LED Recessed Lights

[Peter Stahl]

Anyone replace their recessed lights with LED's? If so do you like them? What wattage & color temperature (Soft White (2700K – 3000K), Bright White/Cool White (3500K – 4100K), and Daylight (5000K – 6500K) did you choose? Did you do just the bulbs or the retrofit housing? I have lights in the bedroom and kitchen I'd like to replace.

thanks!

[Steve Peterson]

If they are can lights, I just replace the bulbs. One of the big box stores has 10 packs of non-dimmable 60W equiv bulbs for $20. The 100W equiv are $50 for a 10 pack. I have a few of these where I need a lot of brightness. They put out 1550 lumens for 14W. Dimmable bulbs are a bit more expensive.

The retrofit bulbs with a cover around them seem to run about $10 each or more.

Steve

[Erik Loza]

We have a number of the Sylvania LED can lights in the house. Warm white, I believe. Going on four years, no complaints so far. I have also replaced most of the recessed lights (that were of the PAR type) with LED's from Costco. FEIT brand, I think. Same experience as the Sylvanias.

Erik

[Pat Barry]

I replaced 6 can lamps in our kitchen. My wife talked me into the daylight version. The light they give off is impressive but too white for me. She says she likes it though in the kitchen. I had to replace the dimmer at the same time since it wasn't rated for LED bulbs. The new dimmer has a separate slider to control the dim - I notice that I turn it down so not so bright and she always slides it full on. I guess she likes the brightness

On a related note, they just renovated the offices here where I work and I noticed that some people had umbrella's over their cubes. I asked why and they said it was because the new LED lights were too bright for them and they had a lot of glare from the lights on their computer screens.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

I recently replaced the bulbs in my can lights with LED bulbs from Costco. They had a rebate and were less than $15 for 4 I think, and are dimmable.
I'll have to get the specs on them later, but they look exactly like the standard bulbs they replaced, but are maybe slightly brighter when not dimmed.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

When we remodeled our kitchen last year, we put in 4 recessed LED cans. There is a fixture over the sink with LEDs in it and a chandelier over the dining room table. As the incandescent lamps burn out in the chandelier, I am replacing them with Feit LEDs from Costco.

No problems with the LED recessed cans. Ours are on dimmers.

[Peter Stahl]

Jerry & Ken,

Did you use LED dimmers? Thanks everyone for your replies so far.

[Doug W Swanson]

I put in the 65W led equivalents in our kitchen a few years ago. I think they were a 4 pack from Costco and are 2700K. The package said they are dimmable but I tried 3 different dimmers and none of them worked very well (either the bulbs buzzed or flickered). I gave up with the dimmer and just put in a regular switch.

Fast forward to last week: I just finished our basement and we have 13 recessed cans so I wanted to use dimmers and LED bulbs. Since it seemed to be a wash between buying the LED bulb and separate trim vs an LED retrofit kit, I decided to try the retrofit route. I bought the CL Lutron dimmers from Menards (~$15) and tried 4 different LED bulbs (some were just the bulb and others were the retrofit kit). All of them seemed to have a buzz when turned on.

I finally tried one more option: the Patriot Lighting LED retrofit kit from Menards. I got them on sale at $14 each and they work awesome! No buzzing or flickering at all. They are 3,000K LED with a 1,000 lumens.

http://www.menards.com/main/maintena...73398374243088

Hope this helps!

[Robert LaPlaca]

Peter 3000k is ideal replacement color temperature for halogen replacements. Color Rendering Index (CRI) is also important, most LED bulbs are in the mid 80's, halogen bulbs are in the mid to high 90's, a bulb with a low CRI can make your Cherry cabinets look very off color (grey for example). I bought seven Soraa Vivid short neck PAR 30 to replace the halogen bulbs, couldn't be happier with the bulbs, the bulbs are 75w equivalent that use 12.5w with a CRI of 95.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Peter, the electrical subcontractor supplied the cans and the switch. It is a LED dimmer switch as described by Pat Barry with the switch and slider beside the switch.

[Mike Berrevoets]

We have 8 of the 6" led can light retrofits and 20+ 4" led can light retrofits from Costco installed. They are dimmable but the problem I think is with the dimmer switches. I put in led ready dimmer switches but I was right at the limit on wattage for led for the switch. I had some flickering so I swapped out for regular switches and they work fine. Eventually I'll find a higher rated dimmer switch but for now we are using them with no dimmer.

these retrofit lights are all one sealed unit with the trim and bulb. Easy install and they look good. By the time you buy the par bulb and trim piece I think the led all in one is probably around the same price.

just watch the dimmer switches and make sure they are LED compatable. All the switches I found at the big box store were only rated for 150 watts for LED use.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

I just changed the bulbs. The existing dimmer switches are about 15 years old, and work fine with the LED bulbs I bought.

[Erik Loza]

...Did you use LED dimmers? Thanks everyone for your replies so far.

There are three of the Sylvania cans on the front porch and I have an LED-specific dimmer on that switch. Maybe Lutron brand? Anyhow, it works fine but does have a very sublte buzz at the most resistance (dimmest). You have to put your ear near it.

On the other hand, I bought an extension cord from Ikea that is specifically marketed for LED's and that thing hums so loud you can hear it across the room. Basically, useless.

Erik

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

The Costco bulbs I bought are 2700K, 11.5 watt, and 750 lumens.

[stevo wis]

I used retrofits for the recessed cans in my kitchen. Got them at Home Depot. Easy to install, just unscrew the bulb, screw in fitting to bulb socket, and shove in place. Very reasonable, easy to install, and they have a magnetic seal to make it airtight. I stayed with a warm light and they work well.
stevo