How many spotlights? Long & narrow room

[Gyvybe]

Hi,

The living room of our house is long and narrow (3 m x 7 m) and it currently has two light fittings at both ends of the room. The place, however, is extremely dark and even with two windows at both ends of the room it still feels like we are living in a tunnel.

We were toying with the idea of installing ceiling spotlights by each wall, but the worry is that with lighting like that the effect of the tunnel will be even worse.

Has anyone dealt with lighting issues for long and narrow rooms and is spotlight installation the best option? What width between each light is advisable?

Many thanks for your help and advice.

[dr b]

I would recommend floodlights rather than spotlights (as the names suggest, the floodlight illuminates a larger area). Rule of thumb for floodlights is to have the illuminated areas overlap ever so slightly, so the packaging of the floodlight should suggest how far apart they should be spaced. Are these lights going to be recessed into the ceiling, or on a track? If on a track, you can experiment with how many/how far apart. If you're drilling holes for recessed cans, of course, you get one shot to get it right!

[Gyvybe]

Thanks dr b for suggestion. We are thinking of getting the recessed ones, but after calculating how many holes that would be - it does seem like a risky job. You are right, It would need approx. 12 -14 lights, and it can get messy.