How Far Apart Should Recessed Lights Be Spaced

For example recessed lighting spacing for an 8 foot high ceiling would be 4 feet between each light.

How far apart should recessed lights be spaced.

This formula is critical for lighting a space because if the lights are too far apart they will look like spotlights with big shadows between each other. If for example your ceiling is 10 feet high you should space your lights 5 feet apart. Overall the wattage should range from 2 1 2 to 3 per square foot. Keep each light close to 3 feet away from the walls or corners we don t want to cast shadows don t install recessed lighting with equal spacing between the lights and the walls.

Adjustable trims may be placed farther away from the wall. Wall wash fixtures should be spaced apart the same distance from each other. The result is the amount of space to leave between each light. Generally lighting professionals like those at capitol lighting recommend following the ceiling height rule for spacing recessed lights.

According to this rule you should divide your ceiling height by 2 to determine how far apart to space your lights. Spacing 0 7 8 feet 5 6 feet apart. If you do you end up with bright spots between the lights and dark edges. 4 inch bulbs should be 4 feet apart 5 inch bulbs should be 5 feet apart and 6 inch bulbs 6 feet.

Fixed trims should be placed closer to the wall. The general rule for installing wall wash recessed fixtures are about 1 5 to 3 feet away from the wall. Now do the same for the width of the room. A good general rule for placement if to divide the height of the ceiling by two.

So if your pot lights are 8 apart then lights should be 4 from the wall. If a 6 inch light has a spacing criteria of 1 5 and the ceiling height is 8 feet the maximum space between each light should be 12 feet. Measure the width of the room to determine the horizontal spacing between recessed lights repeat the above steps using the room s length measured in feet. Note that this is the maximum amount of recessed lighting spacing you should have between your light fixtures not necessarily a minimum.

If your lighting is arranged in a grid like these tennis balls the maximum distance calculated is on the diagonal. To avoid these effects cut the distance between each light in half.