How much recessed lighting is recommended in a kitchen ceiling? The room is approximately 12×13 and has approximately a 91″ ceiling height. Recessed lighting will be the only type of ceiling light in the room.
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Lots; more if the ceiling is so low - think of cones of light coming down from each can. My 11' kitchen has (19) 65 watt floods, and is 16x15.
I've done a 9' high 18x20 kitchen with CF cans, it had (24).
In each case; there are three separate switched circuits, plus under-cabinet lighting
Forrest
Edited 10/19/2006 8:20 am by McDesign
19?! In a 16 X 15 room?
That works out to a fixture every 12 and a half square feet of space.
You doing surgery in there?
With all the discussion of energy efficiency and "building green", I can't get over the apparent pass that recessed lighting receives.
Don't mean to direct a rant at you brotha....just not a fan of canned lighting....think its ugly as hell and incredibly inneficient.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Edited 10/19/2006 9:33 am ET by JDRHI
Nuh uh!
It's purty! Plus, you rarely have them all on at once; only for surgery - and they're only 65 W each. We're waiting for CF color to improve; we've tried them, and the color of the deep blue cabinets was disconcerting.
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Forrest
Kitchen has a nice hum to it. LOL
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Do the lights help keep the food warm?
My goodness. Looks like a prison break in progress! ;-)
I like to do all kitchen lighting that is both task-specific, and with ambient lighting features that make the kitchen look really sexy when you are in the adjacent room and the kitchen work is done. Thus, we dim everything with controls.
Thus, I like undercab lighting, little xenon recessed pucks in a few upper glassdoor cabs, and halogen downlighting in soffits above the walllcabs that lights the counters well, without shadowing from a person standing in a work position at the counter.
If the budget allows, we do additional ambient lighting with linear xenons, the Juno Trac 12 product line, in an edge detail we build onto the soffit lips, to show a warm light line reflecting off the ceiling above.
Over islands or eating tables, I like high-tech pendants, and LBL is my favorite lighting manufacturer for stuff like that. If we are doing period work, I go to my source at Rejuventation.
Lighting should all add to the drama of a roomscape. Think theater stage lighting, or if you are old enough, think of how Jimmy Durante was lit with spaced spots above when he did his famous farewell song.
Lighting a room with a geometric grid of ceiling cans makes me think I am in a store.
<makes me think I am in a store>
I tell ya', it IS arty, ain't store-like at'all. Lookit these cool antique terbakky baskets!
I just made lunch, didn't turn on a light, and it's overcast and raining.
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Forrest - can you tell I'm home designing today?
Tobacco baskets, huh? Don't know about that. Looks great!
Here, we would do that ceiling all in some knotty softwood like pine or cedar, and decorate with snow shoes!
LOL - the first time I read that, I thought you said "snow tires"
Forrest
Holy shizzizzle!
That's more light than a Seven-Eleven at 3 am... but it's a good-lookin' kitchen.
I favor halogen spots, MR13s or so for task lighting and a recessed can or two for ambient light.
What color temp CFL's have you tried.Most of them, where indicated or 2700k which is very warm.But 5000k (and even on e 6500k) are available.http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/25_44_668And you can get reflectors for the Pansonic capule bulbs.http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/25_902
I just fished my kitchen 19 recessed on the ceiling on 4 switches (40 watts); 5 under cabinet; 2 pucks in glass door cabinets, and 4 over the cook top that are an integral part of the exhaust system. Properly switched, I don;'t think you can have too many -- you have to do the work before the job is finished as to to it later is just too disruptive -- Dudley
< Properly switched, I don't think you can have too many >
What he said
Forrest
You've gotten an entire range of answers, and all pretty good.
Now, if the ceiling lights will be the only light source, you will need significantly more fixtures than otherwise.
With a 91" ceiling height, I'm guessing that the upper cabinets are flush to the ceiling--which eliminates a great place to install indirect lighting.
Just as a guess, not having the kitchen layout, and sticking to "ceiling only," you need four cans evenly spaced for floodlamps for general illumination. How much illumination do you need? I don't know. You really only need about 1-2 FC at the floor, but that could be a lot of watts or lumens if the floor is dark (or especially if non-reflective).
You probably ought to count on an aimable can for each face of wall or tall cabinets in the kitchen (which could either be floods or spots). You should likely count on one "task light" per task, which will usually be: Sink, Range, Refrigerator (these will want to be spots, in "tune-able" fixtures).
So, that's 4 + 3(or 4) + 3, or 10/11 fixtures--note that not all of those "cans" are the same, could even be three types/sizes, with some specific trims.
I'd look really hard at the kitchen layout for installing under-cabinet, counter-top lighting, as that's an excellent way to add "task" lighting when needed.
In case it is not obvious, I like kitchens to have a general (don't bump into things) lighting; a "simple task" level of lighting, and then a "surgery" level of task lighting. This helps keep the switching simple, only needing a triple plate at each kitchen entrance. But, that's a philosophical sort of opinion, which wants modifying for each individual kitchen it is applied to--as one ought to expect.
If you can, attach a kitchen layout and let "us" look at it--we might just could get you closer to what you want lickety-split.