installing recessed led lighting in a basement

[zoad]

I have a finished basement with what appears to be 7 foot ceilings. I will measure tonight. Currently, I have two standard light fixtures that each hold 3 incandescent bulbs. Normal out of the 70's kind of setup with the flat glass cover that catches all the bugs.

Anyway, I've been thinking about installing recessed lightning, specifically low voltage/wattage LED lights. I figure 8 or so set up into two zones should do the trick with a dimmer for each. My media center is in the basement, so I want the ability to dim the lights and control zones, something I currently do not have.

With lower than normal ceilings, is going with canned lights a bad idea? What would be a better solution than a recessed light? I thought about putting two separate light bars on the sides and directing the lights that way, but its not an elegant solution and would look pretty crappy imho.

I think Halogen bulbs would get too hot as well.

Slag/Zoad

 

[Malak]

8 seems a lot. What are the dimensions of this basement?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

why didn't you migrate your old account slag?

 

[Fritzo]

I think they have low profile lights available now for these situations.

 

[BurnItDwn]

when you say 7 foot ceilings, do you mean 7 feet from floor joist to the basement floor? Or what?

Usually can lights are low enough profile that they don't even need to hang below the floor joists from above.

I have a 10 x 27 area in my basement. Took out two big flourescent fixtures and installed 6 can lights. In the process of making it into a home theater. Put 3 of them on a 3 way switch (so I can turn them off/on from the top of my stairs or the bottom of my stairs) and just stuck 40 watt bulbs in there (went incandescent as I was going to go with a dimmer, but I've since decided not to, so I'll change them to CFL's when they burn out.) I stuck 3 75 watt halogen's in the back of the room (which will be farthest from the screen.) Plenty of lighting to work with, and make for nice visibillity when I eventually want to hook up my reciever, HTPC, dvd player, etc all in an AV cubby, in the back of the room.

LED's are nice, but I didn't go with them simply due to cost. I figure eventually LED bulbs will come down in price, and then I can just stick them in the existing housings I'm using for my 6 can lights ....

 

[zoad]

why didn't you migrate your old account slag?

I did, I just have no ability to post or reply to a thread with that account. I have an open issue about that problem in the technical thread since the day of the conversion that Allisolm is now taking a look at.

 

[zoad]

when you say 7 foot ceilings, do you mean 7 feet from floor joist to the basement floor? Or what?

Usually can lights are low enough profile that they don't even need to hang below the floor joists from above.

I have a 10 x 27 area in my basement. Took out two big flourescent fixtures and installed 6 can lights. In the process of making it into a home theater. Put 3 of them on a 3 way switch (so I can turn them off/on from the top of my stairs or the bottom of my stairs) and just stuck 40 watt bulbs in there (went incandescent as I was going to go with a dimmer, but I've since decided not to, so I'll change them to CFL's when they burn out.) I stuck 3 75 watt halogen's in the back of the room (which will be farthest from the screen.) Plenty of lighting to work with, and make for nice visibillity when I eventually want to hook up my reciever, HTPC, dvd player, etc all in an AV cubby, in the back of the room.

LED's are nice, but I didn't go with them simply due to cost. I figure eventually LED bulbs will come down in price, and then I can just stick them in the existing housings I'm using for my 6 can lights ....

I am thinking 7 feet from floor to finished ceiling. I'll measure tonight. I would also think my basement is probably close to the dimensions of yours.. probably 12x25 or so with separate rooms off the side for laundry and den. The LEDs I'm looking at are 3 watt which does not directly translate to wattage of incandescent lights, but still, 6 doesn't seem like quite enough while 10 seemed like overkill. Its always been a bit dark in the basement and with these on full, it should provide the light I need.

What pattern did you install yours. just two rows of 3, spaced evenly?

 

[zoad]

I think they have low profile lights available now for these situations.

if you get a chance, would you mind posting a link to an example so I can get an idea of what specifically you are talking about?

 

[slag]

nifty

 

[BurnItDwn]

I am thinking 7 feet from floor to finished ceiling. I'll measure tonight. I would also think my basement is probably close to the dimensions of yours.. probably 12x25 or so with separate rooms off the side for laundry and den. The LEDs I'm looking at are 3 watt which does not directly translate to wattage of incandescent lights, but still, 6 doesn't seem like quite enough while 10 seemed like overkill. Its always been a bit dark in the basement and with these on full, it should provide the light I need.

What pattern did you install yours. just two rows of 3, spaced evenly?

Well, because I'm going to use the room as a theater, I used an abnormal pattern .....
Basicly have an L shape of the lights ... with one side being lit for use as an aisleway, and because all of my DVD shelving will be against that wall, then I'll be able to see all the movies .... And then the 3 along the back to light up where I plan to put a small bar, counter, popcorn maker, microwave, and frige .... as well as my AV area ....

If I wanted to light up the whole room, I could probably do it with the 6 can lights if I put them in two rows and just went with 75 watt Halogen or equivalent .... or with 8 comparable to 60 watt incandescent.... But my goal is to light the back of the room up well, and provide some lighting to the rest of the room ..... enough so that I can use the room for something other than a theater if I want to .... though I doubt it'll get any other use outside of TV/Movies and gaming .... (of course given the pace at which I work on it, it won't be done for like 2 more years .. lol) ... the never ending project

 

[hellman69]

if you get a chance, would you mind posting a link to an example so I can get an idea of what specifically you are talking about?

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...7RT&lpage=none