Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
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Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
I'm having a heck of a time researching this subject. I will be using a few dozen of these as part of a large remodeling project, and are looking for the following criteria:
4 inch
2700k color temperature
dimmable
These can get pricey, so more economical options would be welcome. I'd love to hear personal experience, especially as related to dimmability (i.e. no flickering)
Thanks,
cc
4 inch
2700k color temperature
dimmable
These can get pricey, so more economical options would be welcome. I'd love to hear personal experience, especially as related to dimmability (i.e. no flickering)
Thanks,
cc
- unclescrooge
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
I recently out about 50 in the entire house. Used feit brand from Costco.
They look good and work on dimmers. Only issue is sometimes the dimmed light is inconsistent between two on the same dimmer.
They look good and work on dimmers. Only issue is sometimes the dimmed light is inconsistent between two on the same dimmer.
Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
I've seen such lights overheat and cause problems: flickering because they got too hot, then failure.
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
That is true, but other types of lights can withstand the heat.coalcracker wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:22 pmI'm open to suggestions for alternatives. I had read that LEDs gave off less heat than alternatives.
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
In 2016 I replaced 50 MR16 bulbs and about 50 various other bulbs with their LED 2700k counterparts - Costco FEIT and miscellaneous highly ranked Amazon products.
This lowered my electric bill a modest amount. None have needed to be replaced. All work with dimmers just fine. I'm kind of surprised the outdoor bulbs are working great.
They do not generate any heat.
No particular brands to recommend - I just went on Amazon and got the highest rated, which often was mid pricepoint.
This lowered my electric bill a modest amount. None have needed to be replaced. All work with dimmers just fine. I'm kind of surprised the outdoor bulbs are working great.
They do not generate any heat.
No particular brands to recommend - I just went on Amazon and got the highest rated, which often was mid pricepoint.
- MichaelRpdx
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
Why 2700K color?
I've been switching to LEDs. While my wife doesn't know the details she is happy with the 6500K bulbs I'm using.
Yes, I'm a fan of daylight color temps.
I've been switching to LEDs. While my wife doesn't know the details she is happy with the 6500K bulbs I'm using.
Yes, I'm a fan of daylight color temps.
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
I'm very picky about lighting color. If I had 6500k bulbs I'd be sitting around the house in sunglassesMichaelRpdx wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:42 pm Why 2700K color?
I've been switching to LEDs. While my wife doesn't know the details she is happy with the 6500K bulbs I'm using.
Yes, I'm a fan of daylight color temps.
- MichaelRpdx
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
I do mean temp, not intensity.coalcracker wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:46 pmI'm very picky about lighting color. If I had 6500k bulbs I'd be sitting around the house in sunglassesMichaelRpdx wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:42 pm Why 2700K color?
I've been switching to LEDs. While my wife doesn't know the details she is happy with the 6500K bulbs I'm using.
Yes, I'm a fan of daylight color temps.
Though in the past I have lit some rooms to near daylight intensity.
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
i have many dozens of the Halo RA4 floods and spots in my 1.5 year old home, both inside and out. They are all working very well. Don’t be afraid to go with the 3000k units. They are not too cold. Lutron Maestro dimmers. No flicker.
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
Have you noticed any buzzing with those lights and dimmers? That is another complaint I have seen for some combinations.
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
MichaelR IS wearing sunglasses.coalcracker wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:46 pmI'm very picky about lighting color. If I had 6500k bulbs I'd be sitting around the house in sunglassesMichaelRpdx wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:42 pm Why 2700K color?
I've been switching to LEDs. While my wife doesn't know the details she is happy with the 6500K bulbs I'm using.
Yes, I'm a fan of daylight color temps.
- FrugalInvestor
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
I have Feit 2700k bulbs in all the recessed fixtures as well as others throughout my home. Most are on dimmers. I am very happy with the bulbs themselves and the color which changes very little as they are dimmed. I tried the whiter (higher k) bulbs and didn't like them at all. Of course your taste in light color may be different than mine. I changed most of my bulbs out (incandescent to LED) almost 4 years ago and some quickly failed. The nice thing about Costco is that the defective bulbs were accepted for return with no questions asked. LED technology is improving rapidly so I expect that the failure rate is much lower now than it was then. Since the failed bulbs were replaced with new ones none have failed a second time and none of those that didn't fail almost immediately have failed since.
Have a plan, stay the course and simplify. Then ignore the noise!
- unclescrooge
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
I presume you enjoy the Costco experience so much, you like to pretend you're living in one?MichaelRpdx wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:12 pmI do mean temp, not intensity.coalcracker wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:46 pmI'm very picky about lighting color. If I had 6500k bulbs I'd be sitting around the house in sunglassesMichaelRpdx wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:42 pm Why 2700K color?
I've been switching to LEDs. While my wife doesn't know the details she is happy with the 6500K bulbs I'm using.
Yes, I'm a fan of daylight color temps.
Though in the past I have lit some rooms to near daylight intensity.
Last edited by unclescrooge on Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
Personally, I'd just go buy 4" Halo incandescent cans from Home Depot, and then use screw in LED bulbs that are rated for such.
The cans that have a built in LED are extremely expensive, and if the LED ever needs replaced, very expensive again.
The cans that have a built in LED are extremely expensive, and if the LED ever needs replaced, very expensive again.
- MichaelRpdx
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
I have an art background. Daylight balanced lighting enables creating and viewing works as naturally as possible. The really lit up, high intensity, spaces were studios. It's also good for the indoor plants.unclescrooge wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:23 pmI prime you enjoy the Costco experience so much, you like to pretend you're living in one?MichaelRpdx wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:12 pmI do mean temp, not intensity.coalcracker wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:46 pmI'm very picky about lighting color. If I had 6500k bulbs I'd be sitting around the house in sunglassesMichaelRpdx wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:42 pm Why 2700K color?
I've been switching to LEDs. While my wife doesn't know the details she is happy with the 6500K bulbs I'm using.
Yes, I'm a fan of daylight color temps.
Though in the past I have lit some rooms to near daylight intensity.
Yeah, my avatar does have "sunglasses" - autogrey lenses.
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
Halo H99 cans from the Depot
Sunco 3000k inserts
Sunco Lighting 6 PACK 13Watt 5/6" Inch ENERGY STAR UL Listed Dimmable Baffle LED Recessed Lighting Light Retrofit Kit Fixture Downlight 3000K Warm White LED Ceiling Light, Wet Location 830LM, CRI 90 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5LUN9K/re ... JAbQ3D153J
Sunco 3000k inserts
Sunco Lighting 6 PACK 13Watt 5/6" Inch ENERGY STAR UL Listed Dimmable Baffle LED Recessed Lighting Light Retrofit Kit Fixture Downlight 3000K Warm White LED Ceiling Light, Wet Location 830LM, CRI 90 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5LUN9K/re ... JAbQ3D153J
- FrugalInvestor
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
Yes they do, this was a fallacious claim made about LED bulbs when they first appeared on the market but it is not true. It is also not true that they don't attract bugs. They do produce significantly less heat.
Have a plan, stay the course and simplify. Then ignore the noise!
- Epsilon Delta
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
That takes a lot of bulbs. By my calculations the lower end of full daylight in a bright white room would require 800lumen (60W incandescent equivalent) on a grid spaced 16 inches apart. In a typical bedroom that would be 150 bulbs. Direct sunlight could be 10 times that.MichaelRpdx wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:12 pm Though in the past I have lit some rooms to near daylight intensity.
Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
We retrofit our entire house several years ago with LED. Mostly we ended up with Philips brand after trying and returning many others.
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Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
Generally LEDs are on a bathtub curve of reliability. They either fail early on, or after the end of their designed life. Unlike CFLs, their useful life does not seem to be affected by how often you turn them on and off.livesoft wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:26 pmThat is true, but other types of lights can withstand the heat.coalcracker wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:22 pmI'm open to suggestions for alternatives. I had read that LEDs gave off less heat than alternatives.
In replacing about 50 MR16 & GU10 halogens, the reduction in heat is noticeable from halogen or incandescent (less so w CFL)-- it's about an 80-90 reduction in heat output. These are mostly Philips bulbs, and we have not had any problem with reliability.
Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
+1 on the Sunco brand. I recently installed 6 4" Sunco recessed lights in my sister's kitchen and wanted to get IC (Insulation Contact)-rated cans as the ceiling has about 18" of insulation. The Halo brand at Home Depot were not IC rated and that led me to the Sunco brand on Amazon. We used the 2700k inserts to match the existing light temperature of other bulbs she has in her condo. Plus, the the cans/inserts are less expensive than the ones HD sells. Hope this helps!wilked wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:03 pm Halo H99 cans from the Depot
Sunco 3000k inserts
Sunco Lighting 6 PACK 13Watt 5/6" Inch ENERGY STAR UL Listed Dimmable Baffle LED Recessed Lighting Light Retrofit Kit Fixture Downlight 3000K Warm White LED Ceiling Light, Wet Location 830LM, CRI 90 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5LUN9K/re ... JAbQ3D153J
Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
For some shifting the color temp down with dimming was a feature which has been lost with LEDs. Maybe one day they will design a bulb with a color setting on a dial. I suppose if one had an array of lights half could be daylight and half could be warmer and one could switch out the cool one's when one wanted less but warmer light.FrugalInvestor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:16 pm I have Feit 2700k bulbs in all the recessed fixtures as well as others throughout my home. Most are on dimmers. I am very happy with the bulbs themselves and the color which changes very little as they are dimmed.
Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
Phillips made the L-Prize winning bulb that did this to an extent with any dimmer. We have a bunch of them in part for this reason (plus they were the best lumen per watt output for a long time). Philips and I'm sure others now do this in a much more extensive way with their smart bulbs. I presume some of them must be able to be controlled at the wall rather than an app or voice control by now.dbr wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:14 amFor some shifting the color temp down with dimming was a feature which has been lost with LEDs. Maybe one day they will design a bulb with a color setting on a dial. I suppose if one had an array of lights half could be daylight and half could be warmer and one could switch out the cool one's when one wanted less but warmer light.FrugalInvestor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:16 pm I have Feit 2700k bulbs in all the recessed fixtures as well as others throughout my home. Most are on dimmers. I am very happy with the bulbs themselves and the color which changes very little as they are dimmed.
Re: Recessed 4 inch LEDs: Recommended brands
Thanks for the pointer.onourway wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:27 amPhillips made the L-Prize winning bulb that did this to an extent with any dimmer. We have a bunch of them in part for this reason (plus they were the best lumen per watt output for a long time). Philips and I'm sure others now do this in a much more extensive way with their smart bulbs. I presume some of them must be able to be controlled at the wall rather than an app or voice control by now.dbr wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:14 amFor some shifting the color temp down with dimming was a feature which has been lost with LEDs. Maybe one day they will design a bulb with a color setting on a dial. I suppose if one had an array of lights half could be daylight and half could be warmer and one could switch out the cool one's when one wanted less but warmer light.FrugalInvestor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:16 pm I have Feit 2700k bulbs in all the recessed fixtures as well as others throughout my home. Most are on dimmers. I am very happy with the bulbs themselves and the color which changes very little as they are dimmed.