Canless lights….how many?

[alex2929]

I am working on lights in a “bar” room. It is 20x24. The ceiling is rusty metal and the walls will be primarily gray. The lights I have are 12w and around 875 Lumen. How many would you suggest in a room like this or what would be an adequate foot candle amount to go for? I don’t want it to be a tanning booth but want to be able to play cards, etc in there. I will probably have them on a dimmer too.

 

[cybrdyke]

Typical school classroom is 45fc. Typical grocery store is about 45fc. A warehouse is about 10fc.
A darkly lit bar is about 5fc.
All those figures are variable.
I'd shoot for 20-30fc and add a dimmer.
Good luck,
CD

 

[billconner]

You don't say how tall the ceiling is but I'd say 16 - 5' x 6' centers. It should put you in that 20-30 range. Good dimming - more the fixture when LED than the dimmer - as I think you will want less than 5 FC at times. I'd put a darkened room more at 1 to 2 FC.

 

[duneslider]

One thing that made a difference for me in a larger area like this was to put in several zones. This way when I want it pretty dark I can turn most off completely and then dim one zone down quite a bit. This also allowed me to put in more lights and have the ability to have it be plenty bright for the times I want it that way.

I can have lights off near the tv but then where the table is for games I can have a bit of variable light depending on what games are being played and we can turn everything on to make it bright when cleaning or other activities that benefit from extra light. Some of the lights rarely get turned on.

 

[alex2929]

10’ ceilings. I was thinking 25 fc. We are in the ball park. Thanks

 

[dcg9381]

This was too many (kitchen):

 

[alex2929]

This was too many (kitchen):

That’s tough for me to figure out. How many lights and how big is the kitchen??

 

[billconner]

I have 10 in my 12x16 kitchen - approximately 1 per 20 sq ft - denser than my above suggested 1 per 30 sq ft. I have them on three dimmers and they are usually dimmed but I like the diffuse and nearly shadowless light of many sources. they are also aligned directly above the counter edge.

 

[dcg9381]

That’s tough for me to figure out. How many lights and how big is the kitchen??

Roughly 13' x 18'.

 

[Mr_fixit]

Too many? it won't be in 20 years, when you're old. That's what a dimmer is for.