[bwilly]

I am going to be putting a suspended ceiling in a basement rec room. I am going to hang the minimum 3" clearance to maximize head room. I want to put recessed lighting in the ceiling since I can not use florescent lighting with 3" hanging. The question is two fold: first, what is the distance between lights to get even coverage and second, how does on "hang" the cans or do you just attach to the tiles before installation?
Thanks in advance for the answers.

[Stratmando]

The 6" cans need 5 1/2" clearance, I have cut plywood just shy of 2' X 4' to lay on top of
ceiling tile for support of fixture, and to prevent sagging. I forget the minimum for 4" Cans.
How Large is the room? Sometimes layout of ceiling may help determine amount and spacing of lights to be orderly?

[bwilly]

THe room size is 22' X12'. Are you suggesting that the plywood sit on top of the tiles. I will be able to place the cans between the joints so the clearance is really not a issue, I think. Thanks for the reply

[Stratmando]

If you mount cans to joist. It will be difficult to get tile in to place.
For maximum height, 2 bulb fluorescent fixture may fit between joist, then use the opaque
Lenses to fit in suspended ceiling.
If using cans, maybe 1 in the center of every other tile, skip a row, then every other tile,so to form a diagonal row also.
Yes, I was saying plywood on top of tile for support. I like to use plywood when instaling ceiling fans through ceiling tiles to eleminate the side to side swing.