lighting
Space your fixtures evenly. You now know your wattage and the number of can lights your room needs, but spacing them evenly is just as important. Measure at least 2 feet off all your walls onto the ceiling to start. Aim to divide your can lights around the room evenly and leave at least 2 feet between each fixture. Of course these are general guidelines, and you may need to do some tweaking depending on the space. Focus on balance and don't worry if you need to remove or add a can light to get it right.
Determine the right number of fixtures. Once you have the total number of watts you'll need, divide it by the wattage of the bulb you'd like to use. This will give you the total number of recessed fixtures you'll need in that space. For example: If your room needs 510 watts of total light, and you want to use 60-watt bulbs (the average wattage of a can lightbulb), eight or nine bulbs should sufficiently light the space. Tip: LED downlights are growing in popularity as an alternative to halogen globes. But the wattage can be confusing on LED bulbs. For example, an LED with a wattage of 5 to 8 is equivalent to a halogen wattage of 40 to 60. Comparison details are typically marked on the packaging.
Find your total wattage. Here's a handy formula to figure out how much light your room needs: Multiply the length of the room by the width to find the total area. Multiply the area by 1.5; this is the total wattage you'll need to light the room. For example: If your room is 17 feet wide and 20 feet long, the total area is 340 square feet. Multiply 340 by 1.5, and you'll get 510, so you'll need 510 watts of total light to efficiently light your room. Tip: When installing downlights in your kitchen, use a mix of wide-angle downlights for ambient lighting and narrow-beam downlights for task lighting over your stove, sink and counters.
The latest LED product to come on the market is known as the smart bulb, because you can control it from your smart phone, tablet or Wi-Fi network. With apps and products like the Philips Hue Lightbulb and others still in the works you can change the color and brightness of the bulb and set different lighting effects. Because LEDs come in all colors of the spectrum and are highly customizable, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
Recessed cans are available as self-contained modules with the LED light built into the housing or a simple LED recessed can lightbulb. An LED recessed can module has its own engine to remove heat, so it lasts longer and produces better-quality light than simple LED bulbs. A high-performance LED module costs about $80, and an economy module is about $45.
Rope lighting works well for outdoor applications, because it's encased in a durable plastic tubing. It's perfect for patios, railings, walkways, stairs and landscape edging.
Rope is a round plastic or rubber tube that houses LED chips, typically 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter. Rope is not as bright as tape or strips, and tends to give off a bluer lig
Color-changing strip lighting in this kitchen casts a soft blue glow behind the custom glass backsplash. The lighting shifts between various colors throughout the day and night. The average cost for a decent-quality LED color-changing system is $500 for 17 feet with a controller and driver.
Color-changing tape works with a remote control to change the colors. You can program color-changing tape (also known as ribbon) to stay a certain color, fade in and out, flash or even sync with music.
Color-changing LED tape in this ceiling cove casts different hues around the perimeter of the room. The lighting transitions from white to warm amber, much like the sunlight does as it cycles from day to evening.
Puck lights under these bookshelves create pools of light and dark for drama and task lighting. Pucks tend to produce areas of brightness and darkness, whereas LED tape and strips provide an even distribution of light.
Puck lights work well under cabinets, inside cabinets and in niches. The discs come as battery-powered or plug-in units, sold individually or in kits in a wide range of prices, from about $10 to $80.
Under this kitchen cabinet, six energy-saving LED recessed puck lights illuminate the countertop work area while highlighting the quartzite backsplash. LED puck lights are a great replacement for xenon puck lighting fixtures, which give off heat.
Strips have multiple LED chips built into a metal enclosure covered by an acrylic shield. They tend to be brighter than LED tape, because they have more chips. This LED strip generates over 360 lumens per foot, has a choice of multiple color temperatures and is dimmable. LED strips come in 10-, 20- and 40-inch lengths and range in price from $99 to $200, depending on length and quality.
Tape lighting illuminates the upper edge of each of these stairs. It's ideal for lighting stairways at night; someone can take the stairs without having to turn on all the overhead lights.
Tape lighting under this vanity gives the vanity the appearance that it's floating in space. Tape is ideal for illuminating small spaces such as coves, niches and under countertops. It has a higher lumen output (brightness) than LED rope lighting.
When considering tape for kitchen and bathroom applications, it's a good idea to go with coated tape. It is more durable where chips are exposed to heat, moisture and food spills. Noncoated tape works best in areas such as inside cabinets where the chips aren’t exposed to damaging elements. The cost of a decent-quality LED tape is about $8 to $10 per foot plus the cost of a driver to power it, which starts at $150.
Ultrabright flexible strips are perfect for under cabinets, in offices and in other areas requiring a great amount of light. Superbright is the middle range of brightness and works great in spaces that need some light but not too much. Normal bright is perfect for accent lighting, such as for above cabinets, inside cabinets, in coves and around toe kicks, and for lighting art and more.
LED flex strip lighting
LED tape is a flexible circuit board with attached LED chips that can be cut to size. The chips are dots of light spaced approximately every 5/8 inch; they come in different levels of brightness. The strips have a self-adhesive backing, making them easy to install almost anywhere.
ceiling light
Q