Basement gym.. how many recessed lights?

[MagicMarker]

I'm lighting up my basement gym... short ceilings at just over 7ft. The area is 20 x 12. Basic rectangle. How many cans do I need? Just space them out evenly?

Thanks

 

[Mustang51js]

Try and keep the max distance at 6 feet apart

 

[Stuff]

Cans are made for spot lighting. The lower the ceiling, the more noticeable. Check the specs as different cans/bulbs have different light patterns.

Troffers aren't pretty but are good for distributing light.

 

[chinboys]

I too have a similar height and area layout that I used 4 inch cans at 4 feet pitch to provide very adequate lighting. I learned all about them cones of darkness that one sees when one spaces their cans too far apart. yes it looks like overkill but it is the nature of can lights that cast a conical shape light beam that needs to overlap the other can lights.
you are free to come over to the house to see for yourself as I live in central NJ.

 

[hand]

I too have a similar space and height on one side of my basement.

I installed 12 6" cans (~625 lumens each, 90 CRI) in two parallel rows; cans within a row were approx. 3' apart, and the two rows are spaced approx. 5' apart.

I'm very happy with the amount of light provided, and if needed, dimmers allow me to easily dial down the brightness. If I was paying for installation per fixture, I could possibly get by with less, but this feels like the right amount of light for a work / workout space.

*************

Edited to add additional info:

Looking at the math, it appears I'm at ~30 foot candles for the basement.
(12 cans * 625 lumens / can = 7,500 lumens....
7,500 lumens / 240 square feet = 31.25 foot candles)

This compares favourably with recommendations for general living space that I've seen, but is not uncomfortably bright:


• Living Room – 10-20 foot candles

• Kitchen General – 30-40 foot candles

• Kitchen Stove – 70-80 foot candles

• Kitchen Sink – 70-80 foot candles

• Dining Room – 30-40 foot candles

• Bed Room – 10-20 foot candles

• Hallway – 5-10 foot candles

• Bathroom 70-80 foot candles

 

[dogdog]

I too have a similar height and area layout that I used 4 inch cans at 4 feet pitch to provide very adequate lighting. I learned all about them cones of darkness that one sees when one spaces their cans too far apart. yes it looks like overkill but it is the nature of can lights that cast a conical shape light beam that needs to overlap the other can lights.
you are free to come over to the house to see for yourself as I live in central NJ.

side question.
some pics ? I am in process of finishing mine not bym but looking for ideas

 

[OKDart]

Would these Pixi lights be a good alternative to recessed lights if you don't need spot lighting?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pixi-1-f...lat-Light-Luminaire-FLT14C40MDUP44/204750003?

 

[MagicMarker]

I'm lighting up my basement gym... short ceilings at just over 7ft. The area is 20 x 12. Basic rectangle. How many cans do I need? Just space them out evenly?

Thanks

This is the current layout.. three 60w LEDs from porcelain fixtures.



Completed project...

 

[cybrdyke]

Looking at the math, it appears I'm at ~30 foot candles for the basement.
(12 cans * 625 lumens / can = 7,500 lumens....
7,500 lumens / 240 square feet = 31.25 foot candles)

This is most definitely NOT the way to determine foot candles.

CD

 

[cybrdyke]

This is the current layout.. three 60w LEDs from porcelain fixtures.



**saved for completion shot/ will end up with nine 60w porcelain fixtures.**

Just keep in mind that cans will practically eliminate all the "bounce" you are currently getting from those exposed lamps off of your white walls. That reflectance helps fill in shadows. Also, a normal space would have some reflectance off of the floor. Since you have the black gym mats, you've also eliminated that source of reflectance. Try to make sure that whatever you choose, you'll shoot some of it onto the walls to eliminate contrasty-ness. (yes that's a real word)
Good luck,
CD

 

[MagicMarker]

So you can see the completed project photo above.

The section of the basement is nice and bright now... brighter than I anticipated.

My wife thinks it's overly bright as well. I'm thinking due to the low ceiling and the bulbs protruding down, that your eye is automatically drawn to the bulb which makes it "feel" too bright. Thoughts?

 

[ToddW]

I have a 23x23 office and I did 2 rows of 5 or maybe it was 4 and 5 since stairs take up some, mine looks much much brigther than yours, I think it may be do to there being a ceiling and/or the bulb color though.

I used two switches, and can turn off every other one depending on usage.

I have no complaints!

 

[MagicMarker]

Thinking of culling it down... remove all 8 lights and replace with 6 recessed.

 

[Abeo]

I'd experiment with putting in lower wattage lights (13W cfl if you have them handy?) rather than remove lights first... part of the problem is the LED lights are quite powerful and the glare from the bulb is harsh. Lower wattage bulbs will still fill in empty spots while easing the glare

And I'm in the EXACT same situation as you for my home gym.... keep us posted!

 

[hand]

This is most definitely NOT the way to determine foot candles.

CD

Care to elaborate or share a reference to the right way? I'm obviously not an expert, but every reference I've seen defines footcandle as lumen per square foot.

Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot-candle "one foot-candle is equal to one lumen per square foot"

 

[Wirepuller]

Care to elaborate or share a reference to the right way? I'm obviously not an expert, but every reference I've seen defines footcandle as lumen per square foot.



Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot-candle "one foot-candle is equal to one lumen per square foot"

Nope. He obviously doesn't care to elaborate. He just wanted say he knew more than you.

DB


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cybrdyke]

Care to elaborate or share a reference to the right way? I'm obviously not an expert, but every reference I've seen defines footcandle as lumen per square foot.

Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot-candle "one foot-candle is equal to one lumen per square foot"

Hand,
Happy to do it. I'll grant you that it's confusing. Alot of that confusion falls on the lighting industry for using terminology in odd ways. And they're not good at finding ways to educate the public about lighting, so you're certainly not alone.
Where this goes wrong for most people is the definition of foot-candles being lumens per square foot. Sounds easy. But they're not talking about the lumens that are coming from your lamp. They're talking about the lumens that fall onto a surface.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminance

This means that the lumens that your lamp delivers (650) dont all hit the target. Lots of them are lost in your cans. The rest come out of the can at 120 degrees. Some are absorbed into materials. Others bounce all over the place. And what if your ceiling was 50' high? The light wouldn't reach the target. In order to know where your lumens were going, you would need the can's photometric data.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photometry_(optics)
This is what shows you the pattern and intensity of the light delivered by the fixture (not the lamp in it).
Unless you have access to photometric data and a hankering to do some serious calculating, you need a light meter to determine how many foot-candles you have.
I have seen all the posts here about lumens per square foot. I know it has confused people and the real problem is that if you were to use that as a guideline, it will usually end up giving the person far too little light. It was my hope to try to help make sure that didn't happen to folks.
Anyway, hope that helps.
Good luck,
CD

 

[MagicMarker]

Based on the 7' ceilings and the area (~20 x 12) do you guys think I would be happy with six 6" cans or eight of them?

 

[MagicMarker]

So pulled apart the eight porcelain fixtures w/ 60w LEDs.... and replaced them with six recessed 75w LED's. While I was at it, I ceiling mounted the LCD. Overall I'm a lot happier with the recessed. Don't have to stare at the bulbs and the ceiling "feels" taller.

Although the area behind the LCD is just dark.. as in kinda looks weird, but not using that space in general. I'm thinking of putting up some kind of wall covering to hide the pipes.