In this case your spacing would be the following.
Recessed lighting 8 foot ceiling.
For task lighting install recessed lighting directly overhead.
To determine how far apart to space your recessed lights divide the height of the ceiling by two.
For example an 8 foot tall ceiling should have recessed lights spaced 4 feet apart.
4 make any adjustments necessary to the light placement once you lay out the recessed light fixtures.
Where you re hanging the fixture.
Suspended lighting fixtures are not off limits for an 8 foot ceiling but there are a few considerations you ll want to make.
Follow the ceiling height rule of thumb.
Spacing 0 7 8 feet 5 6 feet apart.
The size of your room and the ceiling height help determine recessed light placement and spacing.
For example recessed lighting spacing for an 8 foot high ceiling would be 4 feet between each light.
Ensure your recessed light fixtures lineup both horizontally and vertically across the ceiling.
This will give good spacing for general room lighting.
Note that this is the maximum amount of recessed lighting spacing you should have between your light fixtures not necessarily a.
If the ceiling is 10 feet you ll want to put about 5 feet of space in between each fixture.
Some homeowners choose to over light a room by placing the fixtures closer together so the room is brighter than necessary.
Examples of task lighting include lighting for reading areas stovetops and sinks.
We also used them throughout this house which has 9 ft ceilings downstairs but 8 ft ceilings upstairs.
If you have 8 foot ceilings the lights should be about 4 feet apart.
So a 10 foot ceiling should have the lights placed approximately 5 feet apart and 4 feet apart for an 8 foot ceiling.
This formula is critical for lighting a space because if the lights are too far apart they will look like spotlights with big shadows between each other.
When your ceiling is only 8 feet high any hanging fixture will need to be over a space that you do not walk under.
Remember that ideal light placement can differ from room to room.
If a 6 inch light has a spacing criteria of 1 5 and the ceiling height is 8 feet the maximum space between each light should be 12 feet.
In a room with 12 foot ceilings that means to space the lights 6 feet apart.
Use recessed lights to illuminate focal points such as kitchen bars bookshelves paintings statues and fireplaces.
The general recommendation is to base the spacing on half of the ceiling height.
We had ceilings that were a little less than 8 ft in our last house and used 6 recessed cans.
Proper placement of recessed lighting in a kitchen may require more creative placements since much of the light needed.
Your recessed lighting fixtures have a spacing criterion of 0 7 and you are planning to light from an eight foot ceiling.