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Recessed Light Spacing

#1
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4/5/09 at 10:05am
  • Joined: March 2008
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Is there a general rule concerning recessed light spacing based on diameter of light and ceiling height?

thanks
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#2
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4/5/09 at 5:42pm
  • Joined: May 1999
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Re: Recessed Light Spacing

think about the bulb you're going to put in it. Find the photometrics or the beam-spread, or something about the light it puts out. Measure the distance (approximately) from the face of the lamp to the floor (generally the same as the ceiling height, but some recessed lamps are deep in the fixture.)

If you want even light on the floor, you'll want some overlap.

If you want even light at waist-height, you'll want a lot more overlap.

Another theory, depending on the look you're trying for, is a whole boat-load of fixtures, all with very low-power lamps (relatively speaking.) That way the light is very smooth and even, and if you loose one or two, you don't have any really dark-spots. (But in a typical room, lights on a 24" grid-center might seem like gross overkill.)

Leo
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#3
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4/6/09 at 8:29am
  • Joined: June 2001
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Re: Recessed Light Spacing

When we remodeled our kitchen, this link was helpful when planning our can lights.

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#4
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4/6/09 at 5:02pm
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Re: Recessed Light Spacing


Great link there, John! In addition, I'd highly recommend going with the larger, deep cans that accept the large R-40 bulbs, especially for an 8 ft. ceiling. The R-40 bulbs put the filaments higher than the R-30 or R-20 bulbs, which makes for a softer light with less overhead glare .

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
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#5
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4/7/09 at 3:20pm
  • Joined: May 1999
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Re: Recessed Light Spacing

alternatively, although they have a touch more glare than an R-40 (which puts out an amazingly soft light, I agree,) a 35watt PAR-30 long-neck with a WFL (wide flood) beam is also a very nice light, too, and not too overly powerful, either, although halogen, so whiter than the R-40 would be.

Leo
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