How Many Wafer Lights Do I Need To Make This Room Amazing?

When replacing existing lights inside your home with wafer lights, keep in mind that the wafer lights can give off less light. Downlights, which are typically used, put off 730 lumens at 3000K. A standard surface mounted light fixture can have anywhere from 1-3 60W lamps, which produce 800 lumens each. That’s a lot of light. With that in mind, here are our recommended placements and counts for the above mentioned areas.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms get a lot of lighting for the small space all ready, but there are a few areas that need a little extra lighting without a lot of flash. If your bathroom has a toilet nook, that space can get a little dark. Do you really need light in that space? Well, that’s debatable, but if you read there, the answer might be yes. Additionally, once you close the shower curtain, your tub or shower can get rather dark. So, sometimes, it’s great to put a light directly above the tub. There are no actual requirements or recommendations for those spaces. It’s simply a “if you want it, add it” situation.

Decks

Decks don’t have lighting requirements except for the exterior rated wall sconce by the door. That’s a code minimum, so the wafer lights you might want to install around your deck are truly whatever you want. Everyone chooses something a little different. It all depends on how you intend to use the space.

Hallways

One area that doesn’t need a lot of light is your hallways. If you’re updating your hallway lights with recessed wafer lights, you’ll want your first one roughly 3’ off the entrance with wafer lights every 6’ after that.

Kitchens

Kitchens need a lot of light because we’re doing a lot of work in there, but because we recommend the warmer 3500K – 3500K, we recommend 1.5’ off the wall with wafer lights every 3’ after that. It’s still inexpensive and the light is great in that crowded space.

Living Rooms

In a living rooms are such a unique space. We could be sitting and chatting, watching TV, playing games, working on hobbies, etc. Sometimes, you need a lot of light and other times, you need very little light. With that in mind, we recommend coming 2’ off the wall and then having wafer lights every 4’, and then putting your wafer lights on an LED-rated dimmer.

If you have a vaulted ceiling, you should use directional wafer lights. They have a higher lumens rating, so you might think it’s okay to space them further apart. One of the reasons they have the higher lumens rating is so that you have the right light quality in the living area. The further your light gets from the area it’s supposed to be illuminating, the more dispersed the light becomes. You lose light, basically. So, with the brighter beam and the greater distance, you get the same light levels. We recommend keeping the same distances between your recessed lights.

Bedrooms

The last room is the bedroom. The bedroom is surprisingly used a lot by some people. I always thought it was the place for sleeping. If it’s my room, I barely need a light. I only need to know where my bed is. However, it is sometimes used for relaxing, reading, and sometimes that’s where the home office is located. With this in mind, we have no real recommendations. The lighting in your bedrooms should be what makes sense to you. How are you going to use the room? Will you need more light or less? Do you have a cave troll like me in there? Or do you have a busy side-hussle being run from your bedroom?  Then, plan accordingly. Keep the lights 3500K and on an LED-rated dimmer because you don’t want to mess with your sleep schedule. That’s really the only recommendation I have for that.

Conclusion

Recessed lighting is a huge renovation trend right now. It’s going into a lot of the newer homes as they’re being built around the valley. They can get quite pricey, which is why we love-love-love the wafer light. It is the affordable solution to giving your home an updated look and fresh appeal.

Get The Help You Need

If you would like to have an All Phase Electric certified electrician help you with your upgrades, be sure to give us a call at 907-376-1200, or you can text us at 907-531-4328.

Why choose All Phase Electric for your certified electrician residential electrical upgrades and installs?

• Over 134 cumulative years’ experience of residential electrical installations

• Up-front pricing. If you text your information and pictures to Patrick at 907-531-4328, he can provide you an estimate over the phone.

• Fully trained and insured technicians.

• Lifetime guarantee on All Phase Electric installation work.

Contact us today!