How Far Apart Should Recessed Lights Be Placed

Keep each light close to 3 feet away from the walls or corners we don t want to cast shadows don t install recessed lighting with equal spacing between the lights and the walls.

How far apart should recessed lights be placed. The common rule is that 4 inch fixtures should generally be placed at least 4 feet apart and 6 inch fixtures about 6 feet apart. How far apart should recessed lights be placed in a kitchen. If you do you end up with bright spots between the lights and dark edges. When determining how much distance to put between lights professionals recommend to take half of the ceiling height.

This will give good spacing for general room lighting. The recessed lighting spacing formula is to set an equal distance between recessed lights to get a uniform lighting distribution and make the distance between recessed lights and the wall half the distance between recessed lights. Wall wash fixtures should be spaced apart the same distance from each other. That will create an undesirable illuminating effect.

However if you plan to install a ceiling fan in the kitchen you might need to adjust that distance to allow for at least a 9 inches between the lights and the blades. The general rule for installing wall wash recessed fixtures are about 1 5 to 3 feet away from the wall. If a 6 inch light has a spacing criteria of 1 5 and the ceiling height is 8 feet the maximum space between each light should be 12 feet. Avoid putting recessed light over refrigerator.

Center recessed lighting fixtures in front of the objects you wish to light a painting bookshelf or drapery panels for example and about 12 to 18 inches in front of that object. The average distance between cabinets and recessed lights is 12 18 inches. This formula is critical for lighting a space because if the lights are too far apart they will look like spotlights with big shadows between each other. Adjustable trims may be placed farther away from the wall.

Overall the wattage should range from 2 1 2 to 3 per square foot. For instance if your kitchen has a 10 foot ceiling the lights should be 5 feet apart. If you place a light 2 feet from your wall your remaining lights should be 4 feet apart from each other. Of course these are just the rough numbers.

Now do the same for the width of the room. Some experts recommend leaving a space between light fixtures that is twice the distance from the wall to your first light. 4 inch bulbs should be 4 feet apart 5 inch bulbs should be 5 feet apart and 6 inch bulbs 6 feet. Depending on the size and shape of your room following all of these guidelines may prove impossible.

The result is the amount of space to leave between each light. Fixed trims should be placed closer to the wall.