For lighting I use both ceiling based and plane based. The advantage of a plane based family is that if you have an angled ceiling or domed ceiling the plane based light will adapt adn insert perpendicular to the face of the surface. Also some fixtures may be placed on walls, etc depending on your needs.
The link below is to a video showing how face based components work
Face Based Family
My personal preference and the one that gives me the most freedom is to start using a Generic Model family which I then switch to the Family Type. Remember to not over constrain your families.
