Where to Place Can Lights in a Kitchen

Where to Place Can Lights in a Kitchen

Where to Place Can Lights in a Kitchen

Where to place lights in a kitchen

Introduction

Can lights (canister lights) are lights that are mounted inside a hollow opening in the ceiling of any structure. Can lights are popularly known as recessed lights. Can lights are used in many places to provide a unique look to the place. These lights can be used to emit light in bathrooms and also over art installations to give it a more artistic touch than before.

Can lights that are used over art installations give it a beautiful highlight and illuminate the details of the art. Can lights are used in film sets, auditoriums, theaters, makeup studios, photo studios and also in photo shoots to give beautiful lighting that is unique and makes the place more attractive.

Can lights or recessed lights in the bathroom and showers are used to create a comfortable ambiance. Can lights along with dimmers are the best ways to light a place. They both put together, create one of the best ambiance and lighting effects that you can ever imagine.

Can lights are also used in kitchens. Kitchens are the main components of any house. This place is the heart and soul of a house. This is the place that feeds the entire family; therefore, it is only natural that ambiance here should be as comfortable and healthy as possible.

Places to install can lights in the kitchen

Can lights are a versatile form of lighting. With the proper placing of these lights, one can create a very beautiful ambiance in the kitchen which makes it more appealing than before and also gives the kitchen a great artistic touch.

The different types of lighting that are usually used in a kitchen are ambient or general lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. Can lights can be used in all these types of lighting.

Ambient Lighting

Ambient lighting or general lighting is the type of lighting that is the main source of lighting in a kitchen. They are the lighting sources that illuminate the kitchen as a whole. They are usually on the ceiling in different patterns to make it look attractive.

They light the whole surface of the kitchen and help people to move around the kitchen to do basic tasks like, eating, working on a laptop, helping kids do their homework etc. They are installed on the roof of the kitchen, where there are hollow structures for installing the can lights.

The Can light, along with dimmer in general or ambient lighting, is the best form of lighting for the kitchen. This is because different tasks done in the kitchen require different brightness.

With a dimmer, this can be achieved. The can light should be brighter when kids are doing their homework; the light should be a little dimmer for tasks like eating, working on laptops, etc.

Task Lighting

They are not the primary source of lighting for kitchens, but they are also a very important source, as they help the user to have a good vision while cooking in the kitchen. Task lighting sources are usually installed over the countertops. They are placed on the countertops because they give effective and efficient lighting to the entire place.

They also help the user to read recipes, chop vegetables, do proper plating of the food that was cooked, etc. Task lighting also helps in finding ingredients from cabinets and also to find cutlery, plates, and bowls.

The can lights that are installed in the cabinets are usually movable; that is, they can be tilted at different angles to look at different parts. The lights on countertops are placed further away from the wall to give excelling lighting to the entire area.

For this lighting one can use Compact Fluorescent light (CFL) rather than Light Emitting Diode (LED) as the CFL bulbs are more appropriate for this type of lighting. This lighting helps a person to see the corners where the ambient lighting source cannot reach.

Accent Lighting

Accent lighting is mostly used for decorative purposes and doesn’t have a lot of usage or utility to it. They are usually placed above the kitchen island and act as central lighting. In other words, you can use lights in your kitchen for decorative purposes, but not for helping you do any task or improve your vision.

They give a nice ambiance and an artistic touch to the kitchen, which makes the kitchen look welcoming and pleasant.Accent lighting is a mixture of both ambient lighting and task lighting. They illuminate a place and also act as decorative lighting all at the same time.

Types of light bulbs used as a can light

Light bulbs than can be used as can lights are incandescent, halogen, compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED). The best option in this variety of bulbs is the Light-emitting diode (LED), as it is effective and efficient.

The others are also used depending on the location where they are intended to be used. For kitchen lighting, it is better to use light-emitting diodes (LED) as they are brighter and illuminate a much larger surface area than the other bulbs.

Number of can lights needed for lighting a kitchen

The number of lights that can be used in the kitchen should not be too much. The kitchen is an area used by almost everyone in a house, so it must be properly illuminated to make it look warm and welcoming rather than dingy and low- lit.

There should be at least one light per 4 or 6 square feet space in the kitchen. Each light should be 12 inches or 18 inches apart to illuminate the kitchen area properly and adequately if one wants to strike the perfect balance between over-lighting and under-lighting one’s kitchen space.

Conclusion

Can lights are a new type of lights that are being used for lighting different places, especially those that have a larger surface area and need dim lighting.

The canister light can be used to highlight a particular place or object to make it the center of attraction. Installing a can light in a kitchen is the best light source for a kitchen, as the kitchen is the primary area in one’s house. This is the place where the family unites almost every day for at least one meal.

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