There are no exact guidelines so the closer the light is to the center of the fan, the higher the frequency of strobing will be, so you basically try to place your recessed lights far enough so the fan blade clears the light path. Something like this.

Yes, what gn said. I had the strobe effect in a kitchen once. It was either the fan or the lights, but never both.

Thanks so much for your quick reply! That diagram makes sense, but I can't figure out the size of the cone of light that my cans create in order to replicate it with my own dimensions. Right now my cans are 86" apart - if I choose a 52" fan that is mounted about 10" from ceiling, then blades are 16" horizontally from light. Without knowing the exact angle the light disperses from the can, it's hard for me to know how much strobe. We tried to replicate the effect by my husband holding up a broom and spinning around the middle of the room. (oh yes we did, LOL!), But I think that was less than exact. It seemed there were some shadows on the walls but not the floor.
So here are my current options as I can tell:
1. Don't get a fan (but it gets really hot here midday in the summer and we don't have AC)
2. Get an even smaller fan, which will look oddly undersized for the room.
3. Just get the fan, and deal with any strobing.
4. Have contractor move the new cans we just installed (ugh!)
What would you do? Any other ideas?

What is your room size?

It's an open floor plan with kitchen, family, dining area, and entrance. The living room portion, where we hope to center a fan, is about 19' by 15'. The other portions combined are a bit a bigger than that. Thanks!

That is super helpful. Thank you so much! You are my hero!!!

Curious how this worked out for you? We are in a similar situation. How far were the end of the blades from your can lights? Is there any strobe? Any input is appreciated!

i have the same issue.. my living room height is 14feet high and space at 20 feet x 20 feet. i am worry my fan too high will not able have sufficient air flow down, but if i install a 3feet downrod, then i will have light strobing

Our living room is similar in size, 24’ by 24’ with 16 ‘ vaulted ceiling. I believe we’re going to keep 3 lamps for reading and 1 lamp for up lighting and just a nice carved wooden ceiling fan with the one adjustable down light. What do you think? Thank you.

24" from the blade to the light.

A lot of these strobing diagrams seem to address the shadows on the floor but not on the walls. I just had 4 recessed lights installed in my kids room with a fan dead center and while there are no shadows on the floors I see them on the walls.

The other issue is that standing at far corners of the room like at the entrance puts the fan blade over the recessed light. This causes a "blinking" light to your eye from your angle as the blade passes over the light at lower fan speeds.

Here is the strobing and blinking effect I am talking about. See shadows of the fan on the walls and the the light blinking from the fan passing over it compared to other lights on the ceiling.

The lights are 26" from the fan blade.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2maSaELp6bQ7nRWr5

Your lights should have been spread more closer to the wall, instead, they're installed closer to the fan. Whoever installed them should have known that.

What is the room size wall to wall?

Our house was built with 6 recessed lights -- 4 towards the corners of the room and 2 centered -- just like the fan. We replaced the fan with one that had a light. We tended to use one or the other, but using the fan light also when the other lights were needed helped reduce the strobe. We have since replaced that fan with a dual fan with vertical blades, but you need a high ceiling to do that.

Wall to wall is 185" x 133" or 15' x 11'. The lights measured to center of light from wall are 32" and 5'. Fan is almost center.

Your lights are too far away from the wall and since you using only 4 lights, they will only serve the room to provide lumination.

If you don't want to have shadows and you want the entire surface of the wall and every corner lit-up without having any shading you would need more lights.

How big is your fan by the way? For that size room, it shouldn't be bigger than 44-50"

It's 52" fan. Probably should have gone with a 44".

This is a really old thread but im hoping someone will still answer. i already have a fan that the prev owners installed whoch does create that strobe effect. i know that adding a light kit will reduce the affect but i was thinking about replacing the whole fan and have a question. will the number of blades or width of blades make the strobe effect any worse or better?

If you get clear fan blades, it will reduce some of the strobe effects but you will still have some. In any case, consider getting a fan with a smaller blade span so they do not encroach on the light angle.

I have a lanai area and the lights are 8 feet 6 inches apart. I don’t want strobing effect. Is a 65 inch fan too big ? What size fan would you suggest ?