What is a surface-mounted spotlight?

A spot that goes onto the ceiling instead of into it. You screw it down where the outlet already sits, with no hole to cut and no space needed above the ceiling. That makes it the answer for concrete, for a beamed ceiling and for any ceiling you are not allowed to open up.

When you need one

A recessed spot disappears into the ceiling and needs room behind it, usually five to eight centimetres. That room is not always there.

• A concrete ceiling. There is nothing behind it, so there is nothing to hide a spot in. Drilling is possible, but the wiring still has to get there.
• A beamed ceiling, or a wooden floor above it. Cutting here means cutting into the structure.
• A rented home. No holes in the ceiling, and nothing to make good when you leave.
• An existing outlet. If there is a junction box with a light on it now, the surface-mounted spot screws straight over it.

The full comparison is in What is the difference between recessed and surface-mounted spotlights?

What it looks like

A surface-mounted spot is a cylinder or a cube on a mounting plate. You screw the plate down, the wiring comes in from the back or the side, and the spot itself sits on top.

Because it is visible, the shape counts. The Faro is a round cylinder 12 cm long with a gold interior, which gives back a warm glow instead of a bare reflector. The Quadro is a clean 14.5 cm cube for an AR111 lamp.

Tiltable or fixed

This is the question that comes up most, and the answer depends on what you are lighting.

Tiltable means you can still aim the spot after it is mounted. The Largo turns and tilts through 360 degrees, so you can point it at a wall, a cabinet or a painting once it is up. That is exactly why a surface-mounted spot often beats a recessed one: you can aim it afterwards.

Fixed downward looks calmer and is enough if you want general light. A row of fixed spots on a ceiling looks tidier than a row all pointing different ways.

If you want more than one point of light from a single outlet, the Largo also comes as a bar with three tiltable spots. Three points in a row are enough to wash a wall with light; with two you always keep a dark patch in the middle.

With or without a lamp

Most of the surface-mounted spots we carry have a GU10 socket and ship without a light source. That is deliberate: you choose the colour temperature, the output and whether it dims, and in five years you only swap the lamp.

Watch the maximum wattage printed on the fixture. On the Largo that is 40W per spot, which is generous; on the Faro it is 10W. What GU10 actually is, is covered in What is a GU10 socket?

The track version

There is a third form people often overlook: a spot that clips onto a track instead of onto the ceiling. You run one track and hang as many spots on it as you like, then slide them later without drilling again.

For that we have the Mivo, the Sento and the Vetra. Do mind the system: a 3-circuit adapter does not fit a 1-circuit track. The advantage of 3-circuit is that one continuous track gives you three separately switched groups, for instance task light and mood light over the same kitchen. How it is wired is in How do you wire a 3-circuit track?

What to check first

Where the outlet is. A surface-mounted spot goes where the wiring is, and that is not easily moved. If you want light somewhere else, a track or a bar with several spots is the way out.

The spacing. Same rule of thumb as for recessed spots: roughly half the ceiling height. See How far apart should ceiling spotlights be?

That it sticks out. Ten to fifteen centimetres below the ceiling is normal. In a room with a low ceiling, or somewhere you walk past with a ladder, you will notice it.

The range is at surface-mounted spotlights.