2.40m room height with spot lighting sufficient?

Hello everyone,

I am currently renovating a house and now we are considering the lighting and implementation. Our rooms currently have a height from the top edge of the screed to the bottom edge of the ceiling plaster of 2.50-2.53m. To properly install LED spots, it is apparently necessary to lower the ceiling by about 70mm. When the floor is installed, another 15-20mm will disappear. So you can assume that in the end there will be maybe 2.40m of clear height left. Now the question: Is that enough to feel comfortable? Besides three rooms of 10-20sqm upstairs, this would also affect a large room with living, dining area and kitchen. I am curious about opinions.

Thanks in advance!

So you can certainly live with 2.40m as well, that’s fine. But I would especially consider in the living/dining area whether to choose alternatives to ceiling spots. Or alternatively, to only partially lower the ceiling!

Better to have other lamps (e.g. flat LED panels) on the ceiling than to lose 7cm of room height because of stupid recessed spots. My opinion, I wouldn’t even think for half a second about making all the rooms lower.

It probably depends on what you are used to. I personally could accept it in secondary rooms such as (guest) bathroom, storage room, pantry, utility room, even in the hallway. But not in living room/kitchen, bedroom/children’s room. I would personally rather do without spots then. There are a variety of other nice ceiling lighting options.

Just for comparison: The Berlin building regulations now require a clear room height of 2.50m for living spaces!

Is there any other need to lower the ceiling? There are also very flat recessed spotlights (30mm), with built-in LEDs instead of GU10 bulbs. But as others said, avoid lowering it if possible!

2.40 is not uncommon at all and quite sufficient. But I find spots for living rooms uncomfortable; indirect lighting is the better choice there.