LED recess lighiting - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

crovello · 11-15-2009, 07:08 PM

I am building a house and the customer may want to change the recess lighting to LED.

I need to round up samples to show the HO.

Any opinion on them?
Any brands I should avoid?
Are they worth all the extra cost?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

Dave

Zinsco · 11-15-2009, 07:11 PM

Very expensive. Totally not worth it.

Inner10 · 11-15-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

http://www.richelieu.com/produit/ind...1032641&o=7355

I'm doing a job controlling some of these lights:

http://www.richelieu.com/produit/ind...1032641&o=7355

They look nice and cost a fortune.

If you plan on dimming check with the manufacturer on what dimmers are compatible and whether you can use reverse phase dimmers on their power supplies etc.

They are the way of the future.

**framerman** · 11-15-2009, 08:48 PM

The last job I was on, the electrician used these guys

http://www.eco-story.com/oscommerce/...products_id=39

They are bright, they cost around $60, they don't get hot, they last 40,000-50,000 hours, and they burn about 5 watts.

crovello · 11-15-2009, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by framerman

The last job I was on, the electrician used these guys

http://www.eco-story.com/oscommerce/...products_id=39

They are bright, they cost around $60, they don't get hot, they last 40,000-50,000 hours, and they burn about 5 watts.

I should put those in my kitchen. I hate changing bulbs with that long pole.
Initial cost is high but they are so cheap to operate and last much longer than conventional bulbs.

I am sure the price will come down as they become more popular.

Thanks for the link.

angus242 · 11-15-2009, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crovello

I am building a house and the customer may want to change the recess lighting to LED.

I need to round up samples to show the HO.

Any opinion on them?
Any brands I should avoid?
Are they worth all the extra cost?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

Dave

Dave,

Recently I was bidding on a custom wine cellar so we looked at med base LED bulbs for the recessed cans. I was completely impressed by them. In a multi-bulb fixture, LED vs incandescent vs CFL, you could not tell the difference between LED & incandescent. As has been mentioned, 60W equivalent bulbs run around 5-7W. They do have 40,000+ hours life span. However, the one that I saw in a PAR30 form was $85. That's just insane to me. I suppose in a specialty application like the wine cellar, it's OK. But for everyday fixtures, I just think they're not ready for prime time. Once they drop in price, they'll overtake CFLs, no doubt.

MarkyMark · 11-16-2009, 11:39 AM

I recently installed a bunch of the Cree LR6's. I was skeptical of the cost at first, but was totally impressed with the finished product. They look WAY better than a standard can and trim with an incandescent lamp, and the light distribution is much better as well. Unlike regular edison base screw in replacements, the light output on these are specifically engineered for perfect recess can placement. They are about $85.00 each and install into just a standard 6" recess can housing. I would put them in my house in a heartbeat, even at that price.

Magnettica · 11-18-2009, 09:19 PM

Had a customer who put these in the regular 4" IC cans I put in a month ago and they didn't look good, IMO. The dimmer buzzed and it just didn't look right. Light Emitting Diodes are in the future but they just didn't look good.