Kitchen Recessed Can Layout, Opinions please.

10 years ago

Ok first of all let me say that the modern kitchen with layers of lighting is completely foreign to me. At the moment we have a fluorescent fixture and one pendant over the sink in our kitchen and that's it. Building a new house however and want to do things right.

The recessed lighting guide in the Lighting forum has been invaluable. I've browsed all over the internet and gotten tips there as well. The general consensus seems to be that 6' spacing for 6" cans is a rule of thumb.

Now enters a high priced lighting designer (don't ask..part of a lighting system husband wanted and I know better than to argue with him) that took our design and tried to absolutely fill it with recessed lighting. He tried to put it everywhere and I really had to come back at him and say no...I don't want that much swiss cheese in my ceiling.

So now I'm trying to really decide which way to go with our kitchen. I have 2 100w max pendants planned for over a 6' island that will house the sink and DW. They are lovely and I really want to keep those recessed cans away from them! The designer however says pendants over islands don't provide enough light and he wants to stick cans right over each of the work areas.... Note that we're doing 6" cans because its an 11 foot ceiling and that would put 6" cans 3 feet apart and right next to pendants...I'm thinking overkill but husband takes the position its better to have them and not need them..bleh. We're also interested in going LED bulbs for most of the home..either now or eventually. CREE cr6 or the home depot equiv in the cans.

I'm thinking of going with the online suggested spacing of cans 6' apart and if I do that lengthwise in the kitchen at regular intervals I would have one recessed can right over the island. Again not my aesthetic ideal but better than 2. Also note that we will have some UCL task lighting so at the end of the day I think we'll have light more than covered without going crazy with cans...

So what would you do? 1 recessed can over the island between the sink/DW, 2 like the designer wants to, or none at all and keep them just in the isles either side of the island. Those of you that have pendants are they sufficient light? Is it crazy to stack recessed cans so close if you have them? Help!

Heres a visual of what the lighting designer had in mind..you can probably take it from there based on my descriptions

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
10 years ago
For my recently installed 6" LED cans (although in a smaller space -- 12.5x9.5): a lighting designer suggested 5 of them, 3 aligned just off the counter then two more only 4 feet away in front of the frig/pantry wall -- so a similar layout to what you have in width but you have more length and open space. It is too much, 3 centered down the ceiling would have been plenty. I had to put in a dimmer just to tone it down! Those LEDs produce a LOT of light (I chose sylvanias from Lowes because I wanted the 3000k whiter light).

I don't see that you need the 2 cans right over the island. Will there be one on the seating side of the island? Seems like having one there would cast enough light with the pendants, but really, if you have 100 watt pendents that is a lot of light (you could put LED bulbs in those, too)
gpraceman55
10 years ago
We did a 4 ft spacing with the Cree CR6 bulbs in 6" fixtures. That provides good lighting in our kitchen. I would not have wanted to space them out further than that, but our ceilings are 9 ft high, not 11 ft, as yours are. Still, 6 ft seems too far apart.
Related Professionals
Corcoran Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Schaumburg Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Reedley Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Town 'n' Country Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Broadlands Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Centerville Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Green Bay Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Manassas Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Southampton Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Lawndale Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Plant City Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Fort Lauderdale Cabinets & Cabinetry · Gaffney Cabinets & Cabinetry · Farragut Tile and Stone Contractors · Green Valley Tile and Stone Contractors
heideseekie
10 years ago
I agree with 4' spacing. It seemed like a lot when the electrician was recommending it, but in our new kitchen, it's fantastic, and not too bright. We have four cans over the island, with no pendants. They're on a separate switch so I only turn them on when needed. I would think two pendants over the island wouldn't be enough light. In our last house we had cans spaced 6' apart and it was really dark, especially with dark granite counters. I'm loving all the light in my new kitchen. The quality of the light is very different than with a fluorescent tube fixture, and I think you'll want more light than you think.
niteshadepromises
Original Author
10 years ago
If we have a recessed over the island I'll probably position the pendants more towards the seating side of the island and the recessed more towards the sink/DW side. I found a little tidbit online that said

" To determine how far apart to space your recessed lights, divide the height of the ceiling by two. If a room has an 8 foot ceiling, you should space your recessed lights approximately 4 feet apart. If the ceiling is 10 feet, youÃ¢ÂÂll want to put about 5 feet of space in between each fixture."

Now for 11 feet I'm rounding up rather than down its true. Tho I'm hoping that between the pendants, UCL, and even above counter lighting I'll be a happy camper.