Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/21/recessed-led-light-kit.html
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I’ve been doing the same thing and they are fantastic. The only issue I’ve run into is that the edge around them is a bit smaller than what I’ve been replacing and I’ve had to patch some sloppy canister cuts by the original builders. That said though? I join you in being wholly enthusiastic about these.
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I’ve got 4 cans in my kitchen (main lighting) that I have never been happy with. Would these be bright enough to replace?
What is the light output? (lumens) Cone? (spot or flood) Color of light? (warm/cool)
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hint! hint!
(weird, no Amazon link)
That is kind of what I was thinking. Thanks for the hands on approach. I see on the amazon page they do make different light temp models as I am one of those who prefers daylight white for the kitchen.
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True this.
Our local Home Depot had an energy incentive that cut the price of these down to $15 a piece:
https://www.amazon.com/Halo-Recessed-RL560WH6835-6-Inch-Retrofit/dp/B00F2WRO50/ref=pd_sim_sbs_201_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=41B3op5hKYL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=AYV5DV4QYKC28RE604EZ
The 3500K color is white with just a touch of amber. They also make them in +90CRI for those who need a bit better color rendering and 900 lumen models for what they classify as high ceilings (+10’). I originally bought a set of the 4000K, +90CRI, 900 lumen models from Amazon for about $45 a piece, but ultimately they were a bit bluer than I wanted, bright as hell, and honestly $30 more per light…
While I’m not going to say Sunco is a bad brand, I do have a tendency to trust someone like Halo/Cooper Industries a bit more.
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I have installed a bunch of these in our house since we purchased the place six years ago. An important point regarding the 6" “can” recessed light fixtures is that they are large air leaks. We had over eighteen of them in our upstairs rec room (don’t ask my why they needed one every 5 feet throughout the room). And they had ugly black interiors to boot. They vented room air directly into the attic space. Ugh!
I installed 100W “sunlight” spectrum retrofits in our kitchen and hallway, both on dimmers. Our living room had four recessed cans (totally unnecessary), so I put 60W warm white retrofits there. They all look and work great.
One important point regarding the LED retrofits, especially if you use them (the dimmable kind) with a dimmer switch. If you plan on listening to the radio anywhere near them, you won’t be able to anymore. We tried three different dimmer controls, including two that specifically claimed to work with LEDs and “low RFI”. Did not help! Lots of hissy noise on every frequency.
What did help somewhat was installing an RF choke inside each fixture. This cut the noise by about 2/3. You can get rid of most of it by turning the dimmer to full brightness.
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Note, BTW, that even though the Amazon copy brags “One of the Highest CRI on the market” they don’t actually specify it.
Its CRI is in fact only 82 - about on par with the best compact fluorescents.
Other manufacturers like Cree offer units with a CRI of 90 or more, which is much, much better.
Personally, if I had can lights, I’d wait until the “color warms up when dimmed” LED tech matures, since most can installations are designed to be over-lit when full up, but soft and warm and inviting when dimmed to a comfortable level…
Most LEDs don’t change color as they dim, so a 3000K LED isn’t going to look like like a 2700K incandescent, which warms to about 2200K.when dimmed to comfortable levels.
Phillips has some tech that’s supposed to do that, but I haven’t seen it yet.
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