kitchen recessed lighting layout calculator

#Kitchen recessed lighting layout calculator plus#

‘The obvious solution for ambient lighting would be decorative hanging lights over the kitchen island or peninsula,’ says Luke Thomas.

#Kitchen recessed lighting layout calculator plus#

The daylight that comes in through your window is part of the room’s ambient lighting, plus the light fixtures you choose.

The first layer is general, often known as ambient, lighting. To get the right amount of light in your kitchen, think in layers. The contrast of light and shadow can help the important areas stand out more and seem brighter.’ Factor in different layers of light ‘The most important design consideration is to have light in the areas where you actually need it the most (worktops, dining table, sink etc). ‘Darker finishes for cupboard doors are on trend but these absorb more light, so that less is reflected back into the room from these surfaces. ‘The finishes used in the kitchen can be an important factor,’ says Luke Thomas, Design Director of John Cullen Lighting. You can then divide the number of lumens you need for the whole kitchen and the counter area by the brightness of the bulb or fixture in lumens to get the number of bulbs needed, or check if a fixture is appropriate.īe aware that light levels are influenced by kitchen color schemes, particularly the colors of cabinetry and walls.

For example: 100 square feet x 30 to 40 foot candles = 3000 to 4000 lumens.įor the work areas of the kitchen the sum would be the area of, say, a countertop in square feet multiplied by 70 to 80 foot candles to get the result in lumens. Once you know the square footage of your kitchen, you can multiply the square footage by 30 and by 40 foot candles to get a lumen range. The higher the number of lumens, the brighter a light bulb will be. Omitting the very technical details, the lumen is a unit for measuring the amount of light a source produces, and light bulbs are measured in lumens. The other unit that matters when planning kitchen lighting is the lumen.