Installing recessed spotlights: What should you pay attention to?

Recessed spotlight is one of the most used lighting for general use in homes. It provides even lighting and distributes it very well around a room as well as saving space around the chosen area, it also creates an atmospheric and warm lighting, there are many different types and sizes that will provide a lot of possibilities. This is why its important to take into account different issues that may arise.

What do you want to illuminate?

Recessed spotlights are suitable as general lighting, there are many different ways to use these lights. There are tiltable recessed spotlights that you will allow you to rotate and direct lighting where it suits you best, this will allow you to create ambiance and highlight areas in your home. Spotlights also come with beam lighting, the width of a beam light is measured in degrees and usually come in 8 ° - 10 ° - 24 ° - 36 ° - 48 ° or 60 ° so the wider a beam angle is the wider the light will shine. For general lighting, the ideal beam angle is 35°, however when in need to highlight or create accent lighting its better to use a lower beam angle. The distance between each recessed spotlight depends on a lot of factors, so you have to take into account the distance between the floor abd ceiling, the light intensity and the beam angle you want to go for.

Space between recessed spotlights should usually be between 80 and 150cm apart. If you´re using halogen bulbs, its important to take into account that they burn a lot faster, lost energy quicker and emit heat, however with LED lighting it is more energy efficent, lasts longer and emits very little or no heat at all. To install recessed lights you will need a hollow or concrete ceiling with an already outlined cut-out and built-in dept measurements, it is also very important to be fully aware if you require fire rated/proof recessed lights for your chosen area. Keep in mind if you are opting for tilting recessed spotlights to consider the space it needs to tilt, it needs space to protrude and tilt.

Difference between leaf and clamp springs

Leaf springs are placed on the sides of the recessed spotlight and attach themselves to the inside of the ceiling. Clamp springs come already attached to the recessed light and are a lot more sturdier than leaf springs, they are the standard clamps used for recessed lights in the ceiling.

Which spring is best used?

Leaf springs aren´t really used anymore, they were used more when recessed lights were fixed to concrete. However, now a more advanced and sturdy clamp springs are used to affix reccesed lights into ceilings.

Solution for multiple recessed spotlights

Do you want to install multiple recessed spotlights using one transformer, but you only have one main power connection? In this case you are able to create a daisy chain by easily creating a loop. The mains connection you initially installed each recessed light, take a new blue and black wire and connect it to the next installed recessed light. Continuously repeat this until you have done so for all of your lights.

Tip: LED as built-in recessed lights.

Nowadays more and more households are using LEDs or converting to LED recessed spotlights. They are energy efficient and use up to 70% less energy than a standard halogen spotlight which is the one that is used the most. LED lights lasts up to 50,000 hours which is a very long time! You will also find that LED lights come in different brightness, so if you are looking for white light that is more ideally used in offices or bathrooms these are all available in LED formats. Recessed spotlights in LED are perfect for your home especially in dark corners where you are in need of lighting, it creates a warm and cosy lighting for your living room!