Family Room Lighting

[ccracin]

I am seeing the end of my basement finishing project. I am to the point that I need to order lights. The room is about 600 ft^2 and has an 8' ceiling. The ceiling is the suspended type with 2'x2' tiles. I am going to use T7 size recessed light fixtures with the flouresent style flood bulbs. Not sure of the number. They are equivalent to a 65watt R30. How many do you think I need and what spacing? I have found alot online and can't make up my mind as there are so many different opinions. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. When this room is done I'm hitting the garage to work on the truck.

Thanks,

[mazspeed]

Is this a basement, or family room? If it's a family room I would highly suggest against florescent lighting. They are nicer and lesser energy drawing lights out now a days over fluorescents, plus fluorescents are not so great on the eyes.

[ccracin]

I was waiting for you to chime in Mike. You are the resident electrical consultant! This space is a finished basement that will function as a family room. It will mostly be my daughters playroom. My plan was to use Halo H7ICT recessed light fixtures with the compact fluorescent flood bulbs. Feit # BPESL15R3T. This crosses to a 65BR30 Incandescent. What are your suggestions? I am happy to consider anything. I need to make the call this week. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Later,

[mazspeed]

Hey Chad, sorry I missed this post again. What is your budget? Also are there any rules about living room lighting where you live? Ok, I set up Scott some good ideas on his lighting that would do away with those crummy fluorescents. If you have a decent budget for lighting, there are a few things you can do. I for one love low voltage halogen lighting. It is the best pure natural light in the world. 12 volts at 50 watts. There are light bulbs coming out soon that you can put in those 4 inch low voltage can's which are 5 watt warm light LED's. You could have 12 volt 5 watt lights in your living room, and that is something your electrical bill will love. Low power warm lighting. It's coming, and some are here now. The 2 pin mr-16 bulbs are great for natural lighting, but the LED's will plug in, and soon they will be natural or real close to natural lighting. You can get 6 inch LED cans now that are 11 watts, but they are $130 per can, but produce 65 worth of lighting, and those bulbs have a life span of 50000 hours. your normal light has 2000-3000 hours of light before they burn out. Let me know your budget and Ill figure out something for you in your budget.

[ccracin]

Thanks for getting back Mike. $130 per can is way beyond my budget. I need this to be as in-expensive as possible right now. The ceiling is a suspended acoustical type, so I can easily change fixtures at a later date. I need good bang for my buck and decent lighting so my girls can properly dress Barbie! The room is 600sqft. Using 750 lumens per fixture with the compact flourecents, I came up with 23 cans. This about 28.75 lumens/sqft. Is this good, not enough? I have no idea! Any suggestions would be great. I need to move on, I just finished the ceiling grid last night.

Thanks Mike.

[mazspeed]

Hey Chad, if money is the number one issue then the 6 inch fluorescents are the only way to go. Make sure you get the cans for 26 watts, and try and find the warmest bulb possible. I don't know the product numbers off hand. Don't buy Juno as you can get the same thing for less in a Halo or Elco can. Also the reflective chrome trim is kind of nasty and tends to give people headaches with reflecting fluorescent lighting. Stick to the white trims as it will not blind you as badly.

[ccracin]

Thanks, I'll probably go that route. When I am ready to upgrade, I might be back asking. How about the amount of light. Any suggestions? Thanks again.