lighting for great room

[Denise and/or Stephen]

Hi there everyone. We are very happy to have found you. We have many questions pertaining to lighting options. Our Kuhns Bros log home is being built. It is a very small 1200 sf. The great room has a few beams but then the ceiling slopes down on one side (like a chalet). We want a well-lit great room, but don't know if we should use recessed lighting, track lighting , and we don't know where we place these things. We have never built before. The builder wants an answer very soon. It has been recommended to install at least a ceiling fan for that room to service the whole house. It has an open floor plan, and has a loft bedroom. Can anyone answer these questions? Thank you Denise

[Dan Bodenstein]

Hi Denise,
We have two ceiling fans in our Great Room (25 x 32). We did not put lights on the ceiling fans in leiu of floor and table lamps around the great room.

But since your home is smaller, you may want to consider a light arangment of 3 or 4 bulbs on your ceiling fan.

Whether you decide to put lights on your fan or not, Wire it!
Wire the fan for a light kit. You never know when you will want to add it later. Make sure the electrician wires a seperate switch / dimmer for the light kit.

Dan

[BradBradstreet]

Denise, think about shadows. If you have recessed lights are there beams in the way producing shadows? Would the lights be directly behind the ceiling fans?

We have sets of recessed lights (each pair is on a switch - no more than 2 lights per switch) and we have 2 ceiling fans in our Great Room. There are no shadows even from the ceiling fans. And as you can see from the pictures at the link below, we have no floor or table lamps in the house except by beds.

I would suggest putting the lights on dimmer switches. Then you can control the amount of light and brightness. It is nice to be able to turn things down when watching the TV or just sitting in front of the fireplace.

[Denise and/or Stephen]

Thanks Dan We will be installing a fan with lights. Do you suggest we use track lighting in addition? Or is the fan enough light, for the ceiling?

[Denise and/or Stephen]

Thanks Brad: I went to your website and your home is lovely. The pictures were very helpful. Are there lights under your kitchen cabinets?

[Dan Bodenstein]

Denise,
Personally, I wouldn't use track lighting unless it blended in with the rustic look of the log home.

My home is very rustic.
http://www.ourloghome.com

But this is entirely up to you. I've seen "cabin" style homes that have track lighting and to me it's just out of place.

Dan

[Denise and/or Stephen]

Yes Dan, you may be right, especially the lack of any sophisticated style available. They leave alot to be desired. Thanks

[Kyle - Utah]

Hello Denise,

Have you considered the use of modern gas lighting as an option? Although my current passion in lighting is for low voltage LED systems, there is nothing that adds quite as much 'character' to a room as a gas light chandelier. Although designed to look like they are from the 1800's, most modern gas lights are extremely efficient and can be adjusted using a knob on the wall just like their electric counterparts. This allows you the option of setting the mood in the room by cranking up or down the amount of light that is given off.

It can be difficult to locate these in the US, but a few of the smaller trailer supply houses can get them in for you. Most are made in Germany or Switzerland, but they are not as expensive as you might think. A 3-arm unit can go for as little as $250 and a 5-arm for under $400. There are American made models out there too, but most of these that I have seen are in a much more modern style. (Polished Chrome or Aluminum just doesn't give the same look as Bronze or Copper with fluted hurricane candles.)

I would also suggest that you only consider those fixtures that come with automatic electronic ignition. Although the old match-light type are more authentic, the safety and convenience of the piezoelectric type far outweighs the 'authenticity value' of the older styles. (IMHO)

Best Regards

[Tim Bullock]

Denise, Go with the fan and lights although a lot of those combos are pretty ugly. We most always use a horizontal valance straight out from the plate (last) log on the wall which is 8-10" wide, this allows us to mount either continuous flourescents or track lighting which are hidden by another board going vertical from there which is about 4" high.........In my own office, we used the horizontal board with flourescents and for the vertical we used twigwork to cover the lights. It is indirect and hidden and lights up the room. Multiple control switches allow you to vary the intensity........Continuous track lighting allows you to plug in many,many choices of halogens and many locations. Never, ever would I consider pot lights in a cathedral ceiling.

[Denise and/or Stephen]

Tim Im not exactly sure I understand what you mean abou the last log. Are you referring to recessed lights when you say pot lights?

[Bob G]

Denise,

I think Tim is referring to cans or recessed lights when he says pot lights.....must be one of those Canadian terms! I'm an electrician and not a big fan of them in cathedral ceilings either. They can introduce heat into the ceiling where you don't want it.

I finished my cathedral ceiling with drywall and plaster, painted white between purlins. A couple of lamps with 23 watt compact flourescents is plenty of light for most activities.

A neighbor with a timber frame house installed low voltage cable lights across his great room. They use small MR 16 bulbs attached anywhere to bare cables....looks pretty cool.

[Denise and/or Stephen]

Good info Bob. I didn't even think about the heat factor. I am not a fan of hot weather or hot environments. As for the rope lights, do you mean the holiday light ropes ?

[BradBradstreet]

Denise, we do not have lights under the upper cabinets in the kitchen - except for over the desk area. There are log purlins overhead in the kitchen. In the middle of the room there are two hanging lights coming down from holes drilled through the purlins. Those are room lights.

Over the long side wall counter; over the sink and over the island counter there are log purlins and track lights with dimmer switches are mounted on the sides of the purlins. So, most folks would never see the lamps. I agree they really do not fit a log home style, but these are placed so most folks would not see them. However, they put effective light directly on the counter tops and provide light in the room. Just having light under the cabinets would leave the room very dark. Especially with 10-11 foot high ceilings.

[Denise and/or Stephen]

What are purlins?

[BradBradstreet]

Denise, they are the logs holding up the roof or the second floor loft's floor. You can see them in this picture:
http://images.fotki.com/v1/photos/8/8235/14956/15_KitchenfromDiningRoom-vi.jpg

[Bob G]

Denise,

Cable lights are not something you'd string on your Christmas tree. They are made for a permanent installation and include a transformer that reduces your 120 house voltage to a lower level to power them. Ask your local electrician for details. You may or may not like their appearance.

[lisa]

here is a site with info on 110v and 12v rope lighting with a picture

[lisa]

these are some very rustic lighting options from kalco, this one is a twig pot rack, however if you look further into this site you will find all kinds of lights in a twig theme from this artist.

http://www.brandlighting.com/pool_table_island_lights.html#ponderosa

and here are some craftsman style

http://www.lightingforum.com/

Alan, look at this one on the lighting forum site AROAWS-1T it made me think of you with your desire for the craftsman style.

I have really enjoyed looking at lighting for my home- there are so many options. Of course some of them have very high price tags. This is certainly more pleasant than when I was bogged down in chosing wood species for walls, ceilings, floors etc...

[Bob G]

Denise,

Sorry, I used the wrong term. I meant CABLE lights, not rope lights. You'll find a sketch at this site:

http://www.alfalighting.com

Click on Cable Systems

[Stephanie]

Denise,
My cousin had a neat effect done with tube lighting. It's those little Christmas tree lights in a tube. He strung them on top of his beams and on top of his kitchen cabinets.

This would be supplemental lighting, and VERY discreet, nice to light the ceiling and have just a soft glow.

Whatever you do, make sure your builder knows what you want so he can hide electrical wiring. It's much easier to fix beams on the GROUND, and not up in your ceiling (nearly impossible once installed).

[Denise and/or Stephen]

Thanks everyone! The web sites and ideas are great. Denise

[Paula-in-CO]

Last week we finally got to see our neighbor's new home. It was gorgeous!

He has a large greatroom with a tongue and groove cathedral ceiling. There are no recessed lights in the ceiling and it looks stunning. Here is what he did:

At the top of the wall where the ceiling meets the wall, he has 3 sconces on each side of the room that shine up on the ceiling. They told me that these lights were sufficient to see by in the room and put out quite a bit of light. This light was supplemented with floor/table lamps.

They also had two large hanging fixtures that came out of the main ridge beam of the great room. They told me those lights were actually pretty unnecessary and wondered if they would even bother putting them in if they did it again.

Having seen their house, we have completely changed our plan. We were planning recessed lights, but those are now not in the plan, which is good since it will make our ceiling that much better insulated. We are going to put sconces in the top log and shine them up at the ceiling. We will plan the wiring so that we could add some pendants later if we want to. I'm so glad we saw that house. I never liked the recessed lights in our cathedral ceiling, and frankly the ones that go in a sloped ceiling like that and are rated IC for insulation are pretty expensive.

We will use recessed lights in other parts of the house, however.

[Stephanie]

Paula,
Where are the pictures? I'd love to see that!

I love the glowing effect of bouncing the light off the ceiling. It really draws attention to that feature and is easier on the eyes too. I do wish I'd been in on the planning stage of our great room, next time, I guess.

[Paula-in-CO]

I might have to go back over there and get some! I think the lighting will be just lovely in there. Much nicer than with "cans"

The hard part will be drilling and carving out the logs, but DH is getting good at that.

[Denise and/or Stephen]

Thank you all for the great lighting ideas, but now I'm even more undecided! All these ideas are good. I don't like the recessed lighting , but I'm afraid if we don't plan for them , then we'll be sorry. What is the insulation concern with the recessed?

[Greg Steckler]

I might have to go back over there and get some! I think the lighting will be just lovely in there. Much nicer than with "cans"

If you could, if you would.....
I have a stubborn GC on my Willamette design who wants cans everywhere. I would like a good picture to float in front of the owner....his paymaster. C'mon Paula (sounds like a song?) please, please, please.........

[Paula-in-CO]

Greg,

I would love to get a picture, but it is my neighbor's house. I even offered to cat sit so I could get back over there, but so far, no luck! :-)

It really is a beautiful effect. I'll give them a call and see what I can do.

Denise and Stephen,

Regarding cans and insulation. The way our ceiling is constructed, a recessed light will be taking up space where insulation could be. Also, if not sealed properly, the light could allow heat to escape. I think the lights designed to go in a cathedral ceiling are probably pretty airtight, but still, I think for us we decided we'd rather have insulation there instead of a light.

Also, you have to buy special lights that are a.) designed to have insulation all around them (IR), and b.) designed to go on a sloped ceiling. I haven't priced these, but I'll bet they cost significantly more than a regular "can"

Paula

[BradBradstreet]

All of our ceiling "can" lights are what I call "fish-eyes". The light swivels so that it can be aimed down and not point out at the angle of the ceiling. The price difference was "not much". Compared to other options at the time is was the best alternative.

We were focused on getting directed light down for reading and to lighten up the whole space. Plus, not give the upper ceiling area a dark background. The result is we do not have any floor lamps or table lamps - except beside the beds.

The one issue I have is the same as Paula's comment - the space the can light takes out of the ceiling is less insulation. This is a concern. We have not seen snow melt on the roof outside over the lights so we do not have escaping heat. But, it is probably less efficent over the lights.

[Denise and/or Stephen]

I haven't been out to our homesite since the roof went on. I think I have to physically go into the space and make diagrams of where I want light. I want to accomplish the same as you Brad, light up the potential dark space. I think the cans are unattractive, and so I have been looking at the cable lights. I really like these and Lowes has some styles that are attractive and affordable.