Lighting above fireplace causes excess shadows


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Old 08-17-16, 08:02 PM
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Lighting above fireplace causes excess shadows

In our living room there is a recessed ceiling eyeball light above the fireplace, a light fixture on the rooms ceiling fan and two table lights. There is a problem with extreme shadowing when the ceiling recessed light is used as the primary source of light and problematic shadowing when used in conjunction with the ceiling fan light fixture.

Situation:
The eyeball recessed light above our fireplace is not centered and too close to the fireplace wall. There is a ceiling fan in the middle of ceiling. Currently, without the ceiling fan light ON there is extreme shadowing on and below the fireplace mantel. There is little problem with only the ceiling fan light ON but having this light on at night is not always desirable. We hope to correct the recessed lighting problem with better positioned new recessed lights or LED track lights and removal of the current recessed light or some other solution. Images are attached.

Measurements:
1. Wall is 8' high.
2. Center of the 6" recessed light is 1'1" away from the fireplace wall.
3. Center of the fan light fixture is 5'3" away from the fireplace wall.
4. Distance of the fans blade from the fireplace wall is 3'2",

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Old 08-17-16, 08:06 PM
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I put a dimmer on my fireplace lamp soon after moving in but for the most part I simply do not use that lamp.
 
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Old 08-17-16, 08:11 PM
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Ours has a dimmer but does not help with the problem. Thanks for replying.
 
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Old 08-17-16, 08:24 PM
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If you have a "spotlight" bulb in there the shadows may be harsher than if you used a "floodlight" bulb. The reflectors of the two bulbs are different and therefore have a different beam spread. It should be written on the bulb what type it is.
 
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Old 08-17-16, 08:32 PM
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Thank you for the information. I will check.
 
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Old 08-17-16, 10:47 PM
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There is a problem with extreme shadowing when the ceiling recessed light is used as the primary source of light
That's an eyeball fixture and it's real purpose should be to just light the picture on the wall.
It's not there for a primary light source..... it's considered accent lighting.

The further you move it away from the fireplace..... the lesser the shadow but the shadow can never be removed completely with the fixture on the ceiling.


In my opinion.... the light is too bright and the beamspread is too wide.
 
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Old 08-18-16, 05:16 AM
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Thank you Pete. I do not mean to sound dense yet in your opinion what are the proper remedies?
 
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Old 08-18-16, 06:40 AM
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I imagine you have tried to adjust the angle of the eyeball,just a thought,eyeball or wall washers are not designed for general lighting as mentioned,what is your goal,highlight the pic or the fireplace or general lighting?
 
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Old 08-18-16, 07:16 AM
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Highlight the painting without putting the area below the mantel in the dark.
 
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Old 08-19-16, 04:39 AM
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You may try changing the lamp ,try to find one with less beam spread,I would go to the Big box store and pick up some different lamps to experiement with,return the ones that didn't work,or search online for one that has a beam spread of like 30*.
 
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Old 08-19-16, 09:09 AM
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Thank you. I will look online now.
 
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Old 08-19-16, 10:13 AM
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The light was installed to highlight above the mantel. The shadows are going to stay when you have a strong light source above.
 
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Old 08-19-16, 04:12 PM
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So let me go at this in a different why. Say, I had no light above the fireplace. What specific light or light should be put up and how should it or they be positioned?

Thank you for your continued help.
 
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Old 08-19-16, 04:22 PM
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Something along the style shown on the first row of this Google Image search.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lamp...q=picture+lamp
 
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Old 08-19-16, 04:36 PM
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Oh my, that may be the answer. Thank you so very much.
 
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Old 08-20-16, 07:11 AM
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There is a battery powered one in that link that looks sweet, otherwise you would probably need a cord and switch to control the 120 volt ones.
 
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Old 08-21-16, 08:19 AM
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Saturday we discovered the 23 year old rececessed fixture has a dangerous electrical short. Continue use could/would start a fire. We turned off the power switch to the fixture then removed the bulb. Both components of the fixture must be remove with only wires remaining. Each individual wire is to be capped off using wire nuts. A lighting consultant is scheduled to come evaluate the situation.


Thank you all for your help. Once this dilemma is resolved I will post the successful result.
 
 

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