Recessed lighting - 5" or 6" cans

[chiam]

We are adding recessed lighting to our finished basement. The ceiling height is 8'. What size can should we go with? I feel like the 6" cans are huge and scream 1980s but maybe I'm being unreasonable. The 6" cans are cheaper than the 5" so I'm really considering them. Thoughts? Thanks so much!

[grey56]

We just put them in, in our finished basement. I didn't know there was a size difference but we are cheap so I'm sure we did the larger ones. I think they look nice.

[kaylie]

We got 6'' cans in our family room because they're cheaper, but in hindsight I would have gone with 5''. 6'' just seems huge.

[magdala9]

We had to use the smaller one (which were more expensive) because our ceiling did not have sufficient depth to use the larger ones. If we had tried to install the larger ones, they would have stuck out from the ceiling which loses the point of recessed lighting.

[lightbulbsun]

Get the 5".

[chiam]

I appreciate the comments. Thanks. I think I'm going with the 5".

[FoxInFiji]

6" is way cheaper and as the standard they are much easier to upgrade, intergrate, and buy trim for in the future. For example in the future many people will be using LED conversion bulbs that screw into the standard A size light base (ie what you're installing) instead replacing the whole can to LED. These are currently only sold in 6" sizes. They also make things like surround sound speakers that screw into 6" cans so you have hidden surround sound. Things like that.

It really depends on the size of the room if they feel too big or not. Remember you can get trim that makes the opening appear smaller or better yet buy big lightbulbs that fill the opening so it doesn't look like a big cavity. A BR30 bulb size for example.

We just installed 12 - 6" cans in our basement which has ceiling heights a few inches shorter than 8' and they look great. I had originally read that 6" look dated as well but that is really not the case. It's a big 600-700 sf rec room and the 6" cans fit the size of the space well. Also be aware that though the cans are very cheap the trim can cost a lot. We used Halo cans and got their Supertrim trim that covers the entire back (no looking up to see the back of the can when the light is off and it provides an additional air seal for energy efficency). The trim has a white rim and a soft haze interior to reflect back light but not have glare.