Soffit lighting is a popular way to highlight the architecture of your home and add curb appeal, adding value when the selling time comes around. Select the best led recessed lights.
LED can lights are becoming the go-to choice for soffit lighting, offering bright illumination while using less power – helping lower energy bills while providing flexible light control that reduces glare or achieves aesthetic goals. You can even get trim that modifies light distribution for aesthetic effect.
LED Lights
LED can lights are popular choices for soffit lighting because they produce more light with less power, thus cutting energy costs while keeping the light brighter longer. Furthermore, these bulbs don’t have as much heat, dissipating residual heat more effectively to keep areas around them cooler than incandescent bulbs. For an eye-catching lighting display with color-changing effects, you may opt for RGB LED bulbs that offer instant color-switching results at the flick of a switch.
Soffit lights can be installed into circular openings in your soffit and adjusted to produce various lighting effects. From narrow spotlights or wider floodlights depending on your desired look to even placing them at different heights for a wall wash effect, soffit lighting offers endless creative options!
Proper spacing of lights is vital when using this style of illumination to prevent light beams from crossing into undesirable areas or becoming intrusive. Dimmer controls can also help regulate brightness levels and minimize glare.
Add these lights to other exterior lighting elements, such as wall sconces and uplighting, to display eye-catching lighting. They look adorable at night, giving off their distinct radiance – not unlike wall sconces and up lighting, but unlike them, soffit lights create a striking look on buildings’ facades, unlike any other form of illumination.
Dimmer Controls
Many homeowners and businesses find dimmable soffit lighting beneficial when creating ambiance and reducing glare in spaces like bedrooms. Dimmable lights also make security lighting easier outdoors – they can be switched off when unnecessary!
Kitchen soffit lighting with recessed lights is a trendy look seen in updated homes, often replacing fluorescent tubes built into the ceiling with modern recessed lights for an eye-catching focal point in your kitchen.
Uplighting may also be considered for kitchen soffit lighting; this style pools light onto the floor but doesn’t let you see into cabinets or cooktops well enough to be accurate. Although suitable for most environments, such as kitchens, it may not be optimal if working late is part of your plan.
Additional options for soffit lighting include cove lighting and downlighting, both popular interior styles that pair nicely with crown molding recessed lighting. Cove lighting also works great at lighting up walls to add depth to rooms and hallways, while downlights are very common in kitchens as a source of general illumination and accentuating.
Placement
Proper use of recessed soffit lighting is a powerful tool to enhance the appearance of your home. A strategically placed soffit light can draw the eye toward critical architectural features or create an inviting focal point in dark spaces, even providing additional security benefits.
Understanding the limitations of soffit lights is crucial, as you want to use them appropriately and know when and where they can and cannot be applied. People often turn to soffit lighting to illuminate areas that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to light with floor-mounted uplights – however, this may leave shadowy corners that detract from your home’s visual appeal.
Alternate between ground-mounted up lights and soffit lights to achieve an integrated, natural look that emphasizes your home’s architectural features and avoids an “alien spaceship” appearance caused by too many soffit lights that create an artificial roofline.
Before building begins, designing the lighting layout should be prioritized as this makes running wires and planning switch locations much simpler. To avoid costly errors, use a string level to draw a line parallel with but not touching the edge of the soffit and mark twox4 “lookouts” spaced 24 inches apart. Wedge them into place, then recheck the level before moving on.
Energy Efficiency
Soffit lighting can add a stunning finishing touch to any room or area of your home that might otherwise go unnoticed at night, such as features that don’t receive enough illumination at dusk. Furthermore, its increased visibility improves safety in your garden after dark while being an energy-saving way of lighting that could cut costs on electricity bills. With LED bulbs available today, soffit lighting can even reduce electricity bills!
Downlighting is one form of soffit lighting used to highlight structures like houses or porches by pooling light on the ground and drawing attention toward them. Soffit lighting fixtures can highlight landscape features like trees or fountains on your property using uplighting fixtures.
Soffit lighting can also be used for mood lighting, using rope or tape lighting to add a hidden warm glow. Installation options range from along the top of a soffit and sides of your porch to getting fun color-changing or flashing lights for an added layer.
Be wary when selecting the brightness of soffit lights for your exterior home, as too bright a light can create an uncomfortable glare that is hard on your eyes and make the space seem like an island in an ocean of darkness – not exactly the desired effect for home exteriors! To prevent this scenario, adjust the kelvin temperature of your lights, which measures how warm or cool they are.
Read also: How Many Teaspoons For 1/4 Cup?
