I am finishing out my basement, planning on using a drop ceiling which would be nearly 8' from the floor. I have two questions about lighting. How much (fixtures / wattage) and placement. The finished section of the basement will be one long area 11' x 24'. The 24' length is sort of divided by a slightly lower hanging soffit about 6' wide which is 8" below the hung ceiling). The soffit visually seperates the large area into two areas, 11x8 & 11x10, with the 6' of soffit in between. I was planning on using two 2'x4' floresent light fixtures PER area. Plus I have 5 recessed can lights (got them free from a friend) for the perimeter. The cans will be on one switch, the floresents on another. Due to clearance problems, I was not planning on placing any lights in the soffit. The cans will all have moveable eyelit type of flush mounts on the ceiling tiles. How far away from the walls should I place the cans? Then I was assuming the floresents would be centered in each area. Can someone give me some input? Will I have too much floresent lighting? The area will primarily be used as a family room / play room for the kids. You know, some relief for my wife and I. Thanks

 

I have a 4-tube fluorescent and its only on when we want/need a lot of light. I also hve 6 cans - 3 each on 2 switches. We usually only have 3 cans on at a time.

What I wish I had done (and may still do) was have some indirect lighting.