Laying out lights in a large multipurpose room

[branimal]

I am installing 4” dimmable LED recessed lights in a great room. The room is 23' 1/2" x 22' 1/4”. (281” x 265”). Ceiling is 10’1”. There is a kitchen in one corner and the rest of the space is free floating for dining and living space.

My question is how do you space the lighting in the room. I’d like to start by placing lights in the kitchen and then work my spacing out to the rest of the room.

My kitchen cabinets are 24” deep. Should I place my first light off the kitchen wall at 30”? That should provide ample lighting for the countertop space. And then center the next light on the kitchen peninsula? That works out to 5’" feet from the first light. The peninsula is drawn incorrectly in the diagram - it should be 38” wide. I extended it in pencil. The rest of the lights (3 more for a total of 5) in that column run at 4’ 6" spacing so that the 5th light ends up 30” from the opposing wall. Will the transition from 5' spacing to 4'6" foot spacing be obvious?

I will apply the same logic on the row of lights. Start at 33” off the wall, then space the next 3 lights (total of 4) 5’6” apart. That will leave the forth light 34 1/2” off the opposing wall.

All of the lights will be lithonia bright white 3000K 4” LED on a lutron dimmer EXCEPT the lights by the fireplace and brick wall which will be 4” recessed gimbals.

Light output is 675 lumens. At 10’ the beam spread is 24'
There are upper cabinets on the back wall where the sink is. No cabinets over the peninsula. There will be a range hood with a light over the cooking surface.
Is this a sound lighting plan? Are there too many lights in the room?

THANKS!!

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[PhysicsDude]

I would partition the kitchen off and light it separately. You're going to want close to 2X the amount of light in the kitchen as the rest of the room.

Maybe consider having a row of lights (~5) across the "peninsula", perhaps some hanging pendant lights, and then ~3 lights on the side with the dishwasher and refrigerator.

My kitchen is about the same size and layout as yours, but is not open on one side. I lit it using (7) 5" recessed lights, which put out 700-800 lumens, very similar to your lights, except I have lower ceilings. I think with my (7) 5" lights, the amount of light is very good, exactly what I wanted. 6 lights would have done the job just fine also, but 4 would have been inadequate.

I placed my lights 28" away from the top cabinets, which is about 15" away from the edge of the countertop, and 40" from the wall. I can't really comment on where to put yours because of the difference in ceiling height, but I think 30" is a bit too close to the wall.

Here's a picture to give you an idea, its almost 15 feet from the far doorway to the end of the countertop/fridge. Its still a work in progress, obviously.

 

[branimal]

Thanks physics dude. Your pic didn’t post.


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[branimal]

I placed my lights 28" away from the top cabinets, which is about 15" away from the edge of the countertop, and 40" from the wall. I can't really comment on where to put yours because of the difference in ceiling height, but I think 30" is a bit too close to the wall.

Good call on the spacing.. 30” is way too close.


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[PhysicsDude]

Thanks physics dude. Your pic didn’t post.


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Sorry, still adjusting to a post-Photobucket world.