Sena Electric

6″ is very close. 12″ or over is better. What will happen is that you may be able to clearly see where the lamps stop and start if you have a row of multiple lamps that don’t overlap. The ceiling may seem too bright above the lamps and light won’t project out as well into the room. A light very close to the ceiling will also show more of any ceiling texture which can be bad if there are imperfections. Keeping the light on the softer side will help. You can use a lensed fixture to help diffuse the light.

Title 24 regulates how energy may be used for climate control and lighting. The goal is to reduce our consumption of electrical power or at least slow the growth in demand. Different areas of a home have different requirements with kitchen lighting having the most impact on design. In the kitchen 50% of the wattage used must be high efficiency fixtures. The other 50% of the total wattage you can use any type of fixture you wish. Bathrooms, garages and laundry rooms require either high efficiency fixtures or occupancy sensors. The other rooms can use dimmers or high efficiency fixtures. High efficiency fixtures must be approved. One can’t just screw in a fluorescent replacement lamp and meet the code. It would be just as easy to remove that high efficiency lamp and go back to our wasteful ways so the lamp must plug into its fixture socket.