I am building a game room and want very good lighting in at least the portion that will include the table tennis table. I would like 500 lux (46.5 foot candles) of light in this part of the room (at a 10' ceiling which is what I have). That part of the room is approximately 1/3 of the total 500 +/- sqr ft. So, if I understand this correctly, I need 46.5 * 500/3 = 7,750 lumens in that part of the room.
I am thinking of going with LED recessed cans or puck lights and if I went with 3 in a row (22' width room), I would need 2,580 lumens per light and if I went with 4 in a row, 1,900 lumens per light (approx). I have recessed cans in other parts of my house today at only 700 lumens each. Is it the case that a "standard" can or puck housing can be installed, then just utilize a much higher lumen bulb? Or is that not how it works? Any advice would be appreciated.
Best Answer
LED lamps are heat-sensitive, and have a high failure rate if confined in a fixture too small or with insufficient ventilation. Putting a large lamp in a small fixture will likely damage the lamp after a while, and possibly create a fire hazard (though the fixture itself might be designed to survive the higher heat output of incandescent lamps).
There are surface-mount LED light fixtures with built-in (non-replaceable) lamps of 2,700 lumnens and more, which might be a better choice. Also check the color temprature. The lamp referenced above is 5,000 K, a somewhat bluish-white. Other lamps have color temperatures from a reddish 3,000 K to actinic 6,000 K.