I am finishing my basement and looking to install 6" recessed can lights into a room. I will more than likely end up with a bezel/trim that allows the bulb to be flush with the ceiling as opposed to the deep recessed trims. My ceilings are roughly 7 1/2 feet high. The room is 16'x10' roughly. Is 6 can lights enough? How far should the spacing be between lights? I was thiking 2 rows of 3. In regards to the 10' width I was thinking of installing them 3' from the side wall with a spacing of 4' between the lights. With the 16'length I was thinking of starting them about 4' from the wall and spacing them every 4'.

Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Welcome to the forums!

We'll need more information to answer those questions. What lamps are you planning to install? What is the lumen output of each lamp, What is the shape of the coverage cone for those lamps?

What do you plan to use the space for? How bright do you want it to be when the lights are on at full power? Will you have other light sources in the room?

That will make the ends of the room darker than the other areas. I would consider installing 4 pairs of fixtures and installing the end pairs 2' off the 10' walls.

 

With what Bill said, I would consider, rather than trims, LED's. They come with trim rings, sit almost flat to the ceiling surface, give off excellent light and are dimmable.

 

Here is a link that should be helpful. They have a free on-line layout tool and lamp information. For a normal room your size they calc six fixtures of over 427 lumens each. Their Lamp data table has several LED lamp options that would work for you. With the lower ceiling I would go with eight fixtures as you will not get the same beam spread as you would with a full height ceiling. Wall and ceiling color will also effect reflectance so you will have to think about that if you have dark paneling or paint.


Recessed Lighting Made Simple - Expert advice to make recessed lighting simple

 

I would stick with six 6" fixtures. Eight will just look funny IMO. By going with six fixtures, you will have a pretty symmetrical layout. Looking down the room lengthwise, from left to right I would do a spacing of 2.5 ft / 5 ft / 2.5 ft and widthwise I would do 3 ft / 5 ft / 5 ft / 3 ft. If you decide to go with eight fixtures, I would downsize to a 4" fixture.

 

There pretty much aren't any 4" fixtures, or bulbs to fit them, that are adequate for general lighting. I would install the 6" fixtures with either layout. They're less expensive, have more trim options, and can be fitted with more types of bulbs.

The LED trims that Chandler suggested aren't a bad option either.

 

Not true (*at The Home Depot). I have 4" fixtures throughout my kitchen and office. PAR20 bulbs are available at HD, but I typically order online in bulk. This is the can I used: Halo 4 in. Air-Tite Remodel Housing-H99RTAT

Two rows of four 6" cans spaced 3 ft apart would look ridiculous, not to mention overkill.

 

Thank you for sharing. Nobody has suggested that.

If that's what you understood me to say, I'm not surprised that you're arguing against it. What I actually said wasThat's true in my experience. YMMV.

Mod Note: The post that started this thread is the only post the OP has made. That's also the last time he was on the forum. We're yakking among ourselves here. It may be time to close this one to further posts.

 

I did overlook the "adequate" statement. My bad. The OP probably already installed his lights. No further comments on my part

 

Hey, no harm, no foul, and the candor in this reply is a great reminder to all of us to "Read twice, post once." That's certainly one I can use.

Cheers!