chain multiple lights together. Run your electrical wire from the switch/dimmer location to each driver.