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Hello All,
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Here's my situation;
I want to put in recessed lighting in my living room. My friend the
electrician said he would help and I should go to Home depot and buy
the lights I like.
Problem; I am a girl with NO recessed lighting experience.
Went to home depot, to discover there are different kinds of recessed
lighting... who would have thunk it.
More info;
there is an attic space above the living room with easy access.
Insulation up there. The pink panther kind.
What type should I get if I want to save on electric bill?
And if those are too expensive, the affordable kind? Would like to
stay under $300 for everything.
Do they need to be on a dimmer switch? And what else do I have to buy
to just go home and install these.
Thanks,
Annette
Annette --
There are different models for (a) new construction and (b) existing
construction, and different models depending upon whether (a) the ceiling
has insulation or (b) doesn't have insulation. They also come in several
diameters, which can use different sizes of light bulbs.
The recessed lights come in two parts, the housing and the trim, for each of
the conditions above. The housing is the basic unit that gets wired into
your house. The trim is the part that conceals the installation and makes
the light attractive and/or functional. One housing can accept many
differernt styles of trim, depending upon your requirements.
Your decisions will be based on the physical factors of your house (ie,
existing construction, either insulated or not) and the effect you are
trying to achieve. You may want a simple downlight -- essentially a bulb in
a can in the ceiling -- or you may be trying to highlight one wall (special
trim, or perhaps an eyeball style). Your bulb choices include conventional,
halogen, compact flourescent, etc.,. and in most cases you will probably
want them to be dimmable, since they frequently will not be your main source
of light (e.g., in living rooms or bedrooms, where you're likely to have
reading lights, TV, etc.) In our case, we have CFL bulbs in 3 3/4" fixtures
over the kitchen work area, not dimmable. In the Master Bedroom we have two
eyeball trim units which light up the wall around the fireplace , and two
other downlights that are available as reading lights over the bed. These
are all dimmable.
Be careful with your planning for the light locations. Don't put a recessed
light in an area where a ceiling fan blade might interfere with the light --
the "strobe" effect will mean you never can have them both on at the same
time. Similarly, be careful around furniture -- you don't want your room to
feel like you're sitting under a spotlight getting the 3rd degree, and you
don't want a light forward of your favorite chair so that it distracts you
or shines in your eyes. Using Google, I found more information at
http://www.elights.com/downlights.html. There were lots of hits, and this
was just the first one I looked at.
Not to slight Home Depot or Lowes, but consider going to a local lighting
shop where you're much more likely to find someone very knowledgeable about
all of your options. They may or may not be more expensive than the big box
stores, but making the right choices will be worth it. -- Regards --