Example: Room with 6 recessed lights. The optimal aiming angle to minimize glare is 3 0-degrees from the ceiling, so that will be the starting point. There may be something in the ceiling like framing or an air duct that prevents you from installing a light there. In this case you can just place the light as close to the ideal location as possible.
Most accent trims have plenty of adjustment to compensate for various placements. By using a trigonometric formula, we can calculate the ideal placement for your fixture s. In the diagram to the right, you will notice that the accent light, the wall, and the ceiling form a right triangle.
Since we know all three angles of the triangle, can measure the distance of side b from the center of your object on the wall to the ceiling , we only need to solve for a. When determining how to layout recessed lighting, a good guideline is to place a minimum of one light for every 25 square feet of living space. This is just a basic guideline and every application may differ slightly based upon what you are trying to accomplish in the space and whether the room is irregular in shape.
When you are finished reading about how to layout recessed lighting, take a look at our recommended recessed lighting fixtures before you make your purchase. You will be surprised at how inexpensive they are.
Recessed Accent Lighting — You will use recessed accent lighting when you are trying to highlight something in particular. For example, you may have a unique painting on the wall which you would like to feature.
I also see fireplaces with recessed lighting pointed at the mantle. These are just a couple of examples of when you would use recessed lighting to add accent. In the photo below, you can see that the two recessed lighting fixtures have just one purpose and that is to accent the fireplace.
This is why the recessed lighting layout for this room is different. Recessed Task Lighting — You will use recessed task lighting when you are trying to provide light over a work area. For example, your recessed lighting will be considered to be task lighting when trying to l ight a kitchen island.
There, you will need lots of light for chopping vegetables, preparing food or even doing paperwork in that popular central location. Our article on the topic will help to provide some of those insights. You may also use recessed task lighting over a piano in your living room or over a recliner where you will often read. Another example would be one light above a small bathroom vanity where you may need light to apply makeup.
Our guide should give you some ideas. Recessed Ambient or General Lighting — You will use recessed ambient lighting when you are trying to provide general lighting in a room without accenting anything in particular or for a specific purpose. This is what most of the recessed lighting layout and designs will be used for. I am talking about providing a nice consistent light throughout the entire room. When determining the area that you need to light with recessed lighting, it is not just the dimensions of the room.
Yes, one of the first things that you do is measure. What I am referring to is whether you are using recessed lighting for task, accent or general lighting in the room first. Then, is there something about the room that needs to be considered? Is your room used for more than one purpose and do you have areas of your room that may need to be lit differently?
The perfect example of this is the kitchen. You may have the area where your sink, island, stove and refrigerator are and then also a different area where you have your table. You may need to place the lights strategically based upon those needs which is why you need to identify the area that you need to light before moving onto the next step.
In the image below, you can see examples of where you may strategically place the recessed lighting fixtures yellow based upon the flow of your kitchen. The red dots show where you may have additional task recessed lights that could even be a different size or these can also be pendants.
The decision on which recessed lights you want to use will play a small part on how to layout recessed lighting in your room. If you plan to use smaller lights which may give off fewer lumens, then you may end up having to use more of them and space them closer together.
If you are using larger inch recessed lighting fixtures that are very bright, then you can space them farther apart and use fewer of them. The other thing to consider is factoring in the size of your room, the total number of lights needed based upon your calculation below, and also the total watts you will need to manage through your switch or dimmer.
I always recommend using an LED dimmer with all recessed lighting applications. Each dimmer will have a maximum watt capacity. Make certain to take plenty of time as you sketch your room and its major contents. During these planning stages, accuracy is highly important. This can aid you by allowing you to sketch several different patterns without having to take measurements of your room each time.
The following formulas and rules of thumb are keys to getting your layout just right:. Taking stock of your ceiling height is important for a well-lit room. It can provide you a solid understanding of both the number of lights and how far apart to space them. Take the height of your ceiling and divide it in half. For instance, if you have a foot ceiling, you will want to space your light fixtures approximately five feet apart. This will give you a baseline idea. However, you can make adjustments based on the decor of your room and its general brightness and place your lights a bit closer together or further apart, accordingly.
This is one consideration where the goal of your lighting becomes important:. To determine the distance between your recessed lights when you plan to provide ambient lighting in a room, you will first need to determine the length of the room L and the total number of lights per row that you need to illuminate it N. You should then complete the same steps for the width of the room Wd. In order to determine the wattage that you will need to light your entire room, you can use this general formula:.
So, for a room that is 15 feet long by 10 feet wide, the total wattage needed would be 15 x 10 x 1. For a room this size, the number of bulbs that you will use will depend on the wattage of the bulbs you choose. In this case, A five-bulb layout would not sufficiently light your room at only watts. For the length of the room, the 6 total lights need can be broken out into two rows of 3 lights.
With this lighting layout, the distance formula for your 15 x 10 room would look like this:. You would then apply the formula to the width of the room. As before, the distance from the wall would be 2. Not too bad, right? If your goal is to use your recessed lights as task lighting, you will use the same formula as for ambient lighting unless your task area is close to a wall. If it is, measure the distance from the ceiling to the surface that you want to illuminate rather than to the floor.
Then, divide this distance by four to determine how far away from the wall to place your lights. 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. If your fixtures are fixed, they should be placed a bit closer to the wall.
If they are adjustable, it is fine for you to place them a bit further from the wall.
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