Potential LED recessed light problem

10 years ago

I ran into an interesting dilemma when using recessed LED lights designed to go in ceiling cans. I have bought 6 so far, and am happy with the performance. Our new house will use 18 of them, so I decided to buy the rest of them, based on my trial run. Guess what? They are no longer available! No big deal, as there are plenty to choose from, but of course, they don't match the ones I already have.

This presents a problem. Given the long life expectancy, it's reasonable to assume that by the time you have one fail, you won't be able to get a matching one. I can just picture one of those spectacular great rooms with 24 cans. One mismatched fixture would stick out like a sore thumb!

I'm going to use the 6 I already have in less important rooms, so it's not obvious that they don't match. I'm torn now as to whether I should buy spares for the kitchen, where there are 8 of them. Ceiling cans may go the way of the do-do anyway, since they are notorious air leakers. Dedicated LED down fixtures don't really need separate cans, and I think that will be the new trend in lighting. Meanwhile, there are millions of cans in use out there, and people will be using the retrofit LED's more and more. Something to think about when planning your lighting. At $30 or more each, they're not exactly 'throw-aways'.

Comments (7)

energy_rater_la
10 years ago
I keep hoping for the whole recessed light thing to end.

make sure OP that electrician is handed the right
can light for the right area...don't assume that
he/she will pay attention to any differences.

personally I think IC cans should be taken off the
market, for new & replacement, and only ICAT
sold.

best of luck
david_cary
10 years ago
ERLA - in my area, most cans are in the kitchen which is on the first floor of a 2 story house. We aren't really talking a significant problem here. And certainly modern codes require ICATs (in most areas). But I'm sure you find a lot of older houses with horrible cans. I'm still amazed at the holes in bath fans - new ones even.

If I had 24 cans in one room (crazy), I'd definitely buy 26 or so. I have plenty of single cans in showers to hide mismatches. I probably have 20 cans in my house and I've done a room at a time in LED. Now if I were to lose one of the 8 in the kitchen and a replacement wasn't available, then I'd steal one from a shower and replace with the odd one.

I have 2 houses entirely LED for 2 years. No failures yet. Not even a random early failure from a manufacturing defect and I certainly have over 100 bulbs
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mushcreek
Original Author
10 years ago
Since I'm the electrician, I know where they are going. I'm using ICAT's of course, although they don't look very AT to me. I'm going to make sure they are well sealed to the ceiling plane, AND they are going to have boxes over them in the attic before the insulation goes in.

We'll be pretty much all-LED, but i am concerned about not being able to find matches years down the road. I'll certainly buy a few extras. I bought a different one, (a little cheaper, too) and it is much brighter than the first 6, and casts a wider lighter because it is much shallower. It might be slightly cooler, too, although it's hard to tell with it being so much brighter. I'm going to run down and buy about a dozen so I can do the kitchen. I'll use the other 4 in other rooms, and do as David said- steal one from another room if I have an early failure.
LOTO
10 years ago
We have about 80 LED can lights and I purchased 32 extra so I should be covered I hope.
ontariomom
10 years ago
Good points. MushCreek, can you please explain what you meant by "AND they are going to have boxes over them in the attic before the insulation goes in". Excuse my ignorance.

Carol
energy_rater_la
10 years ago
"Since I'm the electrician, I know where they are going. I'm using ICAT's of course, although they don't look very AT to me. I'm going to make sure they are well sealed to the ceiling plane, AND they are going to have boxes over them in the attic before the insulation goes in. "

give me a minute to get my foot out of my mouth...LOL!

if there are no holes in the housing..they are air tight.
but what I find is that the cuts in the sheetrock are
often oversized, so that the leakage is now at
this penetration. I use a mastic tape to seal between
sheetrock & housing of recessed light, then once
trim kit is installed, the mastic tape seal doesn't show.

by doing this additional sealing, the box over the
recessed light in attic isn't necessary.

after a decade & a half of testing homes for air
leakage...doing the air sealing work..trying everything
from ice chests to sheetrock boxes to ul rated 'hats' that
go over recessed lights, I've found that the above
method is the best.

its a real pita to cut box to fit & seal air tight around
'legs' of recessed cans, and in a lot of cases
the can is next to joist & box can't fit in between.

expanding foam (aka great stuff) covers but doesn't
seal leakage sites. but it expands so much...that
you can't see the leakage sites anymore.
over time, the foam shrinks allowing more leakage.

thus the mastic tape method of sealing. I use
only Hardcast brand #1402 mastic tape from
hvac supply. I also use the hardcast to seal
supply boxes to ceilings from inside the house.
(I say ceilings..because that is the average location
of ductwork in my area) hardcast will seal the
same in wall, or floor applications.

see attached pic to view how it looks.
easier than explaining!

best of luck.
ontariomom
10 years ago
Very helpful post energy_rater. Thanks!

Carol