Recessed Lighting Made Simple

Looking to light a room, but are trying to maintain a nice, clean look uncluttered by dangling light fixtures? If so, you need to look into recessed lighting. Recessed lighting, as the same suggests, is simply lighting that is recessed into your ceiling, providing a very non-obtrusive lighting source.

Just because these lights seem simple doesn't mean you don't have some choices to make when choosing recessed lighting. For one, you can get lights in multiple bulb types. The most popular are fluorescent, halogen, and incandescent. Incandescent lights are nice and affordable, halogen lights are very bright, and fluorescent lights provide excellent energy savings over the other types. There are even LED lights for those looking to trim energy usage even more.

These lights also come in different designs. You might think that since a recessed light is basically a can with a bulb stuck in a ceiling, there wouldn't be much variation, but it turns out that there is. You can choose different sizes, designs of the interior, and designs of the external flange. These allow you to match the design of the lights to the look of your room.

Installing recessed lighting doesn't have to be very complicated, though it will depend greatly on your access to the space above the ceiling and your wiring situation. If you have access to the veiling from above, installing the lighting is just a matter of running the wires, mounting the light fixtures to a stud, and cutting the hole for the flange. If you don't have this kind of access, calling in a professional might be a good idea.

As you can see, there is a lot to think about when it comes to choosing and installing recessed lighting. However, it is all worth it if you desire the clean, simple look the only recessed lighting can give you. Check into it today.


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One of the most important principles to understand when designing a recessed lighting layout is beam angle. In recessed cans, the light is produced in the shape of a cone. You picture the light starting as a point at the light fixture and forming a circle on the floor. The beam angle is the angle of this light out of the bulb. For example a 60-degree beam angle will produce a circle of light about 9 feet across on the floor if the fixture is 8 feet off the floor. See a
Diagram.

That is just one part of the formula. That circle of light we now have on the floor is not all the same intensity. About five and a half feet of that circle is good intense light while the remainder is spill over and diminishes as it gets further from the center. This is very important to understand. With this information, you can overlap the spill over light so that you end up with a nice even light pattern over the entire area you are trying to illuminate. Something to remember when you are planning this out is something called the work plane. This is an area about 30" above the floor. It is an area where most tasks take place.

The work plane is important because as the distance between the light fixture and the surface to be lit decreases, so does that circle we spoke about. In a living room or den, designing the lighting plan so that we have even light on the floor is fine. In a kitchen though, this work plane becomes far more critical. This is why in a kitchen, keeping recessed lights about 4 feet apart, creates a pattern that is even on the work plane with the intense portion of the circle.

There are some other things besides the bulb and the can that shape the light pattern. The finish trim on recessed lights can vary the pattern of light. A wall washer creates a half cone that can be directed at a wall or fireplace. A pin spot trim can direct the light in a very narrow beam to light a small object.

This should give you a basic idea of what is involved when you undertake a recessed lighting layout. If you would like to learn more or have questions, please visit us at the links below.

(c) Copyright 2005 Paul Forte. All rights reserved.


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