I hate hitting the forum with this but finishing a laundry room and putting in lighting next week and I just dont know. I found an online calculator that said 6 cans in 8×12 space however when I purchased lights at Home Depot yesterday the light guy talked me down to 4. He thought 6 was too many. I know some people here have experience with this so I may as well use it. Thank you.
Size of can?
Bulb wattage?
Overall design/look desired?
Size of can?
Bulb wattage?
Overall design/look desired?
60-75 watt flood. (R30/Par30/BR30)
6″ Cans
Drop ceiling laundry room.
For the last 20 years it has been lit with (1) 3-foot dual fluorescent.
I can only imagine 4 cans would be plenty. I have 4 in a 10×11 room and it looks fine. They have Phillips 8.5W LED bulbs in them.
In about 90% of the instances for me I’d rather have too much light than too little especially in a smaller room. You can always tone light down with a lower wattage bulb or even a rheostat switch but it can be darned hard to get more lighting into too few fixed fixtures. I’d do the six as you had intended.
3 right down the middle. 8′ is pretty narrow.
With 6 I’d wear sunscreen in the room
If you are stuck on recessed lighting Id go with 6.
Id prefer to see 3-4ft led fixtures because this will be a “work space”.
Can lighting is neat but most light shines downward and energy loss is common when not sealed properly.
Can lighting is the ticket for cozy living rooms and such.
IDO disclaimer-Just my opinion.
Depends how clean you want your laundry. Our laundry room has (4) 4’ t-8’s 6500k and everything pops, every stain and smudge on our clothes is clearly visible. The wife can easily target these stains with stain removers and pre soaks. Our clothes have never looked cleaner since I updated the lighting in this same size room. (4) cans will provide plenty of light to handle laundry tasks, but I vote for more if you want cleaner laundry!
Keep in mind that you will want a light directly over the work area, or otherwise your shadow will cover what you are working on, and that gets annoying when trying to work on something that needs good light.
When I removed the drop ceiling in my daughters room (10×12?) we put in four 4″ can lights on a dimmer. Also a “fancy” light fixture in the middle of the ceiling on a separate switch. It is VERY bright with just the 4 lights. I think they were 630 lumen 9 watt?
I would think 4 can lights on a dimmer would be more than enough.
I have 6 in a 12×20 room so I would think 4 is plenty. But in a work space like a laundry I wouldn’t be afraid of erring on the side of too much light. You can always use a dimmer switch.
Grouse
Thanks all!
If you are stuck on recessed lighting Id go with 6.
Id prefer to see 3-4ft led fixtures because this will be a “work space”.Can lighting is neat but most light shines downward and energy loss is common when not sealed properly.
Can lighting is the ticket for cozy living rooms and such.
IDO disclaimer-Just my opinion.
I agree completely.
I thought for sure this thread was about how many empty Bud Light cans will a room hold. 
Depends on how many of us there were, the occasion, and if it was keystone or Mich golden…
I’ll see myself out.
Something else to consider is if you will have cabinets or shelves mounted on the walls. With only an 8′ wide room, 2 rows of cans, 2′ off each wall, 4′ between rows, could throw quite the shadow if you have counters under cabinets. This would support the single row of cans down the middle of the room.
HRG
Put 6 in and a dimmer.
I would go with one row also. You know you will one day be putting cabinet in.
Can lights are cheap. Go with 6.
Good grief you guys like your light.
FWIW 5″ cans are much more attractive. I would go with 6 cans and a dimmer also.
6 x 4″ shallow dimmable led fixtures. spaced 4′ apart (and 2′ off walls) will make a perfect grid. nice modern look. did this when i remodeled our living and dining rooms and i love it.
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