Recessed Lighting

If you’re planning for a new home or refurbishing your old place to give it a contemporary and stylish feel, recessed lighting is something you may want to consider in your designs. Why? Because it is the key to modern interior design and one of the most subtle ways to add style without burning a huge hole in your pocket! It’s no wonder why recessed lights is so popular with homeowners nowadays.

Why Should You Consider Recessed Lighting In Your Home

A recessed light is a fixture that’s embedded into the ceiling (or sometimes in the wall). When setup properly, it looks as if there is a hole in the ceiling that’s emitting beautiful floodlight downwards onto a specific area. It resembles a “pot” or a “can” when you look up into the fixture and that is why it is also known as pot lights or can lights. Since the light socket and its cabling is concealed within the ceiling itself, there aren’t any exposed surfaces to dust. Other than an occasional change of bulbs, recessed lighting is pretty much maintenance free. It is also quite unintrusive. Your guests may not even know it is there until you switch it on!

More importantly, recessed light is great for creating a seamless, uncluttered feel. This additional douse of lighting can provide a focused effect so, if you have a wonderful piece of fine art that you will like to showcase, recessed lighting is the answer. You can also use recessed lights as your only source of lighting in the room. In fact, some people have also used it in their dining room with dramatic effect – one of the main reasons popularizing the widespread use of it. But don’t forget to space them at least 25 – 30 square feet apart. Otherwise you may end up having an airport runway in your house!

Not all homes are suitable for recessed lighting though. If your ceiling is made up of largely concrete, contains ornamented plastering or intricate designs, you may want to consider alternatives such as a chandelier or table lamp instead.

Tips When Selecting Recessed Lighting Fixtures

The recessed light fixture is separated into 2 parts. The housing and the trim. The trim is the ring that lays flat onto the ceiling and visible to onlookers. You may want to go for those fixtures with trims that blend in with the ceiling for a less intrusive feel. Or try those decorative ones that comes with its own distinctive designed trims for a bolder look. Some trims are also incorporated into baffles and hence great in controlling the intensity of the light emitted.

The light socket can be found in the housing, the part that is subsequently embedded into the ceiling during installation. Don’t be surprised to find reflectors in some housings as they can be used effectively to direct light beams (to where it is most required) without adding to the size of your electricity bill! At the end of the day, how the recessed light fixture creates its lighting effect will depend on the type of housing, trim and bulbs used.

As a general rule of thumb, if the price is a concern for you, go for halogen or incandescent fixtures. Incandescent bulbs costs relatively less and when combined with the use of reflectors are good for general lighting. They can also be connected to a dimmer for greater brightness variety. If you have a high ceiling, you may want to consider fluorescent fixtures. They look great and have the additional benefit of conserving energy. Use special low voltage housings with halogen bulbs if you’re going for an accent, focused feel.

Insulation Contact Housings

If your ceilings are insulated, remember to get fixtures that have housings that are Insulation contact rated (”IC rated”). These special housings prevents any flammable substances such as the insulation from touching the hot lighting fixture. For better energy conservation, get IC housings that are air tight. You must make sure that there is at least half an inch of distance between any flammable substance and a 3 inch distance from the insulation if you want to use non IC rated housings in a insulated ceiling. For a peace of mind, going for the former may be a much safer solution.

Retrofits

In the past, it’s often a messy and tedious affair to remodel an existing ceiling. It can also be pretty expensive if you factor in costs to engage a professional contractor for the job. It just isn’t practical. With the introduction of the retrofits, manufacturers are making it easier for home dwellers like us.

Such retrofit units even come with detailed instructions and even stenciling templates that allow you to outline and cut out the the exact size of the opening for the installation. Some wiring knowledge may be required in this case so if you are not sure how to handle that, paying a professional can save you some hassle.

If you plan to convert your house’s existing recessed lights to lower voltage, get those retrofits that comes with transformers to lower the standard current to 12 volt power source. They are more expensive but bear in mind that these will be more or less made up for from your energy consumption.

For those who’ve experienced this scenario, you might already know what recessed lighting kits are all about. Imagine this. You’ve seen pictures of those wonderfully lit living room or kitchen and you’re keen to replicate that with your own house. You may have even tried calling a contractor for some quotations. But that may have dampened your spirits a bit. After all, remodeling your space to incorporate recessed lighting isn’t really that cheap. Your research further points you to the option of buying and installing your own recessed lighting to save money. Enter the reasonably low priced recessed lighting kits.

Well, as the saying goes “you get what you pay for” and it’s relatively true in this situation. Though recessed lighting kits aren’t really all that bad, getting to know what you’re getting into is important. Let’s drill into the pros and cons.

Recessed lighting retrofit kits are an off the shelve production by light manufacturers to cater to the DIY crowd. Such kits comes with its own set of compliant components such as the integral captive nails, transformers connectors, and several other good to have features such as sturdy hanger bars. Because such kits tend to be mass produced, they’re able to transfer the economies of scale back to the consumer by lowering retail prices. For example, during our research, some recessed lighting kits can cost as little as USD 10! The downside of this however, is that the variety in the models they offer tend to the limited. Hence, if you’re planning for a major revamp of your living space, you may find your creativity hampered by the sheer lack of choices.

And if you’ve noticed, the cheaper kits are usually made of plastic. Such materials are often more vulnerable to heat and hence questionable when it comes to durability. Lower cost plastic kits may also include lower wattage bulbs to prevent damage to the housings. More often than not, this light may be considered too dim for certain accent and task lighting requirements.

Also, since such recessed lighting kits require a DIY installation, if you’re someone who’s not really a handyman or handywoman, you may find it a great challenge getting these lights up. The redeeming factor, however is its ease of installation. Most of such retrofit units comes with specific instructions and even stenciling templates which helps you outline and obtain an exact size of the opening for the installation. Even then, some wiring knowledge would still be required and if you are not sure how to handle that, paying a professional can give you a greater piece of mind but may add on to your bottomline costs.

That said, does it mean recessed lighting kits are not useful at all? Not really. More often than not, such kits are compiled together with the components that are perfectly compliant. And if you’ve a particular space that goes well with dimmer lighting, for example, the walkways or corridors for general lighting, such kits can come in handy. The plastic materials are also easily replacable so in the event that your light gets damaged over time due to usage, you can always find a low cost parts replacement. Manufacturers are also coming up with optional recessed lighting covers trims selections that goes with a particular series of recessed lighting kits so that you can have an added variety. So, where can you get such recessed lighting kits?

Many brick and motar retailers carry different brands and models of such kits. For a start, you can make a trip down to Home Depot and look at the variety of options available and make your selections carefully. Some major online retailers such as Amazon offers great discounts to entice customers to buy some of these products. Amazon even have real customer feedback that you can read through before considering buying the recessed lighting kits.

If you’ve been looking for square recessed lighting fixtures, chances are, you’re someone who’s in tune with the latest trends in home decor and interior design. Yes, square recessed lighting is one of the popular choices of home dwellers nowadays. With a low investment, these unique looking lights can give your space a brand new refreshing look. More importantly however, other than looking great, these fixtures can help you cut a huge bundle off your electrical bills in the longer scheme of things. For example, if you get those with recessed fluorscent lighting bulbs that works on a lower voltage, you can to use lesser electricity while providing the same if not more lighting than an incandescent lamp.

Well, as the name suggests, square recessed lighting essentially refers to those units that are of a slightly unique shape. Other than providing an additional design option over their rounder cousins, such fixtures don’t really differ much in terms of functionality. Perhaps the only marginal difference is that it’s relatively easier to cut out square than round holes during the installation process! There’s also an interesting observation though. Manufacturers tend to prefer a particular shape for certain types of recessed lights. For example, troffers, which are essentially fittings installed into suspended tiled ceilings tend to be of a squarer angular shape. In this case, its design could be due to installation concerns since squarer fixtures will fit in easily with a tiled surface.

That said, you can literally find the round or square recessed lighting styles in almost all types of recessed lighting fixtures. For example, with a trip down the lightings store, one can find round or square down lights easily. So in what situations will your decision on the use of square, round or other shapes of recessed lightings matter?

One of the main considerations mentioned is the nature of the ceilling’s surface. Like the example stated above, if you’re working with a tiled ceiling and considering recessed lighting, square recessed lighting fixtures will fit in much easily than a round design. The latter probably means you need to cut up the tiled ceiling in an much awkward manner that may ruin the existing design of your room or space. However, finding the exact size to fit the tile’s size can prove to be daunting.

Fortunately many manufacturers have recognized this need and came up with a wider variety of sizes. You can easily browse some of their catalogues online or even at Home Depot! In the event you can’t find anything suitable, you always have the option of going for custom made ones. Though that may require deeper pockets. Nowadays however, lighting and fixtures retailers have expanded their spectrum of services in order to stay above the competition. Even if you’ve decided to go the custom route, some specialized retailers may even offer discounts and services which will way surpass your expectations. In fact, some might even work directly with your architect, interior designer or builder, to make the whole integration process seamless. You may end up getting more value for the same buck!

Another other consideration that’s pretty much obvious is the design you’re achieving for. Some of the square recessed lighting comes in beautiful structure dimensions which make them awesome additions to your interior. It gives interior designers or even DIY home dwellers an additional option when it comes to mixing and matching the different lighting accessories to spruce up your room or space.

Remember, even if you can’t find the square recessed lighting fixtures you’re looking, there’s always the customized solution.

More often than not, people who are looking for halogen recessed lighting per say are in actual fact sourcing for recessed lights which are using halogen light bulbs. Now, what’s the benefit of such halogen recessed lighting and how different will it make in your recessed lighting needs? Let’s discuss this in greater detail.

How Halogens Are Different

For ease of reference, the term halogen recessed lighting will be used to refer those lighting fixtures which makes uses of halogen lamps (i.e. light bulbs). There are basically 3 main reasons why people prefer halogen recessed lighting over the conventional sort. The first is none other than the quality of the light. Light emitted from halogen lamps tend to be whiter, brighter and more easily focused as compared to the traditional incandescent bulbs. Due to this clearer quality of light, recessed halogen lights are great for task or accent lighting.

You can plan halogen recessed lighting in areas where focus or concentrated light is need to be shone on a particular object. Such as the case of an artwork display. You can also factor it in your desktop, reading or study where you will need bright focused light for your leisure reading or working needs. Some people have also used recessed halogens lights to highlight tracks where all the bulbs glow at a similar intensity.

Another reason why halogen recessed lighting may be preferred is in the case of durability. The mechanics of how halogen bulbs work reduces the strain on its filament, thereby prolonging their lifespan. If you compared the lifespan of a 75 watt incandescant bulb versus its halogen cousin of the same voltage, the latter can last almost twice as long while generating 10% more light output! Therefore, it’s not uncommon to find recessed halogen lights in areas where it’s hard to reach. Such as the corners of the Why? So that you don’t have to keep replacing the bulbs as often as you would need to!

The third reason? It’s more energy efficient! For the same 75 watt bulb example mentioned earlier, the halogen lamp generates 10% more output. And if you opt for those low voltage halogen recessed lighting fixtures, you can further reduce your electricity bill to a fraction of what it was previously.

Why Halogens May Not Be For Everyone

Well, since halogens are so good, why aren’t everybody jumping onto the wagon? The truth is, like everything in life, there’s always another side of the coin. Halogen recessed lighting lamps costs more – almost 4 times of what you pay for a incandescant one. Low voltage halogen recessed lighting can cost even more. This is because the low voltage housing usually comes equipped with a transformer which helps to convert the standard house current to the required 12 volts. So unless you really buy into the long term cost savings methodology that halogen lamp manufacturers advocates, it’s may difficult to make the switch initially.

Interior home and lighting design considerations may also be another reason why they may not be preferred in certain cases. Especially since the halogen lighting may appear to be colder and less inviting to some. Besides, the sharp and focussed and can appear to be quite glaring if there’s insufficient shade or shield. They tend to get heated up much faster and of a greater intensity. Parents with young children in the family may be less inclined to install halogen recessed lights fixtures that are generally low hanging to avoid potential safety hazards.

In the longer schema of things, however, recessed halogen lights does have its place in the market. Although these potential cons inhibit the use of them in certain environments, its long term cost savings, environmental friendliness and reduced energy wastage will inevitably encourage home dwellers and interior designers to use halogen recessed lighting effectively and safely.

Low voltage recessed lighting basically refers to fixtures which operates at 30 volts or lesser. Now, this may sound pretty weak in terms of a power supply, in reality, a low voltage recessed lighting fixture can provide about 2 1/2 times more light than what an incadescent lamp can power with line voltage. That means, a fifty watt light fixture can generate as much light as a one hundred and twenty-five watt light power by line voltage.

How’s that for some great energy savings?

Since low voltage recessed lighting generally uses lesser electricity, the size of your associated power bill will be greatly reduced. And while the financial economy continues to move at a sluggish pace with the prices of energy going in the reverse direction, low voltage recessed lighting is starting to appear as an attractive option to many families. Coupled by the lure of other benefits such as increased safety, reduced strain on the environment, enhanced lighting quality and a improvement in design flexibility, it’s no wonder why low voltage recessed lighting has been the talk of the town.

Dimmers are also used in conjunction with low voltage recessed lighting fixtures to allow a better control on the amount of light at any given point of time. As less light energy is consumed as compared to line voltage, it generally requires less space for installation. Builders and contractors have found that smaller holes and lesser lighting fixtures are required for its installation. That in turn means less destruction of ceilings and walls to accommodate for the new lights.

And since this form of recessed lighting are have a smaller portion of the electricial current flowing within the wires as compared to regular fixtures, the chance of electrical shock or fire is very much reduced. Parents with young children generally prefers such safe fixtures in their homes. New technology has also improved the life span and energy efficiency of such low voltage recessed lights fixtures.

If you’re convinced that this is for your home, the next question is probably this : how do you convert your existing lighting setup to low voltage recessed lighting?

All you need to do is to make sure the new retrofit kits you’re looking to install contains transformers which will convert your existing house current to the required voltage required by low voltage units. Although these units may cost slightly more than the conventional kits, in the long run, the cost savings will make up for this initial expense you’ve spent on low voltage recessed lighting.