Recessed Lighting Cost Calculator

About $1,409 — six remodel IC-rated housings with baffle trims, BR30 LED bulbs, attic access above and one basic dimmer. That lands right on Fixr's 2026 national average of $1,467 for six lights ($1,056–$1,968) and inside Angi's $100–$300 per fixture band, so a bid far outside roughly $1,127–$1,902 deserves a second look.

Yes, mostly through labor, not parts. New-construction housings mount to open framing before drywall goes up, cutting install time to roughly 0.77 hours per light; remodel housings mean cutting each hole in a finished ceiling and fishing wire, about 1.1 hours per light. On an eight-light job our model prices new-construction cans around $180 each versus $223 for remodel — about 19% less per light.

IC stands for insulation contact. An IC-rated housing is sealed so it can touch attic or wall insulation without becoming a fire hazard; non-IC cans need a 3-inch clearance. Building code requires IC wherever the housing will contact insulation, which is nearly every ceiling under an attic. The hardware premium is small — about $13 per fixture, or $78 on a six-light job — far cheaper than the fix for an overheated non-IC can.

When an electrician pulls new wiring — new cans on a circuit, or a new branch circuit from the panel — most jurisdictions require a permit and inspection, and Fixr's 2026 guide says the same. A like-for-like trim or fixture swap on an existing can usually does not. A few cities require a permit for any new box cut into a ceiling, so check your local rules; our model adds a $110 permit whenever a new circuit is selected.

The hardware is cheaper and the install is simpler — a $124 parts stack per light for a disk retrofit on an existing can versus $106 for a traditional IC can, baffle and bulb. The catch: with an integrated LED, the whole module goes to the landfill when the driver dies, typically in 10–15 years. Disk lights shine in remodels where there is no room for a can depth.

About $72 for a basic wall dimmer and $118 for a smart dimmer, device included. It's roughly 5% on top of a six-light job, and the control must be rated for dimmable LEDs or the lights will flicker at their lowest settings — most integrated LED modules list compatible dimmers in their spec sheets. One catch that reprices the smart option in older homes: most smart dimmers need a neutral wire in the switch box, and pre-1985 boxes frequently don't have one. If yours doesn't, the electrician is fishing wire rather than swapping a device, and the "20-minute" smart upgrade becomes one of the labor-heavy cases this calculator prices.

It is one of the biggest single factors. With attic space above, the electrician works from above through open joist bays; without it, every wire is fished blind through finished drywall. Our model adds about $41 per light ($248 on six lights) for the no-attic case, and plaster or textured ceilings push it further.

The common design rule is to space cans about half the ceiling height apart — 4 ft on center under an 8-ft ceiling — and to keep the first can roughly that same distance off the walls so the light washes the wall instead of scalloping it. On that grid a typical 12×16 living room takes 4–6 cans and an open kitchen 6–8, with the cans over the counter and sink runs rather than the walking aisle. Working the count out this way before you call keeps this calculator's fixture-count input honest — and it's the number that moves the quote, because per-light labor and parts dominate every line in the estimate above.