How many lights?

[jussi]

Converting an old storage room to a bedroom and am in electrical stage. I'd like to add recessed. The room is about 16x16. How many cans do I need? I was thinking 6 cans. Does that sound right? How many watts light bulbs should I use?

[scorrpio]

Lots of variables here. What size cans are you going to use? 6" or 4"? What type of trim? If a room is squarish, I'd say 4 cans would make for the most aesthetic appeal.

A trim that recesses a light into ceiling produces a narrow angle of light. An 'eyeball' trim, which protrudes from ceiling, gives far better coverage. Dark trims 'eat' the light. Light/reflective trims throw more of it into the room. Also, remember that recessed don't have the benefit of feflecting light off ceiling that suspended lights have.

I recently remodeled a roughly 13x20 bedroom, and among other things replaced a single central fan/light with recessed. The central light gave adequate coverage with 4 60W bulbs (240W total). I put in a total of eight 4" cans with 40W halogens, for 320W total - and I think the room is slightly less bright than it was before - but that was the effect I was going for.

[jussi]

8 feet ceiling. 6 inch cans. White trim. Flat roof. Not sure of the wattage yet (low as possible). Not sure what type of bulb yet either.

[cabinetman]

This site may be of some help:
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Lay...hting&id=17087

[LarryG]

I ran your question by our electrical consultant, using the info you provided. He suggests four fixtures with 65W bulbs, but says you could use as many as six if you wish.

By coincidence, he says two of the bedrooms in his own home are similar in size and shape to yours, and he says four cans in each provide plenty of light.

[jussi]

Thanks for the tip and link guys.

I had more question though. I went buy switches today and realized they're only 14AWG. But the line coming in is 12AWG. What the best way to handle this? Just tie a 14 to the 12?

[reddog552]

Switches ?

Easy solve GET 20AMP rated switches. you screw the wires to the side wrap a piece of black tape around the switch TWICE best connection inthe world. PS 4 iballs 40 to 60 wats sounds good

[jussi]

Well the switch I wanted had 3 buttons, (1 for every 2 lights). HD only had 1 type and it said only 14awg in the back. Maybe I'll give Lowes a try later today. Or will I have to go to an electrical store.

[mschrank]

I'm no electrician, but I'm 99.9% sure that there is no problem using 15-amp (14 awg) switches with 12 awg cable and 20 amp breakers (I hope there's not a problem with that, as that's how my whole house is wired).

If the switch you're looking at says 14 awg only, that could be for the "push-in" type connector. If the switch has terminal screws on the side, you should be able tp attach the 12 awg cable to those.

But, it sounds like you have a unique switch in mind (3 "buttons"). Seems like a lot of wire to deal with coming into a single gang box with 3 switches. Do you really need to be able to control 3 sets of lights? If so, then why not just gang three regular switches?

[scorrpio]

C'mon. In order to overload a 15 amp rated switch, you'd need to put more that 1,500W of illumination into that room. You are ok using it - and you definitely can save a couple $$ by using 14AWG wire from the switch on.

P.S. oh, and if you put in 60W floodlights recessed as little as possible, 4 cans should be enough.