Help with Lighting Plan and Can Lights

7 years ago

We are currently building and getting close to lots of lighting decisions and we need help! There are a lot of can lights in our lighting plan (attached) and we need input on size, bulb type, downlight vs. eyeball spots. Our house is farmhouse style. The one item we would want to highlight is our masonry heater (rectangle within rectangle on lower level to the right of the stairs). It's a 7-foot, 5000 pound piece of soapstone, so it's pretty noticeable on its own. We're asking around about lighting specialists, but would love to get advice and feedback here! Thank you!

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User

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I noted up your plan before reading the above comments. I am in complete agreement with them. Light work surfaces rather than the tops of heads A light over a stove will only reflect off of the hood and make a big bright spot on the ceiling. Where possible light walls instead of floors except where there are no walls nearby. Light sinks from directly above and on each side if possible. Use adjustable wall lights at beds. When you enter the house the closest switch should turn on the room lights not an outdoor fan. The big storage space under the stair needs a light assuming there is no basement.

The recessed fixtures lighting the walls can be adjustable floods (lamp rotates 35 degrees from vertical in housing) or reflector wall washers depending on whether you want the light on the wall to be scalloped or an even wash.

There's no point in choosing fixtures and bulbs until you have a layout and know the function of each fixture.

Then you would choose 4" or 5" diameter (I recommend 4") Then you would choose LED or halogen and, if LED, choose retrofit or integral and, if incandescent, choose low or line voltage. Many of these decisions involve what kind of light you like and your budget limitations. Good lighting is not cheap.

An electrician will usually want to use Halo fixtures forcing you to use an eyeball or gimbal to light a wall and IMO that defeats the purpose of recessed lighting so you will need to make it clear what you want.

The only mid-range brand I have found to offer a full range of recessed lighting choices is Lightolier Lytecaster. Other manufacturers have some great lights but I like for all of the recessed fixtures to be from the same manufacturer and that usually leads me back to Lightolier. .

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Comments (9)

PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
7 years ago
Well...It's a complex lighting plan to evaluate, but it looks reasonable, except:

--Why don't you have two "wall washer" lights focused on your soapstone monument;

--The living room lighting doesn't appear to be designed based on your furnishing placement;

--Do you have under cabinet lighting below all upper cabinets?

--is you lighting expense built into your overall construction cost, or is it an allowance or extra cost (hint: it's gonna be expensive)

Good luck!
golden2smith thanked Virgil Carter Fine Art
opaone
7 years ago
Kitchen downlights should all be over work surfaces, not walkways. Your current plan will provide poor work lighting and a lot of shadows. Best is typically to have downlights either centered on countertop edge or just inside of it (by the radius of the opening).

You should have good lighting in your range hood? Do one downlight on each side for work surface. Distance from the hood on each side s/b half the distance from your hood to your frig (eg, centered right to left on the counter to the left of your range, and then that same distance from the hood on the right side).

You should have a downlight centered over each sink bowl.

Do four downlights over the island approx 4" in from each corner. This will provide good work light on the island and allow you to keep your three decorative fixtures at a more pleasant level.

Make sure to have good under cabinet lighting and place it towards the front of the cabinets to reduce shadows.

I would two or four downlights over the dining table. This will make it more pleasant and more importantly provide good light for homework, projects, etc. I'm not sure the four in the dining area walkway are necessary though they'd be nice to have.
golden2smith thanked opaone
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Bri Bosh
7 years ago
Think of your lighting in layers. Wall (sconces), overhead, lamps. What tasks will the lights serve in each room? Start there. Don’t be limited to just overhead lighting in your brainstorming.
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dan1888
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I agree with opaone. You have a poor task lighting plan for the kitchen. When the downlight is behind the person working their body will shadow what they're trying to work on. 450 lumens at the surface is recommended.
golden2smith thanked dan1888
PRO
Springtime Builders
7 years ago
On top of suggestions above, try to avoid recessed cans in the bonus room and upper level. Even ICAT rated cans leak air like little chimneys, sucking conditioned air out of your house and garage air into your bonus room. Some home performance experts have proposed a ban on cans.
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RuthL
7 years ago
This topic is really, really timely for me too so I’m glad I found this thread and these great tips. I hope it’s ok to piggyback with a question. RES 3D Sketches, do you know whether Lightolier LED retrofits will work with regular incandescent Halo housings? We have 45 recessed lights in our plan and it includes a bunch of wall washers- those are the most important ones to me and I think our electrician is defaulting to Halo as you mentioned. I’ve been scrambling for days to find a brand that will fit the bill in case we need to change to some other type of can. We need both remodel and new construction cans. Thanks in advance!
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PRO
Galilee Lighting
7 years ago
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PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
7 years ago
It's certainly true that there are three categories of lighting: ambient lighting; task lighting and feature or accent lighting. Each has its own special characteristics and uses. Generally speaking, one should choose fixtures for where and how they will be used.

Generic recessed or surface can lights everywhere is probably not the best choice.
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