Basement Lighting

[SkunkedAgain]

I'm on to the electrical portion of my basement renovation - finally. I'm putting about 15 recessed lights into my 33x15ft room. I only have 7ft ceilings so recessed lights are the main way to go. I'd like a few wall sconces to splash light onto the ceiling but assume you'd normally stick those around 6-6.5ft off the ground, essentially creating a spotlight on the ceiling instead of a nice light spread.

Besides using lamps (I want it all to be switched), are there any other lighting options to provide some light on the ceilings?

I'm using 6" cans with white baffles.

[LightningBG]

The reflections of the lights should light up the ceiling ok.

I have recessed in the basement of a rental house I have. The ceiling is plenty bright (but it is higher, but that shouldn't matter)

A couple things to consider.

1. I think you'll want to put those cans on a couple different switches and maybe a couple different breakers.

2. Might want to put them on dimmer switches, so you can have an in between option.

3. You can lower the bulbs in the fixtures and use flood bulbs, vs spot bulbs to spread the light out more.

4. There might be some sort of enclosed sconce that wouldn't shoot the light straight up .

[LightningBG]

Another thing to consider is spacing. Intuitively you may just split the room up and evenly space the lights. The problem is, if the lights are overlapping in the center and missing out on the edges. You'll also want to consider the bulbs your using when spacing the cans. See below. When I did my basement I pushed the outer rows out towards the walls a little more.

[CaptainBly]

I would agree about putting the lights on a couple different switches or dimmers. With the dimmers make sure you get the right wattage for the dimmer.

With 15 can lights at 65 watts each that's only a little over 8 amps. I don't know what you all have going in, but if want you could put lights on one and outlets on another. Might be a little overkill.

Not sure if you know, but you'll need to have arc-fault breakers for new circuits and tamper-resistant outlets.

[delcecchi]

If you put in dimmers you will be *****d when all you can buy is compact flourescents. Yeah, they make them that are "dimable" but read the restrictions.

If I were putting in lights I would do it with CFL in mind.

[CaptainBly]

You can buy LED bulbs too

[JohnMickish]

You can buy dimmable CFL floods, LEDs that are all dimmable and you can also purchase an electronic dimmer that works with flourescent lighting. You can buy can lights that use the 2 or 4 pin flourescent lamps that have dimmable ballast in them. There are lots of options out there if being energy efficient is your goal.

If you push your can lights to about 12-16" off the wall you will get the wall washing effect you are looking for. You can also add some lights along the wall with wall washing trims if you want to keep the main lighting off the wall. No, home depot dosen't sell this sort of trim.

Do yourself a favor, before you commit to your design and style, go visit that lighting place on 94 and Snelling. It's spendy but if you go in there just to see what kind of lighting is available you can shop for a price.

I've been lucky enough to have installed some serious high dollar lighting systems and when done right the results are absolutely amaizing.

[Tom7227]

15 seems like over kill to me unless you're going to do some pretty intense stuff in there like brain surgery. I agree that you should have at least 3 different switches so you can tune it down. The dimmable thing would be great but the compact florescent thing is a PITA. Nothing wrong with a table lamp or two as well. Creative Lighting on the south side of 94 about 2 blocks west of Snelling is a great place but I don't know if they'll spend a lot of time designing a setup for you. Good luck.

[pureinsanity]

BUY BULBS IN BULK, and save them

[Eckie]

15 seems like over kill to me unless you're going to do some pretty intense stuff in there like brain surgery. I agree that you should have at least 3 different switches so you can tune it down. The dimmable thing would be great but the compact florescent thing is a PITA. Nothing wrong with a table lamp or two as well. Creative Lighting on the south side of 94 about 2 blocks west of Snelling is a great place but I don't know if they'll spend a lot of time designing a setup for you. Good luck.

+1

I just did a similar set-up (size of room) and used 8 cans. 4 in my theater area (on two dimmers)and 4 in the play / bar area (on one switch). This was more than enough light.

I also added a couple of outlets in the ceiling, in case I want to add a pool table and pool table light. Added another where I'll add a projector. I also wired for a hdmi cable next to it and ran a 40 ft hdmi cable through the ceiling.

Never know what changes you'll make in the future, but better to think of these details now before you sheetrock. I didn't want to be saying, "I wish I would've.........."

[LightningBG]

BUY BULBS IN BULK, and save them

I've actually been doing that. Every time I got to Target or Wally world I pick up a couple 4 packs. I'm fine using CFL's for some stuff, but for some, I really want the good old bulbs (like in the garage), where I want bright light "now" and can have cold temps.

[pureinsanity]

The ol lady bought CFL Flood lights for our kitchen on accident... I HATE em. now before I do anything in the kitchen I turn them on and go do something else for a few mins.

Maybe I should line my house with LED light strips like we all use in our fish house

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks for all of the responses. My lighting plan does utilize multiple switches and the dimmer thing isn't a big issue, since it takes all of 5 minutes to throw in a dimmer switch a few years down the line.

I'm running two new 20amp branches that will each have about 10 lights (includes some special bar lighting) and 3 outlets per circuit. I should be in good shape and can always go down in wattage in each bulb.

[LightningBG]

If your running 20 amps, you'll have to use 12ga wire.

[SkunkedAgain]

Got it. My inspector made sure that I had every piece of literature about arc-fault, tamper-resistent recepticles, 12guage for the 20amp, etc.... Then there is all the other stuff he's making me do: sheetrock the underside of my basement stairs, smoke detectors throughout the house and a CO alarm (have them anyway).

[JohnMickish]

Creative Lighting, that's it. No, they won't design it but but can see what is available and think of how all fo this can make your install easier or the finished product that much nicer.

[frazwood]

I would definitely put the lights on a different circuit than the receptacles if you can.

That way, if you overload a circuit somehow by plugging too many things into the receptacles... you still have lights.

[SkunkedAgain]

I bought 14 recessed lights last week and installed them all. I'm running two new branch circuits and got one in over the weekend. I hooked up half of the lights and it works perfect...not too much light, not too little.

I'll have a mixture on each circuit with half the lights and a few outlets on one circuit with the other lights and other outlets on the other. That way I'll always have some power and some light. I'm putting in four receptacles at my entertainment center, with each duplex plug being fed by a different circuit. That should balance the load.

[frazwood]

I'm sure that what you have done is fine and I certainly wouldn't recommend re-wiring and I am sure that it works fine right now.

But: what would happen if someone were to plug in a computer into one receptacle, a big TV into another receptacle, a space heater into another receptacle, and turn on all of the lights (with upgrades to the highest wattage bulbs imaginable)? You probably will overload the circuit and trip the breaker... in which case, you'd be happier if you had the lights on one circuit (make sure it's not overloaded) and the receptacles on another circuit.

I like to think about wiring from the perspective of "what stupid things might happen" and how do I prevent someone from getting hurt or setting something on fire if that happens? You can take that to ridiculous extremes (which I don't recommend), but it's good to think about.

You asked for advice and this is a little trick that I learned once upon a time that I think is a good one. Wiring this way will also prevent your lights from dimming slightly when you, for example, start-up a vacuum.

[SkunkedAgain]

That's a good point. However, I did run 20amp circuits and have calculated loads of 11.8 and 12.4 amps on each circuit. One circuit has 3 duplex outlets and the other has 4 duplex outlets. I've calculated 2amps on for each duplex. In your scenario, if someone plugged in six computers into the 3 duplex outlets, my load would go up to 18 amps. If someone plugged in 8 computers to my other circuit with four duplex outlets, my load would go up to 19 amps.

You are right to plan for the dumbest things that people can do. My thought process was to always have some lights and some electrical outlets available even if you blow one circuit. If you somehow blow both at the exact same time, you're probably in the running for a Darwin award.