Recessed Can Lights Guide

How many times have you been somewhere that had a lot of lights, yet still felt too dark?  This is usually caused by improperly used recessed can lighting.  When using recessed can lights, there are a lot of things that have to be factored in for to be effective.  If not, you are going to be stuck footing a large utility bill, without getting any benefit from the extra lights.  This post aims to offer up some tips that you can use in your lighting plan to make sure that your recessed lights work like they should.

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.

Recessed can lights are a great way to illuminate a room without installing clunky light fixtures.  They are sleek, modern, and very low maintenance.  One of the biggest benefits of this style of lighting is that they are usually designed to reflect more light back downwards.  Chrome finishes inside the can will work to provide more light than a standard fixture would.  In this post I want to share some of the things that you have to consider when shopping for recessed can lighting before you start shopping for them.

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!