Need suggestions for living room lighting.

[J2E1]

We're insulating our attic and making any last minute electrical changes before then and we're having some difficulty in choosing some lighting for our dark living room.

Currently the Christmas tree and outlet running the TV etc is switched by the front door, hallway and door to the kitchen. We're planning on switching that over to a constant on and use the switches for overhead lighting. We have 2 lamps but they're just not cutting it. The window faces west to the right of the front door, so we don't get a lot of sunlight during the day.

Right now we have the couches boxing in a smaller room and providing a walkway from the front door to the kitchen and from the kitchen to the hallway. We will be rearranging to make the room a bit bigger for entertaining and what not. The room is 15' from top to bottom and 19' across in the layout below.

My wife is thinking can lighting. Our ceilings are 8' so I'm not sure how much spread I can get with a 6" can. Plus I'd rather have 2-3 lights vs 6+ to get coverage. Fans with lights are out they come too far down into the room.

Any suggestions you have would be great. We'll be looking through Lowes and HD for our fixtures.

[Oldcountryboy]

Have you thought about the hugger fan/light fixtures? They don't hang down quite as low as your normal fans. It's what we have and only hangs down about 14 inches, lights and all. That still gives me a 10 inch clearance above my head since I'm roughly 6 ft. tall.

You could place some eyeball can lights over your piano to kind of light up the keyboard and provide light for the pictures.

[upnorthlady]

I don't know how cold it gets in Ohio for you, but I can tell you that we have had nothing but problems with can (recessed) lights! It gets pretty cold here in northern MN, and we have can lights in the closets and the kitchen. (Supposedly it is code to have recessed lights for closets). The problem is that even though we have plenty of insulation in the attic (we even put extra insulation around those lights), when the warm air of the house hits those cold can lights, we get condensation and dripping. One day I found water dripping all over my clothes in the closets! It also dripped a few times on my bread dough rising on the kitchen counter. We have put that foam spray stuff around inside the can and that seemed to help, but doesn't look the best. Maybe northern temps in the attic space is too cold for these can lights? I wonder why they are code? We are going to rip them out and just put in fixtures, because those don't leak condensation. Anyway, that's our experience with recessed lighting in cold climates, so in case that applies to you in Ohio, be forewarned! And if anyone has any ideas for us on how to stop this condensation, we would appreciate it!

As was mentioned , with 8' ceilings flush mount fan lights will be fine as far as head clearance goes . Most can lights require clearance between the can & the insulation . Track lighting lets you put the light where you need it .

[heavyrebel]

We have the same 1960's lighting problem. NO overhead lighting was in teh house except in kitchen and bathrooms. All on wall switches. We have found lights like these work really well for us You can even put 2 in a larger room, spaced out, and have nice, directional lighting without ugly tracks on your ceiling. Plus, it is much easier to wire a couple of these than 15 cans...lol.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50112415

We get our from IKEA because the price is right and they have lighting that matches our style pretty well.

[Pouncer]

I can't imagine why recessed lights would drip condensation? Must be something elemental wrong with the installation.

I have plenty of recessed lights, and fans with lights also. Fans are great if you have the height for them, since air movement is essentially to a healthy house. Lacking that, you can drop boxes and lay track lighting. That way, you can put almost any type of fixture you chose, where you chose. There are many options with track style lighting now, compared to just 15 years ago.

[SolarGary]

Hi,
This does not exactly address your question, but if you are going to add insulation to the attic, its a good time to seal up all the wiring, plumbing, vents, light fixtures, vents, ... that go from the living space into the attic. All these little penetrations add up to a big source of exfiltration and it will be a lot easier to get at them now than after you add insulation.
If you have any ducts running through the attic, this is a good time to check them all and seal up all the joints with duct mastic -- insulate any ducts that are not insulated.

On the lights, I'd really think about using the Ikea thing that was mentioned above, or track lights. Can lights are always going to be a bigger heat loss. If you do use cans, be sure to get the ones that are sealed for air infiltration and approved for direct insulation contact so you can insulate right over them.

The book "Insulate and Weatherize" by Harley is really good on doing this stuff.

A Do-It-Yourself Guide To Energy Star Home Sealing
Energy Star Home Sealing Guide... (2 MB pdf)
Leaky ducts may lose lose 15% to 30% of your heated or cooled air ---- more on duct sealing

Don't use duct tape for sealing -- example ...


Gary

[Cheribelle]

I'd probably just use more lamps, or else the Ikea fixture, or maybe track lighting. That way if you want to rearrange furniture it doesn't have to look like the lights are out of place. So many times you see the light right in the center of a room, and the furniture arrangement pretty much has to go along with that.

[Dead Rabbit]

im a fan of recessed lights. very little problem here with them. track lighting is the latest rage. but im not a huge fan of them from an asthetics viewpoint. if your house is a contemporary style or even in a commercial building they look good. but most homes arent this style. and the track lighting looks outa place. all just my opinion of course.

an 8 ft ceiling should house a ceiling hugger fan w/o problem unless you are over 6ft tall.

if none of this is exceptable. id put a couple more light boxes in the ceiling, stategically spaced to look right plus put light where you need it. and buy some ceiling fixtures (lights) that are according to your tastes. i recommend those that hide the bulbs and then use the CFL bulbs.

[beaglebiz]

Originally Posted by Dead Rabbit

track lighting is the latest rage. .

my mom has this all over her house from the 1970's. I have to tell her its back in style

[Dead Rabbit]

Originally Posted by beaglebiz

my mom has this all over her house from the 1970's. I have to tell her its back in style

history repeats itself

[Wolf mom]

I too, have outlets and switches where I don't want them. I have a couch and recliner no where near an outlet, so I ran an extention cord under a large scatter rug to have lighting next to my chair & couch.

You can put a shelving unit on your darkest wall or where the Xmas tree is, and put lighting in it. I've seen box valances over windows and doors with lighting inside. Really cool. How about solar tubes for the day? Lots of creative ways to do lighting without ceiling cans.

When I get wood flooring, I'm going to have it wired & put an outlet in the floor.

[whiterock]

The floor plan and size is remarkably like mine, even to furniture placement. My living room has a ceiling fan with a four light light kit on it. Plus i have 4 can lights on dimmer switch. Dining room has chandilier and 4 can lights all on dimmer. In the living room the ceiling is boxed UP 12", this means the ceiling is 8' along the walls, and about 3' into the room on all sides it goes up to 9'. Dining room is smaller and the box up is less porportionately. The can lights are kind of in the corner of the boxed up areas. This makes the room appear much larger than it is. Where you have tv i have fireplace with built in entertainment on one side and shelves on the other with a directional spot focused on the over mantle. Might could email you a pic or two if it would help to explain. PM me with address if you like.
Ed

[Danaus29]

We put a 2 tube 4 foot flourescent fixture over the couch in our livingroom. It should have been in the middle of the room because we do get glare on the tv. You can get nice looking fixtures, I have a "cloud" flourescent light in the kitchen. The bulbs seem to last forever and the lights are cheap to run.

[Chixarecute]

We have can lighting in all of our rooms, our LR is about 14x18, and we have 9 with flood light bulbs. One is switched separately, & is at the fireplace, on a dimmer, the other 8 are together, also on a dimmer. We like them, we like things bright & evenly lit, no shadows, but for reading I still want a closer light source, so have a little halogen floor lamp next to the couch. If you go with cans, yes, get the specially sealed & approved for contact with insulation. We have no problems with our cans condensing, and we are near the UP.