While laying out recessed lights with a ceiling fan, proper distance must be maintained from the ceiling fan in order to avoid strobing of light on the floor. This post explains exactly how to layout recessed lights when a ceiling fan is present on the ceiling of various areas like kitchen, living room, bedroom, kids room etc.
If the requirement is of a relaxing atmosphere then recessed lights can be laid out in a specific pattern i.e focusing lights more toward the walls whereas if the requirement is that of a monotonous (working) environment, then recessed lights are placed in a completely different way i.e evenly distributing light throughout the room.
Rules to layout recessed lights when a ceiling fan is present on the ceiling.
While laying out recessed lights with ceiling fan, the first thing to consider is the length of ceiling fan blades. Recessed lights should be placed at a distance of at least 3 inches from the tip of fan blades in order to avoid strobe effect of light on the floor.
After considering the length of the ceiling fan blades, the next thing to consider is the number of recessed lights required.
Then after an effective layout plan is created which eliminates the strobing effect.
If the requirement is of a relaxing atmosphere recessed lights can be laid out in a specific pattern i.e focusing light more on the walls whereas if the requirement is that of a monotonous environment, the recessed lights are then laid in a completely different way i.e evenly distributing light everywhere.
Factors on which the distance between recessed light and ceiling fan depends.
Size & Position of ceiling fan
The size of ceiling fan can vary anywhere around 20″ to 72″ depending upon the dimensions of the area. Therefore, the distance at which recessed lights are to be placed from the ceiling fan can also vary.
However, regardless of the dimensions of ceiling fan or the room to be illuminated, the minimum distance that should be kept between ceiling fan and recessed light remains the same i.e 3 inches.
The type of lighting to be achieved
While lighting an area there are usually two types of lighting that can be achieved, i.e monotonous lighting and contrasting lighting. While in a monotonous lighting, the recessed lights are evenly placed and the distance between every recessed light and ceiling fan remains the same
Whereas, in contrasting lighting, the distance between recessed lights and ceiling fan can be different from one side and totally different from the other side. However, the minimum distance of recessed lights and the tip of ceiling fan is never less than 3″.
Size of area to be illuminated
With larger size of area to be illuminated, there is a flexibility to keep a greater distance between recessed lights and ceiling fan. Generally speaking, the larger is the area, the greater is the distance between recessed lights and ceiling fan.
Recessed light layout for bedroom with ceiling fan
As discussed above, the minimum distance that the recessed lights and tip of ceiling fan blades should have is 3 inches. This distance can be further increased based on the size of the room. As in a bedroom, while laying out recessed lights, the priority should be given to illuminating the walls first i.e place the recessed lights closer to the walls.
This will help to create a relaxing ambience as well as automatically keep the recessed lights away from the ceiling fan avoiding any chance of strobing.
However, in some small sized bedrooms, the recessed light might need to be placed closer to ceiling fan as the space is limited in small bedrooms. Therefore, in such bedrooms, just a gap of 3 inches from the tip of ceiling fan blade will eliminate all the chances of strobing effect of light.
Below are layouts of recessed lights in some common bedroom sizes with ceiling fan of a particular size already installed.
In this layout, the diameter of ceiling fan is 40″. Therefore, while laying out recessed lights, a gap of 3 – 4 inches is kept from the ceiling fan blades and a gap of 6 inches is kept from the walls such that a contrasting look of lighting can be achieved while eliminating strobing effect.
It should be observed that no light source is used on the ceiling just over the bed. This is done to avoid direct glare of light.
In a 10×10 bedroom, the size of ceiling fan can be between 40″ – 48″. The recessed lights are placed at a distance of 4 inches from the tip of ceiling fan blades.
In a 11’×11′ bedroom, the size of ceiling fan is between 40″ – 48″. Since, there is a lot of space available in 11’×11′ bedroom, the recessed lights can be placed at a distance of 0.8 m from the tip of ceiling fan blades.
In a 11’×12′ bedroom, the recessed lights are placed at a distance of 0.8m – 0.9m from the tip of ceiling fan blades considering the size of ceiling fan is 1.2m (48″).
In a 12’×12′ bedroom, the recessed lights should be placed at a distance of 1m from the tip of ceiling fan blades (considering the size of ceiling fan is between 40″- 48″)
In 14’×16′ bedroom, the recessed lights should be placed at a distance of 0.8m to 1m from the tip of ceiling fan blades. In this bedroom, the size of ceiling fan is large i.e 1.4m in diameter.
Recessed light layout for kitchen with ceiling fan
Below is a layout of recessed lights in a 10’×10′ kitchen with ceiling fan already intalled.
In a kitchen, the light should be bright on task areas i.e monotonous lighting should be there at task areas, and then general illumination can be done in a contrasting way. The ceiling fan with LED can also be helpful to achieve a contrasting look, but if recessed lights are to be used, it should be at a proper distance from the ceiling fan blades.
Recessed lights layout for living room with ceiling fan
For a standard-size living room and above, the size of ceiling fan is around 1.2 m -1.4 m. Therefore, based upon the position of ceiling fan, the recessed light can be placed at a distance of 3″ to 8″ from the tip of ceiling fan
Below is a layout of recessed lights in a 12’×18′ living room with ceiling fan already installed.
Living room calls for a mood environment which can be achieved by laying out recessed lights in a way that gives contrasting lighting.
Recessed light layout for laundry room with ceiling fan
Laundry rooms are generally of small size and thus the distance between ceiling fan and recessed lights is also less. In a laundry room also a gap of 3 inches between recessed light and tip of the ceiling fan blades should be kept.
Below is a layout of recessed light in a 7′×10′ living room with ceiling fan of 0.9 m already installed on the ceiling.
