Hi, I'm not sure where to ask this, so, I'll try *this* forum.

I'm looking for information on how much light I want to put in my basement recreation room. I'm not looking for just minimum code requirements - I'm looking for some kind of lumens/foot numbers or something like that for good, liveable space.

Any ideas where to look ? Thanks...

 

It depends on many factors, such as ceiling height, paint color, type of activities planned, type of lamps you are considering, and whether the lighting is general lighting, task lighting and accent lighting. The human eye is amazingly adaptable, so there's room for error. In general, I prefer to err on the side of too much light and reduce it with dimmers when necessary.

The best lumens for the watt is with fluorescents, but not everybody likes them. A grid of can lights installed 4 feet from the wall and every 8 feet thereafter work pretty well. However, some people think can lights give a cave feel (but I'm not one), so you could also use other fixtures with the same spacing. If you will have task lighting at work and reading areas, the amount of general lighting can be much less. Many rooms can get by with a single fixture in the center of the ceiling, because it is supplemented with reading lights. If you plan a open area for crafts and games, you probably want more general lighting since it will not always be convenient to use task lighting. If the room will be use primarily as a home theater, obviously less light is needed.

I know I haven't answered your question, but I hope I've given you a few things to think about.

 

G.E. has a website that gives good info and lumens per/ft

 

Thanks. The room is 40 feet long - 1/2 is 15' wide and half is 20' wide. I originally planned on dropping 12 2'x2' troffers with two 34Watt u-shaped flourescents each. One branch c, in the 20x15 area as a 3x2 matrix and the other circuit as a 2x3 - all equally spaced (I have a dedicated circuit for the lighting).

That's 816 watts total - I'll try the GE site as well.

Thanks...

 

Sparky-L.U.697,

Can you post a link to the lumens/ft page. Thanks...

 

Try this.

 

sorry no i couldn,t find it