recessed lights - did i put too many?


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Old 09-14-19, 06:09 PM
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recessed lights - did i put too many?

recessed lightsHi,

i need some help with the spacing of 4 inch recessed LED lights, 20W, 650 lumens - 65 watt equivalent with 90 degree spread, 4000K. 15 amp breaker 14/3 wire so i can put some on one switch and some on a second switch.

the room has lower ceiling height of about 7 foot and is about 19 feet wide by 17 feet long. To get the bulbs in without hitting beams i had to adjust where i started and how far apart i put each fixture. I basically started by measuring in 36 inches from each wall to determine the placement of the first fixture and did this in each corner of the room.

As i readh that i should space the lights 1/2 the height of the room (7 foot H / 2 = 3.5 feet) that gave me way too many lights so i decided to just place each light as close to 4 feet apart as i could and ended up 52 inches apart on the lenght and 56 incehs apart on the width.

I ended up with 4 row of 4 lights... but as i was reading some other sites i think i amy have gone over board a bit and now concerned the room will be excessively bright.

So does anyone think i should re-do this room or will 16 lights at 65 watts each be way to much light?

Also any thoguhts on the best way to group the lights? everyother light on a seperate switch was what i was thinking.

Thanks!
 
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Old 09-14-19, 06:34 PM
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I think you will be fine with that low ceiling height. You can adjust the amount the lights are recessed somewhat, plus you could put them on led dimmers if you think they are going to need adjustment.
 
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Old 09-14-19, 06:40 PM
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dimmer was a definate. Should i group them 8 and 8 so that not all the lights are on at once if not needed?

Is there a dimable 2 toggle switch? i only have room for a 1 gang box so has to be two toggle switch

thanks for the reply!
 
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Old 09-14-19, 06:54 PM
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Sure they make single gang dual dimmers, but you'd need to be sure the dimmer is rated for the amount of watts on each side of the switch.
 
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Old 09-15-19, 03:32 AM
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Just a couple thoughts.

First be sure that your LED's specify that they are dimmable.
If they do not specify dimmable then odds are they will not be dimmable.

Also determine how you will use the room in order to figure out how to gang your two lighting areas.
If the entire room is normally used for one activity then ganging every second one will be OK but lets say one part of the room is use for TV viewing and another for working at a desk then gang them so each area has it's own dimmer.

Your total amperage is 16 LEDs at 20 watts equals 320 watts divided by 120 volts is 2.7 amps.
 
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Old 09-15-19, 05:06 AM
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Also any thoguhts on the best way to group the lights? everyother light on a seperate switch was what i was thinking.
That would be odd. Most cases I will group them in section. You didn't add a plan so I can only generalize. Group ones above an island/peninsula, around the perimeter/work areas, and general lighting.
 
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Old 09-15-19, 07:41 AM
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The suggestion I have seen before for uniform room lighting is to have the first (and last) light's distance to the wall be half the distance from one light to another light.
 
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Old 09-15-19, 10:21 AM
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the room is labled a paly room in the panel and is just a big open room that lead out to the back yard and has a lot of windows. I wired them every other one and i think i does the job.

THe family room wil take more planing as there is a fire place, tv area etc..

They were listed as dimable so hopefully they work!
 
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Old 09-15-19, 10:24 AM
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one other thing i am now thinkng about is how to control the lights with the 3 way switch.

On the wall where you enter the room is a 14/2 power in line. Then i ran a 14/3 to the door going outside (typical 3 way). Now that i have 2 groups do i need another 14/3 wire or will a double 3 way work? Any one have a wireing diagram?
 
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Old 09-15-19, 10:49 AM
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If you want 3 way control of each bank of lights, you need to run two 14/3 cables over to the other location where you have two more 3 way switches.

You do not want a double 3 way switch with one toggle. Otherwise you can end up with the switch turning on one bank while turning off the other bank and vice versa.

You can if you wish to use double 3 way switches with two toggles each, typically covered with a duplex receptacle wall plate. Wiring is the same as for separate single 3 way switches except there may be a tab that might need to be bent back and forth until it snaps off..
 
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Old 09-15-19, 11:09 AM
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so if i use two double three way swithches i do not need a second 14/3 or do i need to run that second line no matter what? if so i think i am going tojust put a dimmer on them and call it. Too much work to take donw wall board to run the line now.
 
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Old 09-15-19, 01:35 PM
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Each three way circuit requires at least two switches and a piece of 14-3 between switch boxes.

So if you want two three way circuits.... you would need four three way switches and two 14-3 cables between switch boxes.
 
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Old 09-15-19, 02:52 PM
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thanks Pete,

i originally was just going to have one fixture and when i decided to put recessed i just assumed there was a way to group the lights and control from the switches w/o any more wires.

guess i'll just wire both black and red together and use a dimmer - no big deal as it is just general purpose room.

thanks all.
 
 

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