LED can light bulbs...

[mwhitnee]

I have many can (recessed) ceiling lights in my house and was thinking about switching the high use rooms to LEDs.

Can anyone comment on the quality of the light produced by LEDs and is it worth it price-wise? Thank you.

 

[velvetfoot]

I replaced mine with replacement cans that have their own bulbs-not a screwed in type. They work and look and dim great, 2700k, but I wonder if I'll be able to match them if they fail. I did buy an extra one. Maybe shoulda gotten 2.

 

[mwhitnee]

I have 3 rooms that I am considering and I think you need to replace the dimmer switch as well when converting.

 

[RSNovi]

I recently changed all of my recessed lights with the Sylvania 2700 k units from Lowes. These come with the bulb and bezel ring all in one. I am very happy with the light and that the new bezel is crisp white and not all yellowed like my old ones.

 

[mwhitnee]

My cans use the regular flood-type bulbs, I assume these do not? Do these possibly replace my type of lights? I was really thinking about just replacing my bulbs.

 

[semipro]

My cans use the regular flood-type bulbs, I assume these do not? Do these possibly replace my type of lights? I was really thinking about just replacing my bulbs.

I just went through this at our house. The LED bulbs that I could use with the old fixture "trim" cost about the same as the the LED "trim" combination and, I thought, had other disadvantages (not sealed, bugs, air leakage, etc).
You shouldn't have to replace the whole fixture, just the "trim". New LED trim kits will have an adapter that plugs into the existing bulb socket.
I tried various brands and colors (temperatures) of bulbs and ended up with the Philips "soft white" or 2700 degree color temp model. The others included Cree and Commercial Lighting. I didn't like the way the Cree mounted and the CL had a start delay that I didn't like.
LED replacement trim kits are typically sealed units with a surface gasket that helps stem air leakage through the fixture too.
HD was just offering a two pack of Halo LED replacements for $25.

Edit: I found that some of the newer LED lights work fine on the older incandescent dimmers. Newer "LED" dimmers are not inexpensive so a significant savings can be had if you avoid replacing dimmers.

Edit2: I installed these.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-...AwV25ARnxtRhPeQDBKozZBoCuiTw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[jharkin]

I updated all our can lights to LED around 4 years ago... Somewhere in the green room I made a thread on it, will see if I can dig it up.

Anyway, i used two options:

In my dining room I used Cree CR6 - LED light units with integrated trim. Or rather the HD ecosmart branded version of it (made by Cree). These are great, at 11w they are brighter than the old 65w incans they replaced, color temp is so good visitors don't know they are LED unless you dim them. And these things cost the same as a trim kit alone so are a no brainer if you are going to be replacing anyway or doing a new install.

In my kitchen I have cans in the cathedral ceiling and have the pivoting trims so I just replaced the bulbs with some HD ecosmart BR30 LEDs. I like these also, color is good but not quite as good as Cree. A little more power consumption (15w) but recent models are now down as low as the Cree in the 9-10w range. Again, brighter than the 65w incans they replaced.

All in all I am very happy with the LEDs and don't regret switching at all.



In my desk lamps I have mostly Philips A style LED bulbs and love those too, fwiw.

 

[jharkin]

Found it: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/led-downlight-project-completed-i-like-it.73324/

Follow up report on reliability - After 4 years of daily use I have only had one fail - it was one of the LSG made HD BR30s. I got it replaced free under warranty by HD after some haggling with customer service.

 

[mwhitnee]

Wow thanks guys that is a lot of good info! Sounds like I should just go with covering up the old units.

I dim my lights a lot, how are the LED lights when dimmed?

 

[velvetfoot]

Mine dim fine. They are air tight retrofits by Commercial Electric. Hopefully they'll still be making them if one burns out.

 

[Highbeam]

I am not a fan of the combination trim/bulb. I like my trim rings. The plain bulb is cheaper to replace if it goes out. And the replacement bulbs look like replacement bulbs and not some sort of weird flat modern fixture.

The LED light quality is excellent. 2700k for me and I prefer cree. They are instant on, no humming, and low wattage. Good light spread too.

No need for a dimmer in my installation. I installed all new IC airtight cans in this old house that never had ceiling fixtures so I installed just the right amount to provide full lighting without dimmers. I use a table lamp if I just want a little bit of mood light.

 

[RustyShackleford]

I replaced all my trims with "specular" ones - the thing is a reflector - and use "regular" (aka. A19) bulbs. That gives me access to a greater variety (at lower prices) of LED bulbs (or any kind of bulb, for that matter). The trims have the added benefit of being airtight, nice if it's an insulated ceiling (below unheated attic space). The ones I got for the 6" Halo cans online for about $10-12 each (a place called Beverly Hills Electric), such as:

http://beverlyhillselectric.stores.yahoo.net/halo30.html

 

[sportbikerider78]

Use the conversion kits with the trim. I did that on my 15+ recessed lights. They look great.

Many work with old dimmers. My dimmers are at least 20 yrs old and there is no issue.

 

[mwhitnee]

Well I bought some GE two pack 65W bulbs at HD they were on clearance, $8 as opposed to $17. That a good deal?

Installed 5 in 1 room and I like the light. When I'm dimming right at the end of the dim they tend to just quickly shut off so it's a little tricky. Would a new dimmer help with this?

 

[sportbikerider78]

Yes it would. Those Lutron switches are great, but do cost a pretty penny.

I have one like this for my fan control. Love it because of those small LED intensity lights. Some also have nightlights built into them. Great for kids and clumsy wives without night vision. LOL

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-M...-CFL-LED-Dimmer-White-MACL-153MR-WH/203489683

 

[mwhitnee]

I think if I can install a dimmer that will work better I'll keep them. Can they go reeeeally dim that way?

They are in the living room and on the first floor, so I don't have to worry about sealing trim rings. they look fine I think. Should have gotten that extra pack, I'm one short for the kitchen. The kitchen won't need another dimmer as I don't need to dim them super low like I like to in the living room.

Upstairs bedroom will get totally new fixtures with the sealing rings.

 

[mwhitnee]

Yes it would. Those Lutron switches are great, but do cost a pretty penny.

I have one like this for my fan control. Love it because of those small LED intensity lights. Some also have nightlights built into them. Great for kids and clumsy wives without night vision. LOL

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-M...-CFL-LED-Dimmer-White-MACL-153MR-WH/203489683

Well happened to get more bulbs on sale and got an LED dimmer. It is the one that looks like a typical light switch with a slider next to it, it was $23.

It was worse than the regular dimmer I had, it did not dim very low at all. I put the old one back in right away. Are other LED dimmers more sensitive than the one I got?

 

[sportbikerider78]

Typically, LEDs can't go as dim as normal bulbs. The diodes require a certain amount of energy to fire.

Did you adjust the pot on it? If this is the one you got you should be able to adjust the level with that black adjustment lever to the right.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-T...-CFL-LED-Dimmer-White-TGCL-153PH-WH/202746671

 

[mwhitnee]

Typically, LEDs can't go as dim as normal bulbs. The diodes require a certain amount of energy to fire.

Did you adjust the pot on it? If this is the one you got you should be able to adjust the level with that black adjustment lever to the right.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-T...-CFL-LED-Dimmer-White-TGCL-153PH-WH/202746671

omg see there I go not looking at the directions. Yes that's it, I could try installing it and adjusting the pot, it should definitely dim lower than it did. Thanks

 

[sportbikerider78]

Glad to help. I only know because I have handled that exact switch and asked the electrician at HD, "What is that?"

 

[RustyShackleford]

Typically, LEDs can't go as dim as normal bulbs. The diodes require a certain amount of energy to fire.

It's true they can't go as dim as normal bulbs, but the explanation given is incorrect. The attached graph shows that LEDs can dim smoothly down to 10% brightness or less (see attached graph, for a high-quality Cree LED). The problem is that you need to directly control the current through the LED (the x-axis on that graph) and normal residential lighting has no way to do that. Instead, dimmers just chop the AC waveform.

Some interesting information here:

http://www.ledsmagazine.com/article...-issues-to-ensure-compatibility-magazine.html

 

[sportbikerider78]

I'm not going to disagree with you, but I'm going to say that we are both right. LED's require a minimum forward voltage (and of course, current to operate). If Vfis not met, zero light. Then all of a sudden, lots of light. Look up the specs to any LED. It will come on with less current, but not less voltage.
It also depends how you dim them and how you are driving them. PWM? Vary the resistance? Good high power systems are fixed current. Low power systems (where heat does not build sufficiently to change resistance) can be driven reliably by voltage...think cheapo 5mm flashlights.

I'm no expert. Don't pretend to be. There are quite a few ways to dim and LED depending on its output and how you are driving it and what internal drivers a household bulb may have are huge factors on how much it can be dimmed.

 

[RustyShackleford]

If Vfis not met, zero light. Then all of a sudden, lots of light. ... It will come on with less current, but not less voltage.

Yeah, you can only prevent the all-of-a-sudden-ness by controlling current directly, since the current doesn't start flowing until a minimum forward voltage (as you say). So best dimming if you can somehow control the current directly. . But that's hard to do from a wall switch, which usually (always ?) just chops the waveform.

I'm messing with some LEDs (the "emitters" themselves), very good ones from Cree or Osram, with true "warm" white tone and high CRI. I'm going to start out making a "valance" light, which provides soft ambient lighting. I'll build my own driver, to control the current directly, and I expect to be able to dim the thing to very low levels indeed. We'll see how it goes. I could imagine a dimmer which has a current-controlled output; send a fixed current down the romex from the switch to the light; then the "bulb" is just a bunch of nice series-wired emitters, nothing else.

 

[mwhitnee]

Couple things:

1) Put the LED dimmer back in and adjusted the potentiometer, dims all the way to a nice glow, perfect.
2) My electric bill has been seriously reduced! I changed a total of 13 can lights into LEDs and they were in high use rooms.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Glad it worked out!