50w low voltage recessed lighting for my house

15 years ago

We went to a lighting outfit that had a demonstration room and we were impressed with the recessed lighting in it. He said they use mostly low voltage lighting in their home installations.

We are building a new house. Our kitchen will have 8' high soffits on top of the cabinets and we are thinking of installing 4" standard 50w low voltage cans (or optionally the 75w cans) in the soffits about one every 3' apart. The soffit will only extend over the cabinets by 12", so the edge of the can will be about 3" or 4" away from the cabinet face, which we are afraid might be to close.

Will these low voltage 50w lamps provide enough punch to light most of the kitchen with added pendant lighting over the island counter or are they really just used to accent the upper cabinets?

As far as the rest of the house, we would prefer to use the smaller low voltage recessed lights also, but we want to make sure they will have enough light for the average sized rooms with 9' ceilings. We will use some sconce lighting also in some rooms, but were hoping the low voltage 50w recessed lights will provide the bulk of the lighting task. Any thoughts on this?

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Comments (5)

lightguy
15 years ago
Absolutely. The low voltage bulbs can easily handle your ceiling heights.
Every single lighting design we do has only low voltage halogen (or LED, as this is California).

Don't worry at all.

We even never bother with the 75 watt. I've always worried that it might be just a little too hot. Not that it's dangerous for your house. More that it will end up in bulbs burning out earlier or causing some other problems in the can.
In all honesty, I've never really tested it. But for 8' and 9' ceilings, 50 watt bulbs are just fine.
rok129
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, I went to another lighting store today that backed up what the first one said and what you are doing, low voltage only.
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jjaazzy
15 years ago
Just to confuse you just a tad more,,,, I too am researching recessed lights. Mine are for a shower. I decided to not go with the low voltage because I heard, they use the same amount of electricity as the line voltage and the set up is less expensive. An electrician we know also stated that line voltage was better and more reliable. I guess under the less stuff to break down situation. I have also heard of people complaining of buzzing on low voltage when using dimmer. I like you am at the mercy of someone elseÂs opinion not based on my usage. I will help you out and tell you most shops are not aware that Halo has a 3" line voltage recessed light. I have found Westside wholesale to have great prices but have never used them. Hope this helps.
rok129
Original Author
15 years ago
I brought up the question of reliability of the transformers in 12v after reading posts about them burning out in some. He said the higher quality name brands were very reliable and if necessary I could access the transformer in the new construction housing without having to remove part of the ceiling. He said they preferred the 12v because the same 50w 120v screw-in type were not as bright. The other pin socket type 120v are as bright but they are limited in bulb choice. I will ask more about the buzzing and see if they can demonstrate it on a dimmer, could be a deal killer.

Someone posted this link for light output of the different bulbs which seems to back up his statement about brightness.

http://www.affordablequalitylighting.com/photometrics.html
lightguy
15 years ago
Well.. you have to keep in mind light output.

A 50 watt bulb use the same energy whether it is line voltage, low voltage, LED, fluorescent, etc. You get the picture.
Now that isn't entirely accurate when you take into account ballast loss. But it's good enough for the discussion.

The difference is the amount of light output and quality of light.

A low voltage light vs. an incandescent outputs more light, less heat and a better quality of light.

Versus a line voltage halogen, the quality is roughly the same, the light output is a tad higher with low voltage, but the heat output on low voltage is less.

Buzzing can be an issue. But as stated above, a good quality can plus a good quality low voltage dimmer takes care of it.

50w low voltage recessed lighting for my house

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50w low voltage recessed lighting for my house

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