We’ve all seen badly placed recessed lights clearly illuminating the cabinet tops and casting shadows. I am putting mine even with the counter edge, based on some free advise. no one i’ve spoken to will comment on the light over the fridge. I am considering making it 36 inches from the wall to accomodate the greater thickness of the fridge.
Does this make sense, or any better experience out there?
Scott..
Replies
Scott, since a fridge provides its own light you don't need a can light above it. If you want the light for general illumination (as opposed to task lighting) than 36" should work fine. Putting the other lights even with the counter edge is fine; closer to the upper cabinets helps with task lighting but can interfere with doors or cornice molding.
Are you considering undercabinet lighting as well? Really helps light up the work space, especially if you put them at the front edge of the cabinet.
Mike,
thanks. yes, There will be under cab lights as well for task lighting. The recessed are for general lighting. I may be worrying unnecessarily, maybe worried about the glare off the dang stainless fridge the first wife insists on. If i didnt go along with the stainless fridge, I'd be looking for the 2nd wife;-)
Scott, there was an article on kitchen lighting about 2 years ago in FHB. As far as I can remember the cans over the counter should be about 9" out from the upper cabinets. A few things to consider here and you may want to play around with it.
First if the counter is a reflective finish, e.g. polished stone, you may not want ot put the can too close to the upper cabinet because you'll get the glare when you work on the counter. Second, don't put it over your head otherwise you'll created a shadow on the counter when you are working on it even though you have under cabinet lighting. Third, if the can is for general lighting it's best to move it further away from the upper cabinets. Fourth, if you want to highlight your upper cabinets, then put the can closer. With all the above considered, I would say somewhere between 7 to 11" and you may want to fine tune that.
As far as the fridge, how deep is it? As the other poster said the fridge itself really doesn't need a light but if you want general lighting and highlight the fridge at the same time, if it's a shiny ss fridge make sure the light is not far out enough to glare back at you when you stand in front of it.
Tom,
Thanks for reminding me to check! I forgot the fridge wasn't the same depth as the counters. OF COURSE that is wrong. The fridge has a 31" depth. That is why I've seen too may well lit fridge tops! And maybe thats wht the 27" depth fridges are more expensive--because you'll pay any price to fix the problem.
I'll use you 7-11" guide and rest easy. Thanks much!
I redid my kitchen last year with recessed lighting. Set them at 30" from the walls which puts them just outside the countertops. The room is 9' wide so the lights are 4' apart. I have granite counters (high shine) and the lights do not reflect off them. The 30" number allows the light to cover the entire counter front to back. The light over the refrigerator is at the same 30" dimension. I didn't want to kick it out of line with the rest of them. Shiny floor tile and no shadows. I spaced six lights approx. 4'6" apart on the run. It all worked out perfect. I also have under cabinet lights, but my wife only uses them for effect.
20" out is what I've got in my own kitchen, but I have no upper cabs on either side of this 10' wide galley. If I did, I probably would have placed them another 4-6 inches out. I don't want them past the edge of the counter (24" out from wall) because that would put them behind my head and shoulders when I work, creating shadows on the work surface.
One thing I find helps to soften unavoidable shadows is to use a Fresnel (wide-angle flood) instead of a focused spot bulb. The wide angle light bounces off walls and adjoining vertical surfaces and helps fill shadows created by your hands and arms held over the counter.
Dinosaur
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I used half of the depth of the soffits or the cabinets to place the cans on a centerline equal to that measurement off the face of the cabinets!
What kind of trims are you going to use?
On a related topic, my wife wants me to redo the translucent suspended ceiling setup we have in our kitchen. (Was very shoddily done by the builder 28 years ago, but my wife likes the basic idea.)
The existing lights are three double 4' fixtures mounted to the ceiling roughly 8" above the translucent panels. I'm planning to lower the panels about 2" and replace the existing fluorescents with a number of smaller units, more evenly distributed. I'm also considering installing 4-6 2x2 troffer units, but I'm wondering if that will be too much light. (We'd like more than the current setup, but don't want to be blinded.)
Is there any guideline on min/max watts of fluorescent per square foot?
Anyone got any observations (or bricks) relative to this general plan?
Dan, here is my 2¢.
Yes there are guidelines on illumination for different kinds of lighting purposes and the calculation involves the lumen output of the fixture and the distance of the surface from the source.
In your case you already have a rough idea of what level of illumination you want so you don't really have to get into the detail calculation. Just go from the existing three to the equivalence of say four and you should be fine and at that level I don't think you have to worry about it being too bright. Bear in mind that wattage is only a rough guide on output, so doubling the wattage does not necessarily mean doubling the output.
If you go with new fluorescents, think about temperature and CRI and get the appropriate lamps. You'll be surprised how the quality of light would make a big difference.
Have you been living in the house for 28 years? As time goes on we all experience diminished ability to perceive light so an increase in the ambient light level in our home is in order. See those 100W bulbs flying off the shelf? :)
I've got some more free advice for you.
The edge of the counter is a bit too far out. It won't light the wall cabs and can cast a shadow from your head on the hands working at the counter. We go about 20" out from wall. It can depend too on the spread of the beam and the height of the ceiling and the size of the fixture.
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