How to Install Recessed Lighting to Illuminate Your Space
Do you have a room in your house that is always a little dark?
Often, a single light fixture isn't enough to light up an entire space. However, most homes are built with a single fixture or ceiling fan in each room. And most fixtures have globes over the lights, reducing their output even more!
Luckily there is an easy solution to this problem — recessed lighting!
You can supplement the light you already have in a room by installing recessed lights. Once installed, you will be amazed at the difference they make.
Be careful, though — they can brighten up a room so much that It is not unheard of to notice spots in the carpet that you've never seen before!
On top of completely transforming your space, recessed lights are very affordable and relatively easy to install. In fact, adding a set of these lights in a room can be accomplished in just a few hours if you know what you're doing.
And that's our goal in this guide — to give you the knowledge you need to install recessed lighting in your home.
After following the steps in this article and seeing the difference it makes in your home, you'll want to add recessed lights in every room!
What is Recessed Lighting?
Recessed lights, also known as can lights, are installed flush with the ceiling. This light gives a much more sleek appearance than a bulky ceiling fan or even a dome light fixture.
While other light fixtures are typically installed by themselves, recessed lights are often arranged in a pattern of multiple lights. Their versatility allows homeowners to create various lighting conditions depending on the amount of light desired for any occasion.
This added functionality will allow you to enjoy your time at home more and help you sell your home fast if you ever decide to move.
The great thing about recessed lights is that they can easily be added as a retrofit to supplement the existing light sources in a room. While adding another light fixture can be difficult, recessed lights are simple to install.
Recessed Lights Are Simpler Than They Used To Be
The reason why people call them can lights is because they used to be actual cans that were mounted to the ceiling joists of a house.
They were big and bulky, and adding them wasn't feasible after installing the drywall. Because of that, planning had to be done during the building phase because there was no chance to change anything once everything was complete.
Fortunately, technology has allowed manufacturers to create more sleek and simple options. Instead of using bulbs, most recessed lights today use LEDs. This allows them to be extremely thin and lightweight.
While the old, heavy versions had to be mounted to the ceiling structure, the new lightweight lights could be clipped to the drywall.
Since they use LEDs, most available recessed lights are dimmable. This gives even more versatility because you can install them with a dimmer switch and adjust the brightness based on your preferences.
Electrical Wiring Basics
To properly install recessed lighting, you will need to thoroughly understand how your home's electrical system works. If you have never worked with electricity before, you should hire a licensed electrician to install your lights.
We've included this summary of electrical wiring so you can understand what your electrician is doing.
There are many nuances to electrical circuits and many different ways your home can be wired, but let's consider the most basic setup: power comes into the switch box where you want the switch for your lights to be located.
Unless your home is very old and has aluminum wiring, all of the wirings is run in bundles commonly called Romex. Most Romex bundles contain three wires: a wire with black sheathing, a wire with white sheathing, and a bare wire.
The black wire is typically used as the hot or voltage wire. The white wire is generally used as the neutral or zero voltage wire. This is a simplification, but you can imagine the current flowing from the hot wire to the neutral wire. The bare wire is always used as the ground wire.
This is a wiring schematic of the most basic configuration when installing recessed lights. The Romex bundle connected to the main panel comes into the electrical wall box where you intend to put the switch. The black wire is connected to the switch, and power is run to each individual light using separate wire bundles.
If this is your first exposure to information about your home's electrical system, this introduction will not give you enough information to install your own recessed lights. Check out Electrical 101 for more information about other types of wiring configurations.
Designing the Proper Layout
The first step in designing the proper layout of recessed lights is determining how many lights you will need. Although you can go by whatever seems right to you, it's best to do a little math first.
Otherwise, you could make a lighting mistake and not achieve the result you're going for.
You'll need to determine the recommended number of foot candles for the room you're working on. The number of lumens is typically specified for each type of recessed light.
For bedrooms and living rooms, this number is 10-20. For kitchens, it is 30-40; for bathrooms, it is 70-80.
Next, multiply the room's square footage by the recommended number of foot candles. This tells you how many lumens you will need.
An example would be a 300-square-foot living room. Using the recommended number of foot candles, you should install light sources that combine for a total of 3,000 to 6,000 lumens. It doesn't hurt to err on the higher side with recessed lights because they can always be toned down with a dimmer switch.
In this example, you would likely hit your target with four 6-inch recessed lights assuming you already have a light fixture in the room. Each recessed light will add about 1,000 lumens. Combine the added 4,000 lumens with the light from the existing fixture, and the living room will likely be properly lit.
Once you've determined the proper number of recessed lights to include, the next step is to arrange them in a pattern that makes sense. The most practical way to do this is in a rectangular array centered in the room. If there is already a light fixture in the room, it is common to split the difference between the walls and the fixture when locating the recessed lights.
Placing the new lights too close to the walls will waste some of their light and could leave a dark spot in the center of the room.
Cut Holes for the New Lights
Once you've designed the layout for your new lights, it's time to cut a hole in each location for the lights to be installed. Before cutting, ensure the hole will not intersect a ceiling joist. If it does, you will need to slightly modify your layout to miss the joist.
The manufacturer of the lights you choose should specify the diameter of the hole to cut. To cut the holes, you can either use a drywall jab saw, or a hole saw at the proper diameter. Some hardware stores even carry adjustable hole saws designed specifically for drywall cutting circles.
Run the Wiring
Now that you have the holes cut for each recessed light, it's time to run the wiring. Remember, unless you have experience with electrical systems, you should leave this job to a licensed electrician.
At this point, you should turn off the breaker panel power to any circuits inside the electrical boxes you plan to modify. If unsure which breakers to turn off, you can always turn off the main breaker and kill the power to the entire house.
It is easiest if you have attic access to walking around and lay out the wires. If you can't get into the attic, you'll likely have to use a fish tape or fish poles to pull the wires from hole to hole.
As we mentioned earlier, we couldn't possibly detail every potential wiring configuration, so we'll focus on the most basic setup, and you can modify it from there based on your situation.
In most cases, you'll need a wire bundle running from the switch box to the first light in the array and then wire bundles running from each hole to the next hole in the pattern until the last one. Think about it like connecting the dots in order.
Once you're done, you should have two wire bundle ends hanging out of each hole except for the last one, which will only have one. Make sure to leave plenty of excess on each wire run to simplify the connections.
Make Electrical Connections
You're almost there! Now you must make all of the appropriate electrical connections. If you have not already turned the power off at the electrical panel, you must do that before moving forward.
You'll likely be adding a new switch to control your recessed lights. Most of the options on the market today are dimmable, so you should use a dimmer switch to utilize that feature.
Once again, the configuration we discuss here is not the only option. If you are confused about your specific setup, you should consult an electrician. Also, here is an excellent resource on making safe wire connections.
Here are the connections you will need to make if power is coming in at the switch box:
Connect the house hot wire to one side of the switch
Connect the hot wire running to the first light to the other side of the switch
Connect the ground wire from the first light to the house ground wire and the ground screw on the switch
Connect the house neutral wire to the white wire running to the first light
Making connections at the light locations is much simpler than wiring the switch. Most recessed lights on the market come with junction boxes that contain push connectors for the individual wires and a quick-connect plug that goes to the light itself.
To wire up each junction box, group all the black, white, and ground wires with their corresponding push connectors.
Install the Recessed Lights
This is by far the easiest part of the entire project. Each junction box has a cable running out of it with a quick-connect plug on the end of it. Take each light and plug it into the connector. Then place the junction box in the attic with it sitting on the drywall.
Most recessed lights have two spring clips that hold them to the ceiling drywall. Push them open and then push the light into the hole and the clips should spring back and clamp against the drywall.
That's it — your recessed lights are installed! Flip the breaker back on and make sure each light is functioning correctly. Now you can enjoy your freshly lit space!
Installing Recessed Lighting is Easy and Will Brighten Your Home!
Of all the renovations you could make in your home, adding recessed lighting is one of the simplest and can make the largest improvement. Adding an array of lights in a room with easy access and no major wiring complications can be completed in just a few hours.
We hope this overview has given you the confidence you need to take on this project. Once you see the difference a new set of lights makes in your living room or bedroom, you'll be happy you learned this skill and decided to implement it.
Here's to a brighter life!
Author Bio: Jordan Fulmer is the owner of Momentum Property Solutions, a house-buying company in Huntsville, AL. They specialize in buying houses in tough situations and renovating them to either sell or rent. Jordan also runs the SEO side of their business and regularly writes content about real estate investing, home improvement, SEO, and general real estate topics.
