Does anyone have any suggestions for buying “canned lights” for a kitchen?
We are planning to put in recessed lighting in our kitchen and could sure use some help picking them out and if anyone knows how many are usually used I would love to hear from you. Also, what about the pendant lights you see over so many island?
Tagged with: lighting
Filed under: track lights pendant
Make sure you buy "IC" rated cans if they will be under the insulation in the attic. You should use a "par" lamp (light bulb), which has an internal reflector for good light control. I would suggest spacing the fixtures at 8′-0" on center with 100 watt par lamps. Put all the lights on a dimmer.
Just a few tips because I installed these in my old house. When you are cutting the holes in the ceiling for the cans, use a keyhole saw and only cut on the upstroke, because if you cut on the downstroke, you are likely to pull off a lot of the ceiling texture. Also use a stud finder and make sure you are between studs before cutting a hole. Finally, go into the attic and make sure there is not a conflict with your a/c duct before cutting the hole. Have fun.
Depending on the size of your kitchen I would put one can every 4-6 feet, concentrating the light on areas where you work most. Most pendant lights look good in groups of 3 or 5 (again depending on the size of your island or peninsula). Because pendant lights are somewhat trendy right now I may suggest one of the fixtures that attach at one point in the ceiling and then spread out so that you can easily change in the future.