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novie_gw

Which rooms to have cans/recessed light

Novie
10 years ago

We are building our new home and need suggestion on which rooms are desirable to have canned/recessed lights or should I just bite the wallets and have them installed in every rooms (beside bath rooms.) Our house will have 3 bedrooms, study room, kitchen, dining and living room.

Also, what type of lights should I request to have. Thanks.

This post was edited by Novie on Tue, Jan 28, 14 at 1:41

Comments (7)

  • ionized_gw
    10 years ago

    None of them. Why do you want to put your lights in a box? It is very inefficient.

  • mattpete
    10 years ago

    Why are they inefficient?

  • leenamark
    10 years ago

    As per my view, in the living rooms where people spend a lot of time, I like to get away from recessed downlights, and instead use lights that bounce off the ceiling for ambient illumination. Another way to provide ambient lighting in a living room would be with soffit or valance lighting, recessed or track lighting that can be directed toward the walls, or even with plug-in floor lamp trochees with translucent upward facing globes.

  • jules8
    10 years ago

    I think it depends on the size of the rooms and what the plans are for the rooms usage. I think small ones are a good idea in a kitchen for focused work lights over the counters. they should be used with other types of lighting to layer the light options. and the same situation might be true for bathrooms also.
    but in the other rooms, I think it depends on the size of the rooms. they are good in large rooms to provide overall lighting. but for small and mid-sized rooms, I agree with leenamark and would not use them.

  • Novie
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Great suggestions. Thanks!

  • David
    10 years ago

    Any omni directional lamp placed into a box with only one opening will result in a significant amount of light being trapped.

    Led lamps such as the Cree cr6 do better as the led are all facing the opening, so less is trapped.

    As for whether recessed lights should be used, it depends on factors like the budget, desired look, ...

    Indirect lighting is really nice, but takes a lot more planning. If you're intending to stay for quite a while, plan the lighting.

    The simplest approaches-
    Some houses have rooms devoid of any light fixtures, while others make do with a centrally located ceiling fixture which may/ may not meet the user expectations.

  • mattpete
    10 years ago

    I have recessed lights all over my house, and I'm not a fan. The make sense in the kitchen and bathroom, but upward firing lights, such as torchierres, are more pleasant in a living room.

    As for efficiency, I would think that downward firing BR30 and BR40 bulbs (extreme example would be a LED, which are directional by nature) would be much more efficient compared to an a19 trapped in a ceiling fixture, with a good chunk of the light firing upward at a piece of foiled insulation and the rest filtered by frosted glass.