Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
janesylvia

For recess lights,choose LED kit or ordinary one with led bulb?

janesylvia
11 years ago

I am going to have recessed lights installed in living room and family room.Is it better to buy LED kit, or ordinary one and then use LED bulb? Are LED recessed lights not as soothing and have more glare compared to ordinary ones?

For LED kit, is Lithonia Lighting, Halo or some other brand better? Some LED recessed lights are marked as IC/non IC and air tight. Some are just marked with one of those features. Is it important to have both features? 3000K better than 2700K?

Any input or sharing of experience is greatly appreciated.

Comments (8)

  • David
    11 years ago

    Kit - can housing and lamp such as the CR6 or RT6. The discussion link provided has more details.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Led recessed

  • janesylvia
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you very much, David. I went to local Home Depot and saw Ecosmart CR6 LED recessed lights 570 lumens and 620 lumens with same price of about $35.

    I checked online and found Cree CR6 800 lumens LED recessed light (not sold in HD yet). Is it better to buy this brighter one instead of the HD's so that I can have less recessed lights installed? All LED recessed lights would be controlled by Lutron C-L diva dimmers.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cree CR6-800L

  • David
    11 years ago

    It may allow you to space the lamps further apart, reducing the total number.

    It is more beneficial for applications with ceilings > 10'.

  • janesylvia
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you very much, David. My ceiling is only 8' high. I don't know if it's better to order online the 800L one or buy from HD the Ecosmart 620 lumen ones.

    Really appreciate your help.

    This post was edited by janesylvia on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 17:36

  • David
    11 years ago

    Some things to consider -
    If using the higher output version results in more than 1 can being eliminated (assuming that your electrician is installing the cans), there probably would be savings.

    The Cree branded versions have a longer warranty than the EcoSmart branded versions.

    On the flip side,
    getting the lamp locally may be easier.

    It might not

  • lascatx
    11 years ago

    We have been replacing old incandescents with the Cree EcoSmarts from Home Depot and have been very happy with them. Most are in 9 and ten foot ceilings and we are getting equal or better light out of them. I only wish we'd tried them before we replaced 6 rims and cans in a ceiling we painted the summer before. I just bought another round last night and the store I went to had them for $24.97, so the kit works out to be no more than the can, rim and bulb and is actually about $10 less than the lighting stores price for just the bulb. The kit also has a very clean look and bugs can't get in the crevices around the bulb, Seems one or two often find their way in over the years a bulb is up there.

    Keep in mind that any bulb has a certain spread of light as well as brightness. You have to balance those two factors in figuring how far you want them spaced.

  • janesylvia
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you very much, David and lascatx.

  • poobaloo
    11 years ago

    Hi,
    I just set up 4 different LED models and compared them to traditional incandescent and CFLs -- see my other recent thread. We preferred the kit to the regular bulb and baffle. The sealed front was nice. Look into the startup time... The Home Depot 620 lumen model had a 1 second delay when starting up, so we ruled that one out. It was also the least light output and cost a lot for that low output.

    We felt they were all very pleasant light. The only one we didn't like was the CFL. 2700k was indeed a bit warmer and 3000k was a bit whiter. We liked the slightly whiter color in all cases.

    More glare? No, not at all.

    IC / Non IC means the (cans) are rated for insulation contact or they are not. If they are going in an insulated joist they have to be IC, otherwise it doesn't matter.

    Overall we liked the Menards kit best, it was made by Feit Electric and had a flat translucent plate across the front instead of a bulb-like reflector like the HD models. We didn't try the Lowes model, cuz we found one we liked and didn't feel we had to research further -- altho I'm keeping them all till our dimmers come in to see how well they dim.

    This was all just personal preference. Get a couple and try them, then take back the ones you decide against.
    -mike