Recessed / Can Light Design / Types

[Danny in Houston]

I'm starting research for adding recessed lighting for our vacation house. So many options, trying to find online resources and tools. The house has 10 foot ceilings, and currently has ceiling fans in every room.

I found a rule of thumb, divide ceiling height by two for spacing, so the lights would be placed generally 5 feet apart?

Found another rule of thumb, multiply the length of the room by the width to find the total area. Multiply the area by 1.5; this is the total wattage you'll need to light the room. For example: If your room is 17 feet wide and 20 feet long, the total area is 340 square feet. Multiply 340 by 1.5, and you'll get 510, so you'll need 510 watts of total light to efficiently light your room.

Any opinions on integrated LEDs?

This website seems very informative.

Thanks!

[Estrogen Hostage]

What kind of room?

[Danny in Houston]

Living room / den initially but eventually the whole house. For some reason, currently only the kitchen has recessed lighting.

Here's the den.

[meackerman]

what's above the ceiling? the attic or another floor?

if its the attic you'll want air tight IC cans.

[EricU]

if it's attic, j-boxes and led lights will pay for themselves in one heating season. Even a well-insulated IC can is going to leak conditioned air

[Danny in Houston]

It's attic above the ceiling, heavily insulated. The attic is also easy to access, with a tall roof.

[Danny in Houston]

EricU said:

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if it's attic, j-boxes and led lights will pay for themselves in one heating season. Even a well-insulated IC can is going to leak conditioned air

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Thanks. The house is located in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin, so it's hot most of the year.

[Robert Adams]

That's a typical living room style for tx these days. I'm not sure what the best layout would be but I'd start with placing lights where you need them and where you dont. Like don't put one directly over the tv and light other spots you need and then fill in the rest of the area and see.
I do that and go over it a few times till I find something that works for where you need light and not look too goofy in the ceiling.

Builders don't put them in living rooms etc cause it costs $. Doesn't matter how much the house costs. Could be a 2mil house and still wouldn't have them.


I personally don't like lights on the ceiling fans in living rooms. I like he can lights spread out as it bathes the room in light instead of glaring in your eyes. Also why I don't like lamps. Much prefer indirect lighting when possible.


But to help... That dining area I'd put four around that fan. For the rest. Start near that corner and work out both directions and see what looks good.
Now for the lights near the tv I'd put them on a different dimmer so they can be the truned off all the way to eliminate glare.



As to the heat loss... Not a problem in tx, the real problem is air infiltration. Hot air from the attic will push down through the lights if not sealed well. If I can get to them in the attic I foam around them at the drywall joint. I also tape them up before install. They are supposedly air tight but they are very leaky. I use hvac mylar duct tape to seal all the joints in the can.
Oh and use new construction cans since you can get up in the attic. They are about half the price of remodel cans and mount better.

[EricU]

the benefits of avoiding air infiltration are realized under any heating/cooling scenario. The economics are more stark up here where it gets cold, but you still get air pulled into your living space that isn't good for your house. And cutting a j-box into the ceiling is a lot easier than a can, in my opinion.

I have some can lights I'm replacing with surface mount LED going into a junction so I can patch the giant holes in the ceiling. Just looked at how they work with a j-box and it's pretty slick. I guess if you like the look of fully recessed lighting, it's not quite that. Seems like a lot of bother for that though

[Danny in Houston]

There are so many types of housings, so far, I'm guessing I need:

IC rating for direct contact with insulation
At least a 100 watt bulb rating?
6" diamater

But now it gets complicated. I don't like CLF bulbs, not crazy about halogen, so I would want the housing to be compatible for LED or incandescent. This is where I start getting confused.

I thought you could just screw in an incandescent bulb or screw in an LED bulb? I would like to have options, not sure if I want to commit to a bulb type.