We just bought a new house and my wife wants recessed lights in the master bedroom. I've installed many myself in our old house but ran into a question last night as I was surveying the job. There is unfinished attic space above us with batt insulation. The attic will never be used as finished space or even for storage. But I noticed the joists there are 2x6 and not 2x8 that are used for the 1st and 2nd story floors. Standard 5 inch cans are 7 inches tall and would be above the joists. However, shallow cans often result in the light bulb being at the roof line or even below it (I prefer regular incandescent bulbs and not halogens - regular incandescents don't appear to have short neck models). The other option is 4 inch cans but then I would likely have to install more cans overall. So the question is, because the attic is unfinished and unusable space, could I just use the standard height, IC rated 5" cans even though they will jut out about an inch or two above the joists?

Check out the attached photo... I've done a lot of electrical work on my DC motorcycle, but home stuff is a new animal for me. I've installed a ceiling fan, but that had one black, one white, and one ground. I'm not sure what to make of three white, three black, and one ground. One of each white and black are always hot, regardless of wall switch position (see photo). Everything else is never hot. The fixture only has one black, one white, and one ground. (yes, I indeed turned off the breaker after testing). [ATTACH]17081[/ATTACH]