Recessed Lighting -Making Your Home more Bright and Open

Recessed Lighting

Making Your Home more Bright and Open

There are a few things I want to inform anyone reading this article about recessed lighting and its
uses. First, recessed lighting can be one of the best and one of the most unnoticeable sources of
lighting you can use in your home. It will provide you with great amount of light if placed
correctly throughout different rooms and will make a room feel more open.
Often the questions I get the most with recessed lighting is the design or placement of recessed
lighting. The average placement between lights should be 3 to 4 feet apart. This is the best way
to get an even spread of light that will also help you avoid dark spots and shadows. Now for
placement, every room is going to be different. My suggestion is to measure the size of the room
and lay it out on a piece of paper. From there you need to consider a few things about recessed
lighting.

How much light do you want in a room? This is a very important thing to consider since you
don't want to be overpowered in a kitchen or a living room where you probably already are being
overpowered now by that big fluorescent cloud hanging on your ceiling. Where I said before
about placement every 3 to 4 feet that is usually the best way to go. However if for example you
are lighting up a living room and want to highlight a mantel or art work with a can or two you
may want to plan on 1 or two extra recessed directional lights, since the majority of that light
would be directed towards the wall and not just shooting down to light the main area of the
room.
If you are trying to highlight a mantel, cabinetry, or some art in a room there are a few options I
recommend. Using a eyeball or adjustable trim that allows you to direct the light onto a certain
areas so the focus is on what you are highlighting. Also, depending on the size of what you are
trying to highlight, use maybe a smaller recessed can then the standard 6", you can get a lot
better look from either a 4" or 5" can and get a better effect on what you are trying to highlight.
Remember that is what you are trying to do "highlight" not blast something with as much light as
possible.

Is there is any other lighting in the room? For example pendants over a island in your kitchen or
a chandelier over the table next to your kitchen? The important thing here is to have ample
lighting but not to overdo it if you stick to the 3 to 4' spacing rule just compensate where you
have these other light fixtures at and adjust the recessed back a little ways from these lights.
Whatever your preference is for lighting in a room remember that if you have placed too many
cans in a room you can always use a dimmer switch to ease up the amount of light and save you
some money on energy costs. Using a dimmer can be one of the best ways to save money on
energy and extend the life of your bulbs by double or more depending on the amount of dimming
you use.
Article provided by Lighting Specialists 1-800-897-5967