Here is my current lighting mockup. I'd like to stick to 4"-5" cans. Room will be divided up into 3 major zones (theater, kids play areas, and office). There will also be a hallway light and one behind the bar light, and three hang downs over the bar. Everything will be on dimmers.

I'd like it to well lit enough for reading with the kiddos and my office area needs to be very well lit.

I'm going to go incandescent and figure I'll need at least 60w for each spot and I know the 4" halo's seems to have a 50w limit so I might need to go 5".

What are your opinions here? Do you think this is enough or overkill?

By looking at the picture it appears you have enough coverage although it didn't say where the office and the kids play area is. I would just make sure you put enough zones in so that you can turn on lights in one area and not the others. For example you may want to have dimmed lights on over the bar and at the back of the room but no lights in the middle of the room or the front of the room that would lighten the area by your screen wall. The single light above the bar and the hanging pendant lights above the bar should be on 2 individual dimmers so you can choose which you want to turn on. Imho the more zones the better control you have over your lighting. Take a look at my build thread in my signature if you want to see some examples of what I did.

By looking at the picture it appears you have enough coverage although it didn't say where the office and the kids play area is. I would just make sure you put enough zones in so that you can turn on lights in one area and not the others. For example you may want to have dimmed lights on over the bar and at the back of the room but no lights in the middle of the room or the front of the room that would lighten the area by your screen wall. The single light above the bar and the hanging pendant lights above the bar should be on 2 individual dimmers so you can choose which you want to turn on. Imho the more zones the better control you have over your lighting. Take a look at my build thread in my signature if you want to see some examples of what I did.

Thanks. Thats the plan. Everything on separate dimmers. The office is the south west corner and the kiddo area is basically at the very rear of the theater area. It looks like your project is really similar to mine even down to the speakers! :D How much spacing and what lights and bulbs did you end up with on your cans? Does it light up the main seating area enough without the side most soffet lighting on? I'm tryingto decide if I should ditch the center light that I currently have planned....

Thanks. Thats the plan. Everything on separate dimmers. The office is the south west corner and the kiddo area is basically at the very rear of the theater area. It looks like your project is really similar to mine even down to the speakers! :D How much spacing and what lights and bulbs did you end up with on your cans? Does it light up the main seating area enough without the side most soffet lighting on? I'm tryingto decide if I should ditch the center light that I currently have planned....

If I remember correctly my cans are Thomas Lighting BR-40's? I don't remember for sure but I can get you the model numbers if you want them. Because my cans come in direct contact with the paper backing on the insulation I could only go 90 watts on the bulbs, without insulation contact I think they can go up to 120 watts. But even with the 90 watters I get plenty of light when I need it. As far as the spacing I just divided out the ceiling dimensions so 12 cans would be evenly spaced with 4 in each zone. I have watched sporting events and movies with the side lighting and ceiling cans at different levels and I have no complaints at all the way it turned out. One idea for the center light might be to add a ceiling fan at that spot if you have the headroom. I put one behind my seating which is above the bar table without a light kit and at this point I don't see the need to add a light kit. The main thing I learned is more is better on the zones. If the kiddos are playing at the back of the room you want the lights on and if you are watching a game or movie you can dim the center zone while keeping the zone at the screen wall turn off. Everybody's happy!!! ;)

For even lighting the distance between cans and the walls should be 1/2 the distance between cans. The distance between cans should be about ceiling height.

For even lighting the distance between cans and the walls should be 1/2 the distance between cans. The distance between cans should be about ceiling height.


When I was looking around, I read that the distance between the cans should be half the ceiling height. Who knows. I may have used more than I needed, but I figure there are no windows down there and they are all on dimmers - better to have to many than not enough.

I'd put more light directly over the desk. Also the top and bottom of the stairs needs a light. If you are adding that door and there isn't a light illuminating the bottom portion of the stairs I'm pretty sure one is required by code.

Even without the door there should be a light illuminating the bottom landing of the stairs. It should be on a three way switch controlled both at the top and the bottom of the stairs.

I am planning on putting recessed incandescent lighting. Room size is approx 13ft x 33ft. The room has dark wood paneling. presently I have 4 florescent fixtures holding 2 bulbs each. Not sufficient lighting.

I plan to place the recessed lighting 4-5 ft apart. The real question is what are the considerations to figure out where to put the lighting near the desk? Where is the best point in the room to start (above behind or in front of the desk)?

Would this 4-5 ft spacing be sufficient for such a room, or should I consider placing the lighting 3-4 ft apart?

I am planning on putting recessed incandescent lighting. Room size is approx 13ft x 33ft. The room has dark wood paneling. presently I have 4 florescent fixtures holding 2 bulbs each. Not sufficient lighting.

I plan to place the recessed lighting 4-5 ft apart. The real question is what are the considerations to figure out where to put the lighting near the desk? Where is the best point in the room to start (above behind or in front of the desk)?

Would this 4-5 ft spacing be sufficient for such a room, or should I consider placing the lighting 3-4 ft apart?

What size lights? 6 inch? How tall is the ceiling? What I did when placing my lights is find the information for the light bulbs I was going to use (I believe I used 40 degree beam spread), and the manufacturer publishes the data for the bulbs. You then use their data to ensure that you have relatively even coverage over the area where you need coverage (for me, that was the floor; a desk will be closer to the lights and therefore require the lights to be spaced closer together).

Cooper Lighting has a video/slide presentation that you can click through down at the bottom that might be helpful:
An Introduction to Lighting Design for Residential Interior Applications
http://www.cooperlighting.com/content/source/elearning.cfm

What size lights? 6 inch? How tall is the ceiling? What I did when placing my lights is find the information for the light bulbs I was going to use (I believe I used 40 degree beam spread), and the manufacturer publishes the data for the bulbs. You then use their data to ensure that you have relatively even coverage over the area where you need coverage (for me, that was the floor; a desk will be closer to the lights and therefore require the lights to be spaced closer together).

This is the type of data sheet I mean:

Sylvania Bulbs (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodmart.com%2Fpdfs%2FHAL015.pdf&ei=UUtdTLXvKIOC8gaul8nBDQ&usg=AFQjCNElPZ2iAJAApP_fxESkYEzfoPWnbQ)

If you look at the 75PAR30/FL, at 6 feet from the light, the width of the beam is 4.4 feet, which means that to have even coverage at 6 feet from the lights, the lights would have to be spaced about 4.4 feet or less from each other. The only thing I do not know is how many foot candles are appropriate for the activity. For instance, it's 55 foot candles in the circle of light in the example I've given. Is that enough?

For my purpose, which was to light the floor of my family room, I interpolated this data because the ceiling was about 7'8" from the floor. I then spaced the lights so that they were approximately the same distance apart as was the beam diameter I determined through interpolation. I used a laser level to ensure the lights were in straight rows and columns. Even using 12 recessed lights, I was not able to cover the very ends of the room with light, but the floor lights up perfectly from end to end, with a little darkness right at the ends of the room.