Recessed Lighting Useful Information

Ceiling

• Recessed Ceiling lighting is both modern in concept and can be used for a variety of applications.
• Used to provide general illumination, to highlight specific areas of a room, highlight paintings or create stunning lighting effects against a wall.
• Recessed ceiling lighting can dramatically change the feel of a room.
• When you replace a central light fitting with recessed lighting, there is no longer a central nucleus of light, but multiple fittings positioned closer to the perimeter of the room, spreading the light out to the perimeter walls and thus opening up the brightness of the room and giving the effect of a more expansive room. This is also helped by the fact that there is no longer a surface mounted or hanging fitting in the middle of the ceiling – the ceiling is now flat and expansive, also great for narrow corridors, small bathrooms and the like.
• By using recessed ceiling lighting correctly, you can give any room the Wow factor, whether it be modern or traditional, no matter how nice the room is you can improve it, with the correct lighting.
• The considerations for that Wow factor on recessed lighting are: installation of the correct type of recessed fittings, the position and number of them and the lamp wattage and beam angle.
• Downlighters are used for general illumination and to highlight specific areas of a room, such as a seating area (for reading), or a Hi Fi unit, or an object of art.
• Wallwashers (angled Downlighters) can be used to highlight paintings or to wash adjacent walls, with effects of light.
• Simple Downlighters can also be used to create interesting lighting effects against a plain painted wall. Use Smaller diameter Downlghters (with a 35mm diameter lamp) with a narrow beam angle of 6 to 8 degrees, position them along the ceiling 150mm from an adjacent wall and you can have turned a bland wall into a feature wall, with the effect of small angle beams of light cascading down the face of the wall.
• LED light sources are the preferable choice for most recessed applications due to their efficient running costs and longevity. The measurement of the light output is denoted in Lumens, as a general "Rule of Thumb"; if you divide the Lumens figure by 10 that will approximately equate to the wattage if it were an old tungsten light source, the colour temperature of the lamp is measured in degrees Kelvin, the colour temperature of the light gives an indication of the warmth or coolness of the light source, 3000K to 4000K is a warm light suitable for a lounge area, 5000K to 6000K is a cool light more suited to a study, or a working environment where a brighter cooler white light is required. Use an LED SMD light source with a parabolic reflector behind the lens to ensure the light not only looks bright, but also travels, it is also important to use an especially cool running LED light source where the lamp is housed in a cannister as the cannister.
• Low voltage Halogen recessed lighting is preferable to mains voltage Halogen recessed lighting for the following reasons:
• The lighting ambience generated from a low voltage dichroic lamp is much nicer and superior to that which is offered from the corresponding mains voltage lamp.
• On a like for like basis the low voltage lamp will have a much longer life span.
• On a like for like basis a 50wt Dichroic low voltage lamp will generate 30% more light, than the corresponding 50wt mains voltage light. As a bonus the low voltage lamp will be more energy efficient.
• In general, low voltage dichroic lamps send the light forward and the heat back, whilst the mains voltage GU10 lamp sends both the light and heat forward.
• For low voltage ceiling recessed, a separate transformer is required; use one per lamp when using 50wt lamps. The transformer will be small and should be accessible through the aperture in which the recessed unit is mounted.
• If using more than one lamp per transformer; the total wattage of the lamps should be less than that of the total wattage capacity of the transformer. It is important to check the overall ampage of the transformer, to ensure that it is suitable for your application. Watts = Volts x Amps.
• If using more than one lamp per transformer; it is also important that the length of flex from the transformer to each lamp is the same length, otherwise you will have a variance in the brightness of each lamp. A lamp on a short flex will be brighter than a lamp on a long flex, on the same transformer. (One good reason, to only use one lamp per transformer).
• The voltage between the transformer and the lamp is usually 12volts and the current is high. The specification of this flex run is very important, in relation to the heat properties of the flex and the cross sectional area of the flex used. The cross sectional area of the flex to be used is a variant on the length of the flex between the lamp and the transformer. Longer flex lengths require a flex with a greater cross sectional area.
• If your ceiling is artexed, smooth out and remove the area of artex behind the fascia of the recessed unit, otherwise you may get unwanted light spill from behind the recessed unit. 
• Working out how many recessed ceiling lights you require, without having any technical information to hand, you can use the following “Rule of Thumb”:
• Example for a kitchen.
• Draw out a plan view of a simple rectangular room (forget about doors and windows), now draw in a perimeter line equidistance from all walls, this perimeter line would be 600mm from all walls (the depth of your floor cupboards).
• This perimeter line represents a line on the ceiling of where you position the recessed lights. Position one light at each of the four corners of the perimeter line, now work out the position of the other lights by spacing them at intervals of 900mm to 1200mm approx.
• This system works well for good illumination, using 50wt medium beam low voltage lamps or 6wt LED SMD lamps for room widths up to about 4.3m with light coloured painted walls, without causing a dark area in the middle of the room.
• Obviously you can amend the spacing to suit your particular needs, but the 600mm (or the depth of your floor cupboard) spacing is important, to ensure, that when you are working on the counter top, you are not standing in your own light.
• This “Rule of Thumb” can be modified and used in the other rooms of your home.
• Use only good quality transformers and lamps, for good performance and  reliability.Use especially cool running SMD LED lamps with a parabolic reflector for light travel.

Wall

• Staircase: Use recessed lighting in the wall adjacent to a staircase as a feature and guide light.

Small round LED lights are most suitable for this type of application.

 

Position the lights in the wall, on a line midway between each stair nosing.

• Hallway: Use recessed lighting in the wall near to the floor to provide feature or supplementary lighting.

Position rectangular (longitudinal) recessed lights in the wall approximately 200mm above the floor level for a good effect.

 

• Corridor: For a long narrow dark corridor use recessed lighting in the walls to great effect, by creating a tunnel of light.

Use a recessed light unit, (they are usually square or rectangular) that has a built in reflector, capeable of scooping the light up and out and the same fitting scooping the light down and out (by simply rotating the fitting through 180 degrees – the fitting must be suitable for this installation; i.e., heat up or heat down).

 

Position a pair of lights in the wall, one near the ceiling, scooping the light up and the other directly below near the floor, scooping the light down, now repeat the positioning directly opposite on the opposing wall. You now have the basis for the tunnel of light by repeating the process down the corridor.

 

For this type of installation the best effects are achieved by using halogen light sources.

 

Floor

• Use Floor recessed light units to provide a feature or guide light, and / or to provide uplight illumination against a backdrop of a wall.

• It is important to choose the correct light source, where people or pets may walk over recessed floor lights. LED and fluorescent light sources are cool: tungsten and halogen light sources are too hot to walk on (in bare feet).

All of the above information is intended as a guide only and you should consider all of the elements of your particular choice of product and installation, before you commit an electrician to carry out any work. 

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