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Electrical Wiring

Vaulted Ceilings and recessed Can Lights.

17 years ago

Ok, here is the question. I figured who would know beter than some electricians who wire these recessed lights in all the time. Just curious if someone can answer this question for me before we purchase all the lights for the electrician to wire. We currently have a vaulted ceiling with 2x6 construction. There is currently insulation in there (which we do know to leave 3" of space between the fixture on the non IC can). Measuring the actual 2x6 we have 5 1/4". This puts us right at the bottom of the roof sheathing.

Ok, so we went to the local Globe lighting store and come out with a test can. It was the Juno TC1 (G3.1.1) http://www.junolighting.com/productinfo/prod_finder_item2.asp?Fid=F003&SFid=SF032&Cid=C0322&SCid=2. When we install the can in our test section of our ceiling (which is removed as is just like new construction) our can only has about 1/4" space between the top of the can and the sheathing. I then called the people back at Globe and asked if this could in fact touch the sheathing and they said yes, it could. Does anyone in fact know the answer to this? Is it alright for the top of this can to come in contact with the roof sheathing? From our first test can, there is about 1/4" to 1/2" space in there, but by judging how the rest of the house was built (long side note) I cant say for certain that other sections of the vault might indeed make contact with the can.

I know what most of you are thinking though also, why aren't they looking at the ICAT housings. They are just to deep, which irritates me, but what can you do. I feel that these particular housings can work, but wanted to bounce it off the fine people here.

TIA

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Comments (3)

normel
17 years ago
You can get IC rated shallow cans from Halo in both new construction and remodel design. See the link below. With the nonIC cans, you need to leave space on all sides.

But why do you want to poke holes in the ceiling and in the insulation to install a heat producing fixture that will pull conditioned air from the room?

Here is a link that might be useful: Shallow cans
dinger928
Original Author
17 years ago
normel: The ceiling is already exposed so the addition of the recessed lights wouldn't be that much trouble. Thanks for the link to the IC cans. I didn't realize that there was actually a 5" shallow ICAT can from Halo, the H25ICAT. I'm guessing though that this one would be a little harder to locate than the standard depth one at my local box store.
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fyi, the rims can be painted after installation. Charliedawg, our plugs are perfect. With the lakeview, fireplace, tv, open kitchen and arches to DR and foyer, there is really only one natural place for our sofa. I knew we wanted to put a sofa table behind it, so we left room for that and enough room to walk between table and the cedar posts at the kitchen opening. The electrician said there was no rush since the plugs were going into the main level, which is second story, so we were able to wait until house was framed to decide exactly where they were going. DH and I used empty boxes to place where the sofa and measured to make sure there was enough room behind for table. (You can see the two cans in the kitchen we didn't need :( ) Here is a link that might be useful: Great room
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I was stuck on trying to use the CR6 lamps with integrated trim. But since the trim is integrated the only way to use the would be to have the light 105/75 degrees (rather than 90) to the floor. I found an example where something similar was done https://www.houzz.com/discussions/are-you-using-recessed-lights-specified-dsvw-vd~58981-you-using-recessed-lights-specified-for--- but they had two matching side plus the large hanging light in the middle to balance it out. I'm not sure if my room will look right with only the one vaulted side. But the slant of the ceiling is not strong, so maybe I am over thinking this. I just found these regressed eyeball trims http://www.amazon.com/Cooper-Lighting-420W-Regressed-Eyeball/dp/B000JFKUQ0 they look cleaner that the old style that sticks out which I did want to avoid. The LED BR30 lamp is not as efficient or long lasting as the CR6.
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A fixture designed for a sloping ceiling would have been best. The link is for a 6" slope fixture. For your 5" housings you'll need to use an eyeball or gimbal to aim at the floor. Here is a link that might be useful: slope
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I would think about putting any recessed lighting in the center of any room. My problem is that it cuts the ceiling and takes away from the area. I usually place the recessed lighting around the perimeter, especially if the person is going to use other lighting (i.e., lamps and fixtures). If you weren't going to use sconces by the fireplace, I would probably go straight across that area with recessed. What we sometimes forget is that there is "backlighting" from those recessed lights aimed at walls. If I were to turn on my recessed lighting in any given room, I have more than enough lighting to illuminate it. I have table lamps to read by in the family room and in the dining area I have a fixture. The same applies for the dining area. It is really hard to read the measurements on the picture. If you can blow this up, I would suggest doing so in order for us to get a better idea of size and scope. Hope this helps.
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normel
17 years ago
If you can use the new construction cans, you may find these at a big box. You probably won't find the remodels. Any of these can be ordered, Grainger would be my first choice.

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