Hi,
I want to install recessed lighting (“cans”) in several rooms of my 1926 home.
I’d like to do the install and then have my electrician come in and do the hookup to the box/existing switches, etc.
I have easy access to the unfinished attic…ceiling was plaster but now has 1/4″ sheetrock overlay.
Other than figuring out the can size, getting the remodel (vs. new construction) cans, making sure I don’t overload circuits, etc, what issues should I anticipate?
Are the lights available at Home Depot/Lowes of good quality? Would you use something better? Please mention brands if so.
I’m moderately handy…build furniture, have done quite a bit of electric..outlets, etc… Is this something that I can easiily do?
Thanks in advance.
lp
Replies
My electrical contractor has put every can brand known. Swears by Juno.
I have never seen Juno sold in a bigbox store. They (Lowes and Depot) seem to have Halo and some off brand stuff.
Get Juno. Buy it from a good local source, or you can go online.
Gene,
Our Lowes carries Juno as their main brand of can.
Regards,
Dennis
Thanks to all. I'll check out the brands and the ceiling thickness...Making a router jig is easy enough for this furniture-maker..and painting the ceiling (and the rest of the room) is part of the plan.These things can be put on dimmers, no?
Yes, for the dimmers. I recommend Juno's full-line recessed lighting fixture catalog, which beside showing their entire line of cans and trim, has an excellent technical section in the rear showing photometric data.
And if you've a large multi-use area to light, consider a gang dimmer like the Lutron Grafik Eye controller. Expensive, yes, but if you have six separate lighting circuits you want to control with scene and scene change selections, it may be no more expensive than having six separate higher-end dimmers.
The Juno catalog gives footcandle figures you'll want for ambient, feature, and task lighting. It shows recommended spacing for lighting in hallways, wall-wash situations, and others. And it shows photometric data for all the bulb types that their cans take.
For me, and engineer, furnituremaker, cabinet builder, and housewright, you cannot give too much technical information.
Excellent! I'll check it out.
I presume it's on the web...?
And, no, to the "cold climate" question. I'm in Dallas....and out in the shop, staining cabinets, in my long-sleeve t-shirt...
Gosh, I hope I've not ticked the Northerners off! Smile.
lp
Just reread your post, and missed something initially.
Your ceiling finish thickness may be an issue, and need looking into re a product that can handle it.
With original old plaster (which may be wood lath plus the plaster) and sheetrock over, you need a can that can project down enough into your cutout to get the trim to fix to it.
That is an even better reason to discuss this with a pro at a local lighting supply house desk. Find out your thickness before you go.
Going through all that thickness may prove to be quite a bit tougher than just Roto-zipping through sheetrock. It might take a router jig and a special carbide template plunge bit. Onsrud Cutter may be the source for a special bit.
Consider a template made from apple ply or baltic birch or two thicknesses of 1/4 tempered hardboard, which can go into place and fix with double-sided carpet tape, then rout away (all covered and wearing a mask). Hope you plan on repainting your ceiling after you do all this surgery on it. It will be tough to do non-marring work.
Do you live in a heating cliamte? Cans on the second floor can cause the loss of energy into the attic and all the problems that creates.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA