Recessed Ceiling Lighting In The Living Room

The size of your living room will play a big role in how you use recessed lights there.  For small living rooms, this is one of the neatest ways to light the entire space.  You can create a perimeter of can lights that work to “push” the walls out and make the room feel much bigger than it actually is.  This is a really cool effect if you are looking to make your small room feel bigger.

For large living rooms, recessed ceiling lights aren’t the best choice for illuminating the entire space because it takes a lot of fixtures to make it work.  If you choose this route, consider halogen recessed ceiling lights since they use much less energy than standard incandescent bulbs.

They are, however, great for lighting small and specific areas.  If you have some art of the walls, or want a specific light for the mantle, these are the perfect choice.  The key to spacing these lights properly is to center them on whatever needs the light, then move them away from the wall 12 to 18 inches.

Recessed Lighting In The Kitchen

Spot lighting is great in the kitchen because there are specific spots where more light is needed than others.  For example, the kitchen sink and the main preparation area benefit from more light than the area around the refrigerator.  If you have the ceiling that fits recessed lights in the kitchen, I highly recommend installing these there.

While they aren’t exactly in the ceiling, small LED recessed lights can work really well underneath the kitchen cabinets to light the counters.  These small and shallow lights are a perfect fit and hardly use any energy at all.  This is also a very simple installation (assuming you know basic electrics and how to work a drill) and can be done most homeowners on their own.

Can Lights In The Bedroom

Since the mood is important in bedrooms, it’s important that all of your recessed lights are on a dimmer switch, wherever they are installed.  It’s really nice to be able to have that much control over them, and you’ll be very happy the first early morning that you’re able to turn on the light just enough that it doesn’t hurt your eyes!

The most common installation in bedrooms is in walk-in closets.  This works so well since they don’t take up any of the precious storage space along the ceiling, like a long fluorescent tube installation would do.  Some people like to have ceiling lights replace nightstand lamps, but I see this as a way to make sure that you can never rearrange the bedroom!

Ceiling Lights In Other Rooms

In the bathroom, recessed ceiling lights are generally only used above toilets and showers.  These work very well but have to be waterproof to prevent any damage.

Hallways are a common place to install recessed lights.  If you do this, promise me that you won’t make parallel lines of lights.  This makes your hallway ceiling look like an airport runway!

Using ceiling lights works in every room of the home, but for more “unique” installations, be sure that you check out all of the different types of lights first to make sure that there aren’t any better choices!

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One of the biggest problems that people run into when installing recessed can lighting is that they have a long row, or two parallel ones, of lights. This gives the appearance of an airport runway. This is especially true in hallways, or in when centered in a room.

Use the inch to foot rule for spacing. If you’re using 3 inch recessed can lights, place them at least 3 feet apart, 4 feet for 4 inch lights, and so on. Placing them closer together than that gives a very cluttered feel.

Rooms that have very detailed crown molding or ceiling detail aren’t very good candidates for recessed lighting. Much of the details in the trim and ceiling will be lost with light shining down from the ceiling. Instead, try pendant or chandelier lighting.

If you are installing ceiling lights to highlight something on the wall, center the light fixture between the edges of the painting, curtains, or whatever you’re featuring. Then, install it 18 inches away from the wall for optimal illumination.

You can really use recessed can lights however you want, but these design tips will help make sure that you get the most from them, and that you are happy with them for as long as you live in your home.

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Recessed can lighting is inherently dangerous because the bulk of the light fixture is in the attic. Attic fires cause more damage than most fires in the home because they are so hard to get to, and move very quickly before getting noticed. For this reason, it’s extremely important that you choose the proper lights to stay safe. With the proper lights, the risk of a fire is almost zero.

What Makes Recessed Can Lights Safe?

The rating of a can light is what determines how it should be used, and under what circumstances. Most recessed can lights have a rating of IC, which can be used with loose pack insulation. If your light is not rated IC you cannot use it around loose insulation, or the risk of a fire is extreme. It is possible to build a dam around the lights to keep insulation at bay, but that is a lot of work when you have multiple can lights.

Non-IC ceiling lights shouldn’t be used in the first story of multiple story buildings, basements, and most commercial applications.

Another rating for recessed can lights is ASTM E283. This rating is given to lights that are air tight, and prevent drafts into, or out of, your attic. The best recessed can lights are going to be ASTM E283 and IC rated. Not all of them are this way, but if you can find them they are a great choice.

Shopping for can lights isn’t tough, it’s just a matter of knowing what you’re going to be working with in the attic, and what type of lights are rated for it. If you have loose pack insulation, there is no other choice than IC. With other types of insulation you can choose what you want.

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There are a few different ratings for recessed can lights.  One type allows insulating to touch the fixture (IC rated), while another will lead to an attic fire if the insulation is touching it (all other ratings).  It’s extremely important that you know the difference between the two.  Loose pack attic insulation is almost impossible to contain without building some sort of dam around the light fixture, so non-IC rated fixtures and loose insulation don’t work well together.

The easiest and safest way to get this job done is to add a gasket on the attic side of your light fixture that will stop air from passing through.  Many fixtures will include a gasket, but they are also available from hardware stores.  If you have no luck finding a gasket, you can also use a silicone caulking.

Air can also pass through the section where the light bulb plugs in.  Covered can lights can help stop this air from passing, but make changing bulbs much tougher and increase the chance of condensation.

Insulating recessed can lights isn’t an easy job, especially with older lights.  Many times, it’s best to install new, IC rated, lights to help prevent drafts.

It bears repeating that you don’t try and add insulation around non IC lights.  The risk of fire is serious, and attic fires always do an incredible amount of damage to the home.  Play it safe and do it right.

Insulating recessed can lights is a job that most homeowners can do on their own.  It’s just a matter of figuring out the proper setup to seal them.  Follow instructions, and don’t take chances with insulation, and you will stop those leaky can lights!

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It’s important to remember that recessed can lights work more like a spotlight than a floodlight.  This means that they work to focus light downward, rather than across the room.  Most of the “cans” have a chrome finish on the inside to concentrate the bulbs rays to shine down.

Can lights aren’t very effective for lighting open rooms, unless there are a lot of them.  To make this work in an open room or office, a perimeter of lights around the room generally works best.  This allows the light that does spread from each can to congregate in the center of the room.  When you have this many fixtures, you also have a ton of light bulbs.  To prevent having to change a lot of lights frequently, and save money on electricity, consider LED recessed can lights, or using CFL bulbs.

An easy way to get great results from this style of light fixture is to use it in a narrow area, like a hallway.  The walls of the hall will reflect light and make can lights extremely effective.

Using a recessed light as a spotlight is another easy way to use them effectively.  Places that need light in a specific area, like above the kitchen sink, take well to this lighting style.  Other places are entryways, dark corners, and above office desks.

It takes quite a bit of work to install recessed can lighting, so it makes sense to make sure that it’s the perfect style of light for your needs.  Other light fixtures have their pros and cons as well, so be sure to define your needs before doing research.

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Making Space For Recessed Can Lights

The biggest problem that people run into when installing recessed can lighting is that there isn’t enough space between the ceiling and the roof.  Flat roofs usually have less than a foot of clearance between the ceiling and the roof, so a shallower light fixture may be necessary.  Slanted roofs don’t have much space at all at the lower ends of the slant.

Before making any decisions, make sure that you have enough space to work with.  Get up into the attic or crawl space with a flashlight to check what the amount of clearance you have is.

Installing Recessed Can Lights

If you are building a new home, have the lights installed and wired when they are building the ceilings.

If you are retrofitting these lights into an older home, it will take some extra work.  Holes will have to be cut into the ceiling to install the lights, and they will have to be wired to a switch.  If you aren’t comfortable doing this work yourself, a professional handyman should be able to do this type of work without charging you too much.  It’s not a difficult job, but many people can’t handle the stress of cutting into their own ceilings!

Before Going Shopping

Once you know how much space you have to work with and have a plan for installation, it’s time for research.  There are a lot of different styles of recessed can lights so it’s important to spend time researching beforehand.

The amount of light that you need should be the biggest determinant in what you buy, not the styling.  Lights that look great, but don’t work well in your home aren’t going to last long.  Figure out how much lighting you need by looking at what’s already there.  If the lights that you have now are lacking in some way, the new ones need to compensate for that.  Can lights tend to only shine light down, rather than project it across the room, so any spots that are currently dark are probably going to need a can light of their own.

Obviously, you want whatever you buy to look good on its own as well, so figure out what style you’re going for before shopping.  Recessed can light choices are becoming more creative, so there is bound to be something that jives with your style.

The plan beforehand is the most important part of buying recessed can lights.  If you don’t have a clear vision of how this project is going to end up it will be much harder to get to the finish line.  Spend plenty of time researching to make sure that you get exactly what is best for your home!

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