Comparison of Recessed Lighting and Spotlights

Ambient Lighting

• Ambient lighting is used in a space to light a whole room evenly. Recessed lighting is best for this task because recessed fixtures put out an even amount of light throughout the room that isn’t too dim or too bright when properly spaced in the ceiling. Spotlights supply too much light to an area too small to be used to light a whole room – spots within the room would be very dark while others were extremely bright if lit via spots.

Focused Lighting

• Spotlights are ideal for highlighting a piece of furniture, art piece on the wall or to light a plant within a room. Recessed lights are not good for this function because they generally point downward in order to light a whole room. However, there are recessed lights that can be installed on a swivel if you need predominately ambient lighting in a room, but want to highlight one item like a piece of art or architectural feature. If you choose to use a mixture of fixed recessed lights and lights on a swivel for accenting an item or architectural feature, you should use a bulb slightly brighter in your swiveling fixtures than the ones you put in the stationary fixtures. Be sure that no bulb exceeds the wattage recommended by the manufacturer.

Task Lighting

• Whether to use recessed lighting or spotlights for a work or reading area is up to the person that has to live with the lighting. Spotlights are focused, and ideal for intense work. They also work to light only a small area. If, for example, you have a desk in your bedroom that you use to work at night while someone else sleeps, a spotlight would be more appropriate because it won’t illuminate the whole room. However, if you don’t generally work at home other than doing things like sending email or reading, recessed lighting is more appropriate.

Cost

• Recessed lighting is often more expensive than installing spotlights because your general contractor will need to cut into the ceiling. Recessed lighting fixtures and spotlight fixtures are similar in cost -- there are inexpensive and expensive versions of both.