Replies

1. 
   user-5946022 | Jan 19, 2022 12:01am | #1

   You have more lights in a 910 sf apartment than I've seen in a 2400 sf house.
   Way overkill. And the 2400 sf house has a light in every closet and in the laundry closet which you don't have - why not?

1. 
   cbut8995 | Jan 19, 2022 02:59pm | #3

   So I am only putting lighting where theres room in the ceiling. Certain parts dont have room.

2. Expert Member
   BILL WICHERS | Jan 19, 2022 09:36am | #2

   You have odd light placement. In the two large rooms, you are lighting the walls, but not the middle where a table is likely to be. It's generally considered bad practice to light walls, unless it's done as an accent. Usually you want to put light where it's needed.

   In the kitchen, put the lights over the counter and not the areas where you stand. I know it's common to put lights out over the isles, but think about that for a minute: where do you actually need the light? What are you trying to see? In a kitchen, you need to see what you're working on on the counters. If you put the light in the isle, the light is BEHIND you, so you'll cast a shadow on the counter where you need to see. If you move the light more over the counter, you'll light the counter instead of the floor, which puts the light where you need it.

   In that dining room, I would put the lights more towards the center of the room to light a dining table. If you'll have some kind of special fixture over the table, then I'd put the lights more around the perimeter, but not so close to the wall. I'd put the recessed lights and the table fixture on seperate circuits, so the recessed lights would be even room lighting, and the table fixture would be just for the table. I'd put the perimeter lights on a dimmer here.

   In the bedroom, I'd evenly space the lights. Look in the datasheets for the lights you're planning to use, they should give some charts that show the spread of light as a function of mounting height. Use that to work out the spacing you need.

   Your walk-in closet outside the bathroom probably needs two lights. In the bathroom, you'll have the light casting a shadow on your mirror, so consider something lightning the sink area to help you see what you're doing when you're in there.

   Try to have around 20-25 lumens per square foot in the bedroom. You'll want more in the kitchen, and possibly the bathroom and closet. The dining room really depends on what you're doing, and if you'll have a seperate fixture over the table. Right now you probably have too many lights, and they're not optimally placed in the rooms.

   Bill

1. 
   cbut8995 | Jan 19, 2022 03:03pm | #4

   Hi Bill,

   Link to the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ru4UZL9B_Q0wEb9yEjphZg29qIvpnDyO/view?usp=sharing

   Youre always a big help and I always appreciate it. I cant put the lights in the middle of the living room and bedroom. I would love to but the middle complete concrete ceiling and the sides already are dropped down so I can save money there and put the recessed lighting in there.

   For the island area I have 3 dropped down pendant lights.
   https://www.wayfair.com/Brayden-Studio%C2%AE--Southport-Sides-1-Light-Single-Cylinder-LED-Pendant-X111145785-L6087-K~W000034674.html?refid=GX433701027788-W000034674_877118031&device=c&ptid=902690574233&network=g&targetid=aud-976909298068:pla-902690574233&channel=GooglePLA&ireid=96554781&fdid=1817&PiID%5B%5D=877118031&gclid=Cj0KCQiAip-PBhDVARIsAPP2xc2PaIRwkoSjbMIIGowO8LWUT2fsxtIR9lkwZtopanL747-bYtWAHPsaAlAfEALw_wcB

   In the kitchen we are replacing that flush mount light with the 3 head recessed light.
   https://www.gllite.com/product/4-multiple-3-head-led-gimbal-selectable-cct/

   For the bathroom should I do 5 lights spread evenly instead? Like the attached image.

   
1. Expert Member
   BILL WICHERS | Jan 19, 2022 03:12pm | #5

   If you use smaller (in terms of less output) lights, you could use more, but you end up with a very busy ceiling that way. I'd try to place the lights in good places and use fewer of them.

   In your dining room, if the middle of the ceiling is concrete (I'm assuming you don't have access to the space above that concrete ceiling), I can think of two things you might want to consider:
   1- Cove lighting around the perimeter instead of cans. This is reflective lighting, and would give you very even lighting. With the new LED options that are out there, there are a lot more ways to do this than there used to be! The downside is that you'll want a good finish on your ceiling since reflective lighting will expose any little details you didn't get quite right, like mud and tape lines (ask me how I know).
   2- A coffered ceiling would give you some places to hide wiring, and would also let you place the smaller LED lights that mount in electrical boxes in more places.
   I don't know if you want to change the ceiling architecturally just to fit lights, but it is a potential solution to your placement problem.

   Bill

1. 
   cbut8995 | Jan 19, 2022 03:21pm | #6

   Hi Bill,

   Yea doing anything to the ceiling construction wise wouldnt work and would be too costly. This is a high rise condo in NYC dont think my neighbor above will be okay with it haha.

   Each of those recessed lighting is about 4 inches wide only and have about 1100 lumens and the heads move a little. The lighting salesman was saying how these are a little bit better in color given the LED chip gives a "nicer glare". Not sure what they mean by that.

   So 15 around the living room is overkill seems like it and 13 is overkill for the bedroom.

   15x1100: 16500 lumens around the perimeter of the Livingroom which should cover around 600sqft but the living room is probably 300-400 sqft

   13*1100: 14300 lumens for the bedroom which is about 200 sqft which would only need around 500 lumens.

   Do the colors matter too much or is 3500k color for lights for the bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen be okay?