[1Myke]

looking for advise and/or help with the following.


My living room is 17'6" (l) x 16' (w) x 9' (h) - Sitting in the room runs the long direction, the left wall has a 12'6" wide arched opening creating the open concept living (to the kitchen/kitchenette). This will be a gathering point and need good lighting for reading/games/tv/etc...(btw, i have a 58" plasma on the wall)


In the room is a simple dome light which is also pre-wired for a ceiling fan, the two pole connection switchs are on the back wall. I was going to take the dome off and use the existing wiring to run the recessed lighting while also utilizing the existing fan wire (line) and install a ceiling fan (with or without a basic light). Thoughts?


The recessed layout is becoming a difficult decision. I was going to go with 6 originally but now considering 8. The house has 6" cans in the kitchen so i was going to keep the same size in the living room. I was going to go with the basic rules, 3' from the walls on a x and y axis, and do 2 rows of either 3 or 4 cans.


Thoughts on which will create enough light? WIll there be a gap in light being shined into the middle of the room? I will definitely use a dimmer but cant run more switches for zones, i dont want to do much drywall work on the ceiling and getting through the joist to run the romex will be hard enough.


All thoughts are welcome.


Thanks

 

[jautor]

Post a diagram with dimensions - doesn't have to be pretty - a quick pencil sketch and a cell phone picture of that will do...

 

[1Myke]

Ok, here goes something not pretty

 

[1Myke]

Anyone?

 

[NickTheGreat]

When I was laying out my recesseds in my theater, I read somewhere that a rough rule of thumb is 1' of spacing for every inch of can size (for 8 ft ceilings). So 6" cans should be spaced every 6'.


Personally, I used 4" cans, and did not stick to that rule. But I'm guessing you'll be a little short on light for this room.


I'm assuming since you don't want to add another switch that you can't do any zones. In a perfect world, you'd probably like the lights nearest the TV to be switched separately. That would be my fear of adding another light to each row


Maybe somebody else will chime in too

 

[1Myke]

Thanks, that is a fear too, esp with the tv being plasma and that glass! I was guessing that if I have a ceiling fan light it could pick up the slack if I need it. Prob just get a fan with a remote since it will only have one switch designates for it.

 

[porpie]

When I first moved in to my 1950s home, the large living room had zero lighting whatsoever. I was stuck with floor and table lamps. So as soon as I got over the initial financial adjustments after my first-time home purchase, I installed a bunch of 4-inch can lights in the ceiling. Fortunately for me, the basement underneath was still unfinished, so my electrician at least had easy access to the walls to run switches. Getting into the ceiling was more of a challenge, and we ended up cutting a 6" trough down one side of the ceiling, giving full access to the crossing floor joists. This allowed them to drill holes through the joists and run romex runners down each bay where lights would be on the other side of the room. This limited the drywall patchwork to one side of the room. we then had to repaint the ceiling.


Yes, it was kind of a pain and fairly expensive, but it took an otherwise gloomy room and made it positively glow. I was able to add nice accent lights to the fire place and a couple of wall washers to the back wall to illuminate some artwork. I also put them on remote-controlled dimmers.


One (expensive, but easy) way to add 3-way switching capability to your room is to use something like the Legrand Adorne wireless dimmers. I'm putting these in my home theater right now. They allow you to install one as the master that actually gets attached to the load. You can then install the remote version of the dimmer in other locations and it will behave as a 3-way switch. All it needs is to be connected to a power source, so you could install it near a power outlet. The switches look like a million bucks, and at almost $100 each, they're certainly not for everyone.


--Ken

 

[1Myke]

Anyone have any thoughts on the wiring?

 

[sndnichols]

My room is a little smaller and I need 9 950 lumen leds to get reasonable lighting, a little more than half of a typical office. They are very easy to dim. The cans are about60 each and the dimmer is about 30. You can use the total lumens to get close for your total needs. BTW, mine are in a 6' configuration. That will give you one dimmer and one switch for the fan

 

[1Myke]

Thanks sndnichols,

I'm assuming all my research is on par regarding the existing light/fan wiring so that one switch will control the cans and the other will control the fan.

I think I have to go with the 6" cans roughly 6' apart going the length (front to back) of the room but this will leave a gap of about 9-10' width wise (left to right) and use the fan light for extra. If I put a can in between the 9-10' run)s) then one will be in front of the tv and I can't do that....thoughts/agree?

 

[sndnichols]

I would put one by the TV for when you aren't watching. My Plasma (50") has a 9x5 window right next to it and I have no problems viewing. What is the concern with the light over the TV?

 

[1Myke]

Yup, and without the ability to add an additional switch/zone!

Just ran into another problem, 3' from my back wall is a joist and a ceiling speaker so now I have to shorten it lengthen it. The back wall acts as a hallway really, the sofa sits back around 14(ish)' from the tv. So do I move the light up or pull it back to 2'6" from the wall which means I do the fronts that way too, now should I make the row 4 lights or keep it 3?