Free downlight layout planner
How many downlights a room needs, and exactly where they go. Enter the room size, ceiling height and fitting, and get a spaced plan with measurements from the walls, ready to mark out on site.
Plan a room’s downlights
No sign-up. Works offline, nothing is uploaded, and you can plan every room in the house.
Open the plannerOpens in a new tab. Works on a computer, tablet or phone.
What it does
- How many lights: from the room size, ceiling height, light level and fitting, using the lumen method.
- Where they go: an evenly spaced plan drawn to scale, with the spacing and the distance from each wall in millimetres.
- A marking-out list: every row’s positions from the left and top walls, to mark the ceiling on site.
- Checks the spacing: warns if lights are further apart than their beams cover, if a room comes out too dark or too bright, or if lights sit too close to a wall.
- Typical light levels: filled in for living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, garages, offices and shops, and easy to change.
- A whole house at once: add and copy rooms, see the total downlights and watts, and copy the fittings list into a quote.
- An order list: add the make and model, colour (tri-colour, warm, cool or daylight) and cut-out size, and the same fitting across rooms adds up to one line to order.
- Lighting power check: watts per square metre for the house, outdoor areas and garage, against the NCC limits for new homes (5, 4 and 3 W/m²).
- Wet area reminder: bathrooms, laundries and outdoor areas get a note to use suitably IP-rated fittings and check the AS/NZS 3000 zones.
- A professional report: your logo, business and licence number, the customer and date, a room schedule, the fittings to order, a dimensioned plan and marking-out table for every room, and a sign-off line.
- Your own layout: choose the rows and columns yourself and it shows the light level and spacing you’ll get.
Typical light levels
| Room | Typical light level |
|---|---|
| Hallway, stairs, alfresco | About 80 lux |
| Bedroom | About 100 lux |
| Living, dining, garage | About 150 lux |
| Bathroom, laundry | About 200 lux |
| Kitchen | About 250 lux |
| Study, office | About 320 lux |
| Workshop, shop | About 400 lux |
These are starting points for general lighting. Clients often want more in kitchens and less in bedrooms, and benches or desks may need task lighting.
How to plan downlights
- Enter the room. Length, width and ceiling height, and pick the room type.
- Enter the fitting. Its light output in lumens, watts and beam angle, from the box or the data sheet, plus the model, colour and cut-out for the order list.
- Check the plan. Read the light level and any warnings, and set your own rows if the room needs it.
- Print the report and quote. Print the report for the client and for marking out on site, and copy the fittings list into your quote or order.
Common questions
How many downlights do I need?
It depends on the room size, the light level you want, the ceiling height and how bright each fitting is. As a rough guide, a 5 × 4 m living room with a 2.4 m ceiling needs about 8 downlights of 800 lumens for 150 lux. The planner works it out for your room with the lumen method.
How far apart should downlights be?
Evenly spaced, with half a spacing between the outer lights and the walls. So if the lights are 1,200 mm apart, the outer ones are 600 mm from the wall. The planner also warns you if they’re further apart than their beams can cover at your ceiling height.
What light level should I use?
The planner fills in a typical level for each room type, such as about 100 lux for a bedroom, 150 lux for a living room and 250 lux for a kitchen. Change it to suit the client, and use task lighting for benches and desks where needed.
How is it worked out?
With the lumen method: lights = lux × floor area ÷ (lumens × utilisation factor × maintenance factor). The utilisation factor comes from the room index (room shape and how high the lights are above the surface you’re lighting) and the colour of the walls and ceiling. The maintenance factor is 0.8 for LEDs.
Can I plan a whole house?
Yes. Add each room, copy one to make the next, and it totals the downlights and watts for the job. Copy the list into your quote or print a report with a plan of every room to mark out on site.
Does it check the NCC lighting power limits?
It shows the watts per square metre for the inside of the house, outdoor areas and the garage, and flags any that are over the NCC limits for new homes of 5, 4 and 3 W/m². It’s a guide only: check the energy rules that apply to your project.
Is anything uploaded?
No. It all runs in your browser, works offline once open, and keeps your rooms on your device.
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