Recessed lighting is a smart way to enlighten the indoor and outdoor areas of the house. A well-planned and well-placed recessed lighting ensures a well-lit room for maximum visual and physical comfort. These lights have multiple benefits, such as transforming the rooms into a streamlined and modern space. The key to balanced recessed lighting is its layout and spacing, which is a tricky thing to do, but a keen eye for detail can easily make the process simple. In this article, we discuss "how to determine recessed lighting placement".
Things to Consider Before Starting the Lighting Placement Calculation
Before initiating the calculation of lighting placement, it's essential to consider the following points because the placement varies on the purpose of installing recessed lighting.
Clarity About the Purpose of Installing Recessed Lighting
Understanding the primary motive of lighting can help you decide the placement. Whether the intent is to focus on an art piece or to add a softness in the living space, all depend on the placement and the installation technique.
Sketch a Rough Plan
Make a rough draft of the dimension of the space on graph paper for accuracy in the draft. You can also make a photocopy of the draft so that you can make multiple changes in the photocopy until the desired result is achieved.
Don't Leave Shadowy Corners in the Home
Make sure the lighting placement doesn't leave any shadowy corner in the home because a poorly lit corner makes the ceiling look lower and awkward, especially in small homes. Be mindful of the distance of light from the wall.
Decide the Best Layout for the Recessed Lighting
The best layout of the recessed lighting and the use of reliable formula ensures the best result The calculation is discussed later in this article.
Spacing
The ratio of space to mounting height is crucial as it gives the maximum distance to consider between the lighting fixtures.
Finalize the Original Sketch
Now that all the calculations are done and the layout is finalized, the installation of the recessed lights will be smooth.
Why is the Placement of the Recessed Light Crucial?
The strategic placement of recessed lights is important because it creates a balanced and inviting ambience. Here are the other important things.
Aesthetic
A well placed light enhances the aesthetic element in multiple ways. It helps in changing the appearance of small space into large space, highlighting the architectural details of the particular area of the room and adding depth to the space.
Functional Lighting
Functional lighting has three primary roles: task, ambient and accent.
Task lighting- As the name suggests, task lights focus on specific tasks like reading or cooking and brightens the task area.
Ambient lighting- These are the primary source of light to create a soothing and comfortable ambience in the room. For example, wall-mounting lights or overhead fixtures.
Accent lighting- These lights highlight a specific object to elevate the visual impact of the space.
How Do We Determine Recessed Lighting Placement?
Before starting the project, make a note of the number of lights, the layout and dimension of the space for a perfect placement of recessed lights. Let's have a look at the various calculations.
Recessed Light Placement for General and Task Lighting
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Identify the area to be illuminated, be it a whole room or a part of it and pen down the length of the area.
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To calculate the distance from the wall to your first light, divide the length of the area to be illuminated by double the number of lights to be placed in that row. Write down the calculation.
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Simply double the answer calculated in the last step, which will give the distance between the remaining lights in that row.
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To calculate the width, follow the same rule. To calculate the distance from the wall to the first light, divide the width of the area by double the number of lights to be placed in that row.
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Simply double the answer calculated in the last step, which will give the distance between the remaining lights in that row.
Recessed Light Placement for Accent Lighting
In case of accent lighting, calculate the placement of recessed light used specifically to focus on a painting or an art piece on the wall. These recessed lights have adjustable trims. To minimize the glare, maintain an angle of 30 degrees from the ceiling. There could be a situation when exact placement of light gets difficult due to framing or an air duct. In such a case place the light to the nearest ideal location.
How Do You Know the Number of Recessed Lights in a Room?
The number of recessed lights depends on factors such as size of the room, type of light you select, layout of the recessed light and desired level of illumination. All these factors taken into consideration can help you decide the number of lights to brighten the room.
