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Where should I put recessed lights in this room? PIP (long)
We've been in the house for three weeks and the family room is project number one. So far I have painted the previously espresso-colored ceiling beams white and the walls BM Wythe Blue. I've also ripped out the base moulding so that I can put taller pieces in. The couch will eventually be pushed back against the window and a love seat will go to its right, facing the fire place. The other furniture will all change and include side tables, coffee tables and a tv stand.
Future projects include curtains, changing carpet out for hardwood, and installing built-ins that flank the fireplace. I will also remove the wall vent from the fireplace and put it back on the wall 
We got an Angie's List deal to get four recessed lights put it, but I'm at a loss for where to put them. There are three beams that divide the ceiling into four sections. The section closest to the kitchen has a doorway on each side - the entrance into the room from the foyer and the door out to the back yard.
Currently my idea is to put one on each side of the fireplace. I'll put the other two over the couch in the next two sections. The last section (with the doorways) will not get one.Location of lights:
Does anyone think there would be a better arrangement? I'm a big fan of uniformity, so I'm also tempted to just put one in each "section" on the couch side of the room.
Re: Where should I put recessed lights in this room? PIP (long)
This was my original idea, but H and the electrician think it's overkill (is there such thing as too much light?). H is afraid that putting lights over the TV will be annoying. I might be able to get away with a U shape and put two on the section in front over the fire place, one in the next section on the window side, and then two in the third section. That way there wouldn't be a light directly over the TV.
Just to clarify, I wouldn't put the single row down the middle, it would be on the window side of the room, over the couch.
But what happens when you decide to move your furniture in the future? What if you move the TV to another room in the future or you put the TV above or near the fireplace? You'd have to hire the electrician to come back and move your lights for you? Recessed lights should always be in a grid in an open space according to our lighting engineers at work. Recessed lights are the cheapest lighting you can get (only $17 a piece!) so add the light there and use dimmers. I would put two between every beam then put the two next to the fireplace on one switch and the others on another. One or both on a dimmer and you'll have a lot of control. If a uniform lighting pattern is too much light you can put in lower wattage bulbs or leave the lights dimmed slightly (there are switches where you dim separate from the on-off switch so you can keep it at a low level all the time). If the light is a problem for the TV you can unscrew a bulb or better yet get a trim that blocks the light from shining in that direction.
Thanks folks. I do like the idea of having the lights symmetrical and putting some of them on a second dimmer or taking out the bulbs to deal with "too much light" if that becomes an issue. I think that's why only putting in four is driving me batty - I hate when things are uneven.
Fox - is it really $17 per light!? This guy charges $167 a pop on the first floor and $130 on the second floor. That's a heck of an upcharge. I need to befriend an electrician.Our mancave looks to be about the size of your room. We have 7 recessed lights on a dimmer switch in the main part of the room. There is a bar area as you first enter the room, so there is one can just past it as you walk into the main room, then 3 rows of 2 can lights. So basically, one side of the room has a row of 4 cans and the other has 3. Then there are two more lights in the ceiling above the bar area.
I agree with the others who think you need more than 4.
Yes it's $17 for the fixture itself...on a side note it's kind of sick that I remember the exact cost of those off the top of my head LOL. Then add on labor and the cost of wire (which is pricey but you shouldn't need too much for this small amount of work). Is he patching up the drywall for you too for the access holes he'll have to cut? Maybe ask him if you can buy all of the materials and just pay him for labor. Or get a break down of his costs on his quote. Electrical quotes are always hard because you don't know how much work and wire you'll need until you start opening things up and seeing how the old wiring is run.
I'm also going to suggest that you stick with a very common easy to find brand like Halo so that if you want to switch out trim or replace a part it's just a quick drive to HD or another big box store. Trim at big box stores is much more affordable than ordering it from an electrical supply store.
The Angie's list deal got me four lights for $400 so I only have to pay for the additionals. When I asked how much drywall work we'd need after he said he puts the first coat of spackle on and we need to put two more on. It could end up being more complicated than that, but we shall see.
I have a call in to him to discuss dimmer switch placement, so I'll check on what brand he uses. Do you think LEDs are a good option? I think I can upgrade to that for a price. I was also going to go with white trim originally but now I'm reading that black is better for reducing glare. Good to know that I could change them out though.
No don't upgrade to LED housing. Stick with a type A base (the standard twist on base on all types of light bulbs). The LED houses are not there yet. They are pricey, do not have the dimming capabilities, or the bulb options of a Type A base. If you want LEDs go with the retrofit style that are LED's with housing that have a Type A base. Here's an example...not the best choice if you look at the specs in detail but a good affordable option. Give the LED industry 10 years and there will be many, many changes...making current LED housing possibly not compatible. If you are looking at cost savings go with CFLs inside of the flood light style bulbs. They will last 5-10 years a piece at which point you could upgrade to LED retrofits for a fraction of the price they are now. I did compared the exact thing for our big rec room in the basement and that is the choice we're going with. Otherwise a few rounds of incandescent until there are advances in the LED industry and reductions in price will get you there too at a higher cost per day but many people prefer the look and dimming capacity. CFLs and LEDs don't dim near as well as incandescent.
Also make sure your electrician is using a CFL/LED rated dimmer. They work for incandescent also but the low wattage use of CFLs and LEDs won't work with many traditional dimmers. Lutron is one of the better brands for this and have many style options to match the rest of your house (ie. a traditional looks switch with side dimmer tab so this one room doesn't have a space age looking dimmer and the rest of the house doesn't). They are $11/piece at an electrical supply company and $15/piece at a big box store.
Trim...OK to make things easier on yourself just tell the electrician you'll be picking this out yourself. All styles are easy to install yourself and that gives you time to look at your options and give them a test drive before purchasing a bunch of them and having it not work out...essentially buying two sets of trim. If you stick to the standard 6" Halo cans you have lots of options at HD some on display some not. Black interior trim reduces glare so do baffles (ridges inside the trim so it's not smooth). One or both would be good. But for aesthetic reasons try to get the ones with the white lip so it blends in with the ceiling better. Most of the ones available at HD are not full trims so when you look up depending one your bulb size you may see the silver back of the can. This is where you want to buy one or two bulb types and a few trims to test out. You can return what you didn't like. Halo's SuperTrim covers the entire back and HD carries one of those styles (there are many more options if you order from an electrical supply company). Those attach slightly differently than the other trims and support the light socket with the trim. In our basement since the ceilings are extra low we decided the black was too noticeable and distracting on the big white ceiling so we're going with the SuperTrim with a white lip and haze interior. It looks like a brushed nickel that doesn't have the glare of solid white or the shiny silver options available at HD. It does have more glare than a black or baffled interior would but it didn't seem to be an problem for our space. Everything is also on dimmers in that room as well.
HTH
Sounds good, no LEDs.
Thanks so much for this. Such a relief to know that some of the decisions won't be set in stone.
Whoops sorry I forgot the link in my post:
http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-Fans-Indoor-Lighting-Indoor-Ceiling-Lighting-Recessed-Lighting-Kits/Commercial-Electric/N-A/Energy-Star/h_d1/R-202596699/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&productId=202596699&storeId=10051
These are very popular LED retrofits. They don't dim very much though but are a very low price. Like I said wait a few years and you'll have a lot more options including LEDs that will work with the standard trim I discussed above (note the link doesn't need a trim as it comes with it built-in). If you really want to get LEDs now check out Cree's recent line of products. They have better dimming capabilities and are ranked higher than the HD models but cost about twice as much. We seriously considered them because we didn't want to have a huge electrical load added to our bill (we went from 2 light fixtures to 12 in that room) but even with the best price I could find the Cree's had a crappy 27 year payback compared to CFLs which are much cheaper and only use slightly more energy.
Yes it's not hard to change out but you do have to turn off the power to connect and reconnect the new dimmer.
But you shouldn't have to do that just have your electrician buy CFL/LED compatible ones and install those now. They work for standard incandescents as well so you should be all good now and in the future. No need to pay for them twice!
Got it. Thank you again!