Opinions on lighting the ceiling from the walls


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Old 11-30-07, 05:05 PM
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Opinions on lighting the ceiling from the walls

Hi everyone, I am new on the site here and posting for the first time. I live in a typical bugalow built in '57. The master bedroom is 11.5 x 13. When I have gone through the new homes, some have a soffit-looking fixture going around the room shining light up to the ceiling. That look gives the room such a nice glow, but those rooms are usually the size of my living room. Has anyone ever done lighting around the room like this? Can you make something out of 4" molding with rope lights? behind it?
Thanks for any responses. Lenny
 
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Old 12-01-07, 06:11 AM
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Welcome to the forums! You could always install 4" crown molding, holding it down from the ceiling and using blocking behind it to fasten it, then run your rope lighting in the cusp. You will need to figure out how you will be energizing it and switching it. If your room were larger, you could build a hollow trey ceiling and install fluorescents, but it may be a bit too much for a smaller room.
 
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Old 12-01-07, 07:35 AM
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Larry, you nailed my idea on the head. I wanted to install 4" crown molding around the room about 10"-14" from the ceiling. I would build blocks that I would attach to the studs in a few locations. Those blocks would have a 45 degrees angle and a hole through it to snake the rope lighting through. Directly above the light switch and behind the molding, I would put a single outlet attached to a dimmer next to the main light switch. Also, I would paint the wall black above the molding to dim the lighting between the lights and the ceiling.

My idea crystalized! Is it too far fetched? Alot of work for something so different in these houses. Thanks again.
 
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Old 12-01-07, 08:07 AM
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There is only one flaw with your plan. Technically a dimmer feeding a receptacle is not allowed. While I agree that a receptacle in an out of the way location is not likely to get used for something else, if an inspector is paying attention and following codes he or she will not allow a dimmer to feed this receptacle.
 
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Old 12-02-07, 01:13 AM
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Then I need to hard wire it into an electrical box?
 
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Old 12-02-07, 01:25 AM
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If you place a recep in the trough specifically for the lighting. code compliant? would have to look but no inspector has ever tagged me on it.

rope lighting:

be cautious if this is your only light source in room. They are not typically bright enough to be a main lighting source for general use but are ok for accent or "mood" lighting.
 
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Old 12-02-07, 01:48 AM
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"Technically a dimmer feeding a receptacle is not allowed."

I did exactly that with two switched receps above our kitchen cabs to feed the upper rope lights and transformers for the low voltage under-cab pucks. One of the 600-watt dimmers has about 120 on it and the other has 60.

A buddy of mine -- an inspector -- said "If you decide to sell the house remember to change those dimmers to switches." He said the dimmers wouldn't cause any problems, but now you've got me thinking about insurance coverage in case something else goes wrong??

Lenny, when you mount the rope lights make sure they're able to be easily removed. Our rope lights are on from dusk til bedtime every day and add a nice night-light glow, but we've had to replace them twice since the remodel 7 years ago.
 
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Old 12-02-07, 08:07 AM
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Code is very clear on the issue. Even if the receptacles are out of the way where nobody would use them for something else, such as above the kitchen cabinets or at the level for this rope lights, and even if you use a simplex receptacle, it cannot be dimmed.

Now I agree, an inspector might let this go, and of course if it's not inspected (bad idea) it won't get caught.
 
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Old 12-02-07, 08:43 AM
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Bob, I remember we went through this all before but I still cannot remember where in the code it is listed.

Can you refresh my old mind?
 
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Old 12-02-07, 08:57 AM
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404.14E

This says (paraphrasing) that dimmer switches can only be sued to control permanently installed incandescent lighting.
 
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Old 12-02-07, 09:12 AM
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In this situation, how would the installation not fall within 404.14e? it would be a permanent situation and a plug and recep is an acceptable means as a disconnect for lighting fixtures (heck with that luminaire stuff).(see 410.30C)

the other section I was thinking of is 406.3F. Since the output of the recep would not consistently be identical to others on premises, I thought it to be applicable. If so, then simply an alternate 120 volt 15 or 20 amp recep (whichever is applicable) would solve that problem.

the other possibility would be a rope light that is hard wired so one could install a box and hard wire the lights in to that. That would remove the plug and recep question altogether.
 
 

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