Search the forums

Loading
Home › Forums › Breaktime › Energy, Heating & Insulation

LED retrofit for bad recessed lighting installation

TomFid's picture

LED retrofit for bad recessed lighting installation (post #205404)

TomFid on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 21:38
in

I was just about to have fiberglass blown into a cathedral ceiling over a living room, when I discovered that all 15 can lights in the room were bad. They're non-insulation contact and non-airtight (Lightolier 1102p1). When the attic was originally insulated, the cans were surrounded with tar paper cones to keep the insulation back. Those have since collapsed. So, now these are not only venting a lot of air, but they're also a fire hazard - a couple of the thermal switches cycle.

I haven't talked to a lightolier dealer yet, but it doesn't look like there's a viable air tight/insulation contact retrofit for this model - the labor of getting into the soffits, wading through fiberglass, to replace the frames wouldn't be worth it. Lightolier makes an LED module, but it's pricey, and the system still wouldn't be rated for insulation contact.

So, it seems like my best bet is to remove the lightolier reflectors and trims, and install retrofit IC/AT cans in the existing holes. I'd like to leave the lightolier frames in place, but they seem flat, so that seems like it would work. Removing them would be a major hassle.  Then I could either use regular bulbs and trims, or LED modules like the Cree CR6.

I'm somewhat inclined to go straight to the LED modules, because they have a lot of heat sink capacity. I'm a bit concerned that LED bulbs might have heat issues (CFLs seem to suffer a bit in the existing fixtures).

So, I guess I'm just looking for a sanity check on whether this is the way to go. Have I missed a way to work with the lightolier hardware? Any particular retrofit cans to seek/avoid? Thanks for any insight.

 

-A +A

You might consider installing (post #205404, reply #1 of 4)

by DanH in reply to TomFid [original] on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 05:14

You might consider installing commercial CFL fixtures.  They have the ballast separate from the lamp, so they don't have the overheating problems regular Edison-base CFLs have.


We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. --Thomas Edison

Interesting thought on the (post #205404, reply #2 of 4)

by TomFid in reply to TomFid [original] on Thu, 12/01/2011 - 10:05

Interesting thought on the CFLs ...

 

I guess the counterargument to using LED modules now (instead of LED bulbs in regular cans) is that the bulbs are on a much faster learning curve right now, so that I could use my existing CFL bulbs in the cans through the end of their lives, then upgrade to LEDs that are much better or at least cheaper than what I can get today.

Cree (post #205404, reply #3 of 4)

by Mongo in reply to TomFid [original] on Mon, 12/05/2011 - 20:38

I just put Cree lights in existing 6" cans. Nice. More info here at the end of this thread:

http://forums.finehomebuilding.com/break...

There are 10 kinds of people in this world; those who understand binary and those who do not.

LED Recessed Lighting Retrofits, work with most any housing (post #205404, reply #4 of 4)

by MarkTLS in reply to TomFid [original] on Fri, 01/06/2012 - 09:56

First of all , Happy New Year.  

I am not sure if it is a heat issue, or the turning them on and off that hurt the CFL the most. On the LED modules I have been somewhat standing back on the whole LED recessed lighting issue for some time.  As the head lighting designer for the company I refused to recommend the LED retrofits as too many of them produced a beam of light that was too narrow and way to harsh.  Also I wanted a module that would fit 99% of the housings and be able to dim on most dimmers.  So having resisted for a long time  I think we have found the one that will solve a number of problems, including being able to put the same module in both a standard housing and a shallow housing and it works in both. So most any housing you find at home depot wil work, and you do not have to spend a small fortune as the module is now affordable.

the  5” and 6” size.  So please excuse my post sounding like an advertisement. But I get  questions on this all day long,  and if  it will help any on the forum, great.  As always you are welcome to contact me and discuss most anything.  I do a lot of kitchens, so I am always interested in comments on kitchen lighting issues.  

Thank you for your time.

Take care,

Mark Scott

Lead Lighting Designer TLS

 

here is the link to the module:

 http://totalrecessedlighting.com/led-recessed-lighting/led-universal-retroft.html