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Need recessed lighting help for dining, living and bedroom

11 years ago

We live in a rowhouse, which means limited windows and potentially dark rooms. We have finally decided to pull the trigger and get recessed lights installed. I have a few questions from the GardenWeb experts.

1) We have an L-shaped dining room with track lighting that is relatively large and currently a bit multi-purpose (it's now serving as half a kids area). We are not going to commit to a chandelier or a ceiling fixture. I want to put in recessed lighting along the sides of the room (similar to where the track lighting is already) and later on, a chandelier could be added if desired (thinking about resale).

2) We have a smaller living room that does have a simple ceiling fixture but is dark. I want to sprinkle some recessed lighting in this room as well, but assume that recessed lights + ceiling fixture is OK?

3) Want to add recessed lights to our dark bedroom as well.

Are there any major no-nos with putting recessed lighting in this way?

Are there any useful rules of thumb to follow when determining placement of recessed lights?

Thanks.

Comments (3)

roof35
11 years ago
I'm not into trends, so we pretty much do around our place as we really want it.

This year I put 21 Lithonia LED recessed throughout the dining/kitchen/living/hall. Wife wanted the chandelier eliminated in the foyer, and installed a 5" recessed there.

The dining room is set up with a ceiling fan/light, 4-5" recessed on a dimmer, then 2-3" recessed on another dimmer. The living room we added a ceiling fan/light, and 4-5" recessed lights on a dimmer. We're very happy with the outcome.

I must say, when I was determining where to place the lights, the ceiling looked like a grid. I shot drywall screws into the ceiling, & ran twine from end to end.

Two of the lights we ended up adding was in the hallway after I put a 5" recessed light there. We added 2-3" recessed at each closet. In the enclosed space, the recessed just don't light up like a globe does.

Next is the bathroom. I can run all 21 lights, & still be under the watts used for our 4 bulb vanity light. Makes it seem all worthwhile.
janesylvia
11 years ago
Roof35Ã¯Â¼Â thank you very much for your detailed description. I also plan to have recessed LED lights installed in my living room and family rooms controlled by dimmers.

May I ask what dimmer you used for your LED recessed lights?

I saw HALO LED ML56 (LED 5" or 6" trims, 600 lumens, 3000K), is IC rated and airtight. Lithonia Lighting 5" recessed LED is IC rated, but did not mention airtight. Does it matter? If I choose a can with airtight feature, would it solve the issue that the recessed light itself is not airtight? Is Lithonia equally as good as Halo, although the Home Depot salesman recommended Halo?

Thank you very much.
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JDS, Thanks for your comment above. What was the purpose of lighting over the bed with those low voltage 3" recessed lights? Was it for ambient lighting (e.g. indirect wall washers) or task lighting (reading)? Did you use two over bedrooms that would have Queen/King bed's in them, and one for single beds? As per bathroom mirrors, we were planning on having two line voltage sconces on either side of the mirror and two medium beam low voltage lights set over the mirror (to cross light) . I believe with the four light sources crossing I have read that shadows would be minimal. Perhaps a frosted bulb in the recessed lights would also help. Virgil, Thanks for your advice too. We won't forget the dimmers, and will aim to light with pairs of recessed lights. Thanks for the pointers on positioning of recessed lights too. It seems, that there is no one set spot to position recessed lights -- too many variables. OP: What I would not want is the direct light from a recessed down light shinning over anywhere that someone would sit or lie down. I have read that being under a recessed light can age a person. What you want from recessed lights is indirect lighing such as wall washers, or in some cases task lighting (say over a desk) but not a light over your head. For task lighting near the bed, we are going to use narrow beam, flexible reading lights (hardwired) on each side of the bed. LED reading light would be the best as it is cool to the touch, We will aim for a narrow beam light that can be controlled on each side of the bed. It think having some can lights in the perimeter of your room, together with a centre light would be ideal. In addition, I would plan for task reading light near the bed. Finally, you might consider recessing LED floor washers into the walls leading to the MBath (or in the Mbath) to serve as a soft night light. Be sure to position these floor washers carefully, so you will not look directly into them while lying down. Carol
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roof35
11 years ago
Greetings!

Sorry for not getting back sooner. I work in the highway department, and winter is our busy time.

The dimmers I used was the, Diva 150 Watt Single Pole/3-Way CFL/LED Dimmer, White. No hum, buzzing or anything else I read people had problems with.

The Lithonia is airtight, all it is in little stick on's inside the canister. I can only comment on Lithonia's service, which I had to use for one light, which started to hum on me. Lithonia was _outstanding_! I really like the looks of them too.

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