Recessed light spacing in soffit

[karsty]

I have a 22x22 garage with a dutch gable style roof(1.5' overhangs around the entire perimeter). I plan on putting pot lights(cans, recessed lights, whatever you want to call them) in the soffit around the perimeter of the building. I was thinking of 2 per side, and installing them about 4' in from each corner, that way the corners will stay brighter, instead of getting dark from not enough light.

The spacing of the pot lights on each side would basically be 4' in from end, pot light, 17' space, pot light, 4' space to the end. The soffit is roughly 9.5' from the ground, so my biggest concern is light distribution. I want to use 65W BR40 flood light bulbs, and they sit just a tad lower than the trim rings so the light is distributed down and out.

So I'm basically wondering, is this spacing and type of light going to be adequate so that the entire length of each side of the garage is lit up nicely? Should I had more pot lights? Different bulbs? I don't want it crazy bright, just enough so there's no big dark spots between the lights.

All suggestions welcome. Thanks!

 

[karsty]

Anyone?

Will be installing these tomorrow night and need some guidance first.

 

[ddawg16]

Don't think people are ignoring you...they just don't have the answer......

I might....

I have a 2' overhang on the front of my garage. I placed 3 6" cans in that overhang pretty much evenly spaced with the garage door (15'). Lights are about 4' apart...using 23w CFL's.

This was a little light test.

First photo with the middle buld removed.

Second photo with all 3 bulbs in.

 

[karsty]

Ya, I know I'm not being ignored. It's just that this little project came up last minute and it has to get done tonight, so I needed some help ASAP.

Lights look good John. 23w CFL's are about a 100W incandescent equivalent based on a quick Google search. They look like they are just enough light at 4' apart. I'm starting to wonder if my 65W incandescents will be enough? Should I maybe go with 90W PAR38 halogens?

My lights will be used to light up a walkway on one side(along a parallel fence about 4' away), the garage O/H door/driveway on another side, and the backyard on another side. The last side faces the street so I wasnt going to put anything there.

Am I better off to keep the spacing even(8'-4") along each side rather than my planned 4'/17'/4' spacing? I've never installed recessed lights before so I don't really know if I should be going for even light distribution all along the side, or just accent lighting?

 

[bczygan]

It depends on the lumens and the spread and what you are lighting. Higher watts and lumens you have more light to work with. Are you trying to light the area outside the building or trying to wash light evenly on the surface of the building. There are different trims and types of cans and lamps (Bulbs) for different purposes. Lamps can be flood, spot or narrow spot. Cans can be reflector or eyeball. Look online at Halo and other mfgs. They will have beam spread charts to compare. http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/lighting/brands/halo.html

Also, do you want incandescent, fluorescent or LED?

If it was me, I would look at the building and it's surroundings. If it had a sidewalk around part of it I would want some kind of even lighting along the length of it. This can be accomplished by a post light in the yard along side the walk and/or wall mounted lights on the building adjacent to the walk. Ground mounted walkway landscape lights can also help define and light a walk. I have solar powered LED ones on my front walk. I wouldn't try to light a back side of a building that just faces a fence. Soffit lights are going to wash light on the wall of the building so placement is critical. Distance from the face of the building, spacing and the beam spread of the bulb/can combo can either give a fairly even wash or just a point of light with dark areas between. If the front of the building is visible from the street and has architectural interest I would try to highlight it with light. If it was the gable end with no eave I would wash the wall with wall mounted lights that project light both upwards and downwards. One on each side of the garage door. A fixture for general area illumination could project light down from the middle of the gable end above. Choose a fixture for this location that sends light mostly down. If the side of the building is what is viewable from the street and you want to light up the side I would wash the corners as you mentioned to show the extent of the building, but would also plant shrubs and or trees to soften the side and use ground mounted lights to wash the plantings from below and anchor the building to the ground.
Basically choose where lighting is to provide practical illumination for walking or access to the building and surrounding areas, and when it is to be used to show off the architecture of the building. Then choose the fixture type and style that accommodates that. Any questions?

One more thing. There needs to be areas of relative darkness to accentuate the more well lit areas. Think of a rhythm. Don't light everything to the same level.
Have you got photos?

Bill
Architectural Designer in Detroit

 

[Kevro]

There probably isn't one "correct" answer. It all depends on what you like, color of the walls, fence, etc. The website for the cans/trims might have specs on how big a cone of light each can will produce from a given height, distance from wall, etc. that you can use to help determine spacing. There's also some software somewhere that lets you simulate your proposed design. There's a plugin for Google Sketchup that can do it too.

I would suggest waiting until it's dark outside, and wire up the cans temporarily with romex and a plug on the end, and experiment with placement before cutting holes. Duct tape might work, or some spare romex or coat hangars hanging from the gutters.

65W floods put out decent light - try them first, and change bulbs if you don't like them. And I'd recommend a dimmer switch if you're not already planning to use one, but be mindful of the wattage. Most dimmers can handle 600 watts, which will hold 9 or so 65W bulbs. If you upsize to 90W, you'll either have to get a 1000W dimmer, split the load up among multiple switches, or use fewer cans. HTH!

 

[VHF]

Am I better off to keep the spacing even(8'-4") along each side rather than my planned 4'/17'/4' spacing?

Not sure if 2 can lights is enough for what you want to acomplish, but 17' between them sounds like it will give you a dark spot in the middle. On the other hand the even spacing will leave the ends darker.

If you do stick with 2 cans, how about a compromise on the spacing? 6'3"/12'6"/6'3"

 

[karsty]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I like the idea of lighting up the corners a bit more. This will provide that "relative darkness" as was mentioned, rather than having light all along the entire length of each side. The side facing the backyard(and my deck and house) is in no way supposed to light up the entire yard. I want the light to wash against the wall at each light to create accents. The side against the fence is where I was more concerned with the light spacing, because it's a walkway. I don't think I'll end up with any super dark areas if I go with the 4/17/4 spacing(hopefully), but I want enough light in that 17' area that people will still be able to see ok. Will put a light on each side of the garage door as mentioned.

The trim that I'm using doesnt have a reflector on it, but the I'm using flood light bulbs that point down and out(not up) so I don't need a reflector. The bulb sticks slightly lower than the trim ring as well, so any available light will be given off. The lights will be mounted in the middle of the 1'-6" overhang so that will light up the walls good, but still provide plenty of light on the ground I think.

Good call on the dimmer switch Kevro. I will look into that for sure!

Not sure if 2 can lights is enough for what you want to acomplish, but 17' between them sounds like it will give you a dark spot in the middle. On the other hand the even spacing will leave the ends darker.

If you do stick with 2 cans, how about a compromise on the spacing? 6'3"/12'6"/6'3"

I like the idea of the corners being a bit brighter. Also the reason I even thought of the idea to have a light 4' from the end is because on the one side the center of my mandoor is 4' from the end, so the light will be right above the door. So I figured I'd match this 4' spacing all around so it matches and looks good. I suppose I could change the spacing on opposite ends of the building because you won't see both sets of lights all at once.

I might pick up a few more lights just in case I decide to throw in 3 per side or something.

 

[royalton10]

I think you are going to be pretty disappointed with the results of just 2 lights in 22 feet.
In our great room that is 24 feet wide, about 9 feet to ceiling, we used five lights in that width. It lights the room very well without shadows.

I think you are looking at outside lighting. You need to be upping your fixture totals in my thoughts. Just an opinion.

 

[karsty]

I think you are going to be pretty disappointed with the results of just 2 lights in 22 feet.
In our great room that is 24 feet wide, about 9 feet to ceiling, we used five lights in that width. It lights the room very well without shadows.

I think you are looking at outside lighting. You need to be upping your fixture totals in my thoughts. Just an opinion.

In your great room you were obviously looking for seamless light everywhere with no shadows. That's not my goal with my recessed lights on my garage. I know I will have some shadows with only 2 lights per side. But that's ok, because I don't really want 100% light across the entire side. I just don't want areas that are dark so that's it's hard to see. I really don't think I will have that problem though. But maybe I'll be wrong once I see the lights in action, who knows.

Anyways, my friend and I installed the lights tonight and decided to go with VHF's advise and go with the 6'-3"/12'-6"/6'-3" spacing. There will be less dark space in the middle and the corners will still be lit up fairly well. From light point to light point, is 12'-6" all the way around the garage which should look pretty good.

I'll update again, when I test the lights out. Maybe I'll get some pics too.

Thanks again everone.