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lisaa007

help w/ kitchen lighting plan - x-post

lisa_a
9 years ago

X-post with kitchens and remodeling forums.

I'm down to the final details for my kitchen remodel. The lay-out is finalized, the appliances and Modern Aire hood are ordered, granite slabs and other finishes have been chosen and we've signed a contract with a fabricator. We will be ready to start our remodel in January! Finally! Yay!

One of the last things I need to address is the lighting plan. Because our lay-out has changed, we need to change locations of all our can lights (going with 4" LED cans). We're reusing our existing pendants and table chandy; their locations aren't changing.

I stopped at a local lighting supply store and although they usually give me great advice, the guy who helped me this time left me more confused than when I went in. I've scoured lighting websites but none of them really address can light placement when there aren't upper cabinets.

My GC helped me with can light placement last time we met. The following plan is a minor tweak of what he suggested.
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The small red circles are the 4" LED cans. The medium red circles are the island pendants. The large red circle is the kitchen table chandy. The rectangular boxes are LED undercab lights.

There are no upper cabs on the cook top/hood wall. The hood has 2 halogen lights.

Switch assignment:
All cans but one.
Kitchen sink can
Island pendants.
UCL for cab next to sink
UCL for hutch
Table chandy

My GC had an extra can in the upper right hand corner where the cabs meet; the can just to the left of it was shifted over a few inches. This seemed a little overkill to me since these cans would be about 30 inches apart and the sink light is so close (the sink light will be on a separate switch, same as it is now).

I also shifted the cans along the bottom of the kitchen to the left so that there would be one close to the cab facing the entry (doors open into entry, not into kitchen). I didn't realize until just now that it's placement isn't centered in the doorway, which will likely drive my hubby crazy. That's just a perk. ;-)

I'd appreciate feedback from any of you with lighting design expertise.

TIA!

Comments (6)

  • David
    9 years ago

    The position of each can depends on the location and the direction of the ceiling joists as well as whatever obstructions are above the ceiling board (e.g. - underside of roof, plumbing lines, hvac ducts, â¦).

    If you use surface mount disk lights (e.g. -glimpse which only require a junction box), you may have more flexibility in placing the lights since the space constraints imposed by whatever is above the ceiling board becomes a non issue.

    You could see if it is possible to place a row (~ 2 or so) of lights between the wall and likely position a person would stand in front of the counter.

  • lisa_a
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    You're right, davidtay, ceiling joists will affect final can placement. I knew that but forgot to add that to my post.

    I'm not sure I understand what you mean by your last paragraph. Do you mean cans right next to the wall on either side of the hood? Current placement of my cans, which is farther out from the base cabs, does cause shadow lines but I think I'll avoid that with placing them at the edge of the base cabs. At least that's my hope.

    Thank you for responding!

  • David
    9 years ago

    Lights ~ 12" or so away from the wall on either side of the hood (if possible). If you use disk lights, that would be possible even if the space above the ceiling board is constrained. However, you might have to use disk lights throughout instead of can lights like the CR4 or RT4.

    A regular pattern is usually more desirable. The light over the sink can be the exception.

  • lisa_a
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks, davidtay, I tweaked my plan per advice from a rep at my local lighting place (she knows her stuff, should have worked with her from the beginning). Her suggested can placement for the area without upper cabs is pretty much what you suggest. (see link to see my kitchen forums thread and the updated plan).

    As for a regular pattern, I've got that going, sort of. My sink to DW cab to fridge cab cans are in a MOL straight line, just at a diagonal from everything else. Can't be helped. A regular pattern would not be functional and I nearly always choose function over form.

    btw, I have no idea what you mean by disc lights. Are these like puck lights mounted on the ceiling, not in it? We'll have ceiling repair elsewhere so floating new texture is in the budget. A little more repair won't be a big deal.

    Here is a link that might be useful: help w/ kitchen lighting plan - x-post in kitchens

  • David
    9 years ago

    More like the style of the glimpse lights.

    There are lower profile types available today.

    (Just in case there is no room above the ceiling board.)

    Cree still outperforms them imo.

    There may be some visible flicker when dimming if the voltage fluctuates/ ripples. However, electricians who've dealt with LED lighting should be able to handle it.

    The latest layout looks good.

  • lisa_a
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks, davidtay! Never heard of glimpse lights. Great solution.

    However, we shouldn't have an issue with room above the ceiling board. Our house is just over 20 yrs old and we built it so I know there's room between the floors. The only issue we might run into is joist placement but we can always tweak the lay-out as needed (and I fully expect we'll need to at least once).

    We have a 5 Cree cans, a hanging fixture in the garage and light bulbs; we've been happy with them so I'm inclined to agree with your statement "Cree still outperforms them." That was what our research told us, too. However, someone posted a caution about them in my thread on the kitchens forum saying recent reviews aren't so good. No idea the source of these reviews or how reliable the reviews are since it wasn't shared.

    Yay, another aspect of this remodel is not settled!

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