I’ve been designing the layout for the lighting in our formal area, and just wanted to run it past people here before proceeding. The basic idea is for the secondary lighting illuminating the walls to act as a comfortable ambient source under normal circumstances, with the central overhead lights kicking in for the odd occasion when bright lights are needed (cleaning up, entertaining, etc). To that end I was going to put 8 x 6" recessed fixtures into the central portion of the tray ceiling, which would have been sufficient to light up the area on their own. But the more I thought about it, the more I considered that it was overkill, as it’s not like our kitchen, where I put in 10 units to give plenty of bright lighting where it was needed, regardless of the ambient lights I put under the cabinets and illuminating the wall space. The central lights in the formal area would be rarely used, so rather than setting them up as a major light source on their own, I figured all I had to do was think of them as supplementary illumination to the other lights, meaning that if I wanted to brighten the area up, ALL the lights would be switched on together. So I cut the design back from 8 central lights to just 4 in the middle of the tray ceiling, spaced about 5’ apart. With two dual globe sconces either side of the window, and five x 4” (45 watt) cans lighting up the walls around the room, there’d be around 500 watts (max.) of lighting for ambient purposes. The four central lights would kick in another 260 watts. That should be plenty for a lounge area, yes? There’s also 3 pendant lights hanging down from the bar throwing in some more ambient light, though they’re controlled from the dining area. Notes on plan shown in picture at - [url=http://s1007.photobucket.com/albums/af194/timbo59/?action=view¤t=3d937fcb.jpg]lighting layout for lounge picture by timbo59 - Photobucket[/url] 1) Room is 20' x 14' 2) dotted lines show edge of tray ceiling I've just installed, as well as truss placement. 3) Color code for lights is as follows a) Green represents the sconces b) Red represents the 4" recessed eyeball lights c) Blue represents the 6" +recessed lights d) Yellow represents the bar pendant lights If anyone could give me some feedback on the proposed layout I'd appreciate it, as I'm only a few days away from making the cutouts in the ceiling for the recessed lights.

I am insulating my attic, and have found that my bathroom directly bellow the attic has recessed lighting in a non IC rated fixture. The fixture is surrounded by a metal box that is 3" away from the fixture. The fixture is 12v, and I am planning on using LED 12v lights to reduce the heat, among other reasons. Do I need to change the fixture, or is the box that surrounds it good enough to protect it from the insulation? Thank you very much, Fed