Recessed Light- LED or Incandescent w/ LED Bulb?

59310 Views 28 Replies 17 Participants Last post by madmax718, Sep 26, 2014

gbruzze1

Discussion Starter · Oct 17, 2013

I was discussing this with a few different electricians. I'm getting more requests for LED recessed lights and two of my electricians said that getting an incandescent housing and using a LED bulb is a very cost effective way at getting the results of a true LED recessed light.

The biggest difference they pointed out was that the LED housing will look more high-tech, while the incandescent will look like a standard light.

I'm also thinking about using LED's in my personal home, so was wondering if anyone has any experience?

In terms of LED housings, I would probably be offering the Juno's.

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

Inner10

· #2 · Oct 17, 2013

gbruzze1 said:
I was discussing this with a few different electricians. I'm getting more requests for LED recessed lights and two of my electricians said that getting an incandescent housing and using a LED bulb is a very cost effective way at getting the results of a true LED recessed light.

The biggest difference they pointed out was that the LED housing will look more high-tech, while the incandescent will look like a standard light.

I'm also thinking about using LED's in my personal home, so was wondering if anyone has any experience?

In terms of LED housings, I would probably be offering the Juno's.

LED drop in bulbs look like crap unless you use the ones with built in lens and trim ring...then you can't really tell the difference at all.

Spencer

· #3 · Oct 18, 2013

I just put a bunch of them in my house. I used the 6" utilitech retrofit. There is a very light humm when they all are on. I have had a hard time finding a dimmer that did not cause them to delay when being turned on. I just got my first electric bill and it was quite a bit lower.

CarpenterSFO

· #4 · Oct 18, 2013 (Edited)

If you remodel in California, you live this question every day, because of the energy code requirements.

You can either use an incandescent housing with an LED "bulb" or the same housing with a retrofit LED kit - a wet location light and trim with white baffle. They're decent looking. The retrofit kits with trims dim better than the "bulbs" do, and are a little more expensive.

For about the same price you can get a dedicated LED housing into which you can put a basic LED light and trim - again the wet location trim with white baffle. The only difference between this and the retrofit kit is that this version doesn't have the screw-in connection. In California, that difference matters, because the screw-in housing isn't legal in baths and kitchens or other high-efficiency-required locations. (Minor exceptions apply).

So yes, there are some relatively inexpensive ways to get LEDs into a home.

For 2 or 3 times the price, you can put together a more versatile combination of housing, LED light module, and trim. You have more color temperatures available, a small bright light source that's similar to an MR16 halogen in effect, and all the trims you'd expect with low-voltage halogen - wall splashes, mirrors, spots, etc. The package is twice the cost of an MR16 housing and trim, maybe more. Very attractive, high-end quality and effect.

The cost and "designey-ness" ratios between the two LED approaches are comparable to the ratios between incandescent and low-voltage halogen, but bumped up 50-100% in price.

Edit: One thing to be aware of is that LEDs don't dim down to a warmer light - the color temperature stays the same. Homeowners who want a warm evening ambience gravitate toward at least a few of the 2700K modules and mirrored trims. It's worth heading over to your local professional lighting showroom to see some of the choices. IMO.

See less See more

Reactions: 4

TNTRenovate

· #5 · Oct 18, 2013

LED and CFL suck. Nothing like good old Incandescent. Too bad the libtards had to ruin it, like everything else good in life. Debuzzing coils work pretty good, but I could never find anything that completely removes the buzz.

Calidecks

· #6 · Oct 18, 2013

TNTSERVICES said:
LED and CFL suck. Nothing like good old Incandescent. Too bad the libtards had to ruin it, like everything else good in life. Debuzzing coils work pretty good, but I could never find anything that completely removes the buzz.

I don't know the LED's are pretty good these days.

Reactions: 2

Calidecks

· #7 · Oct 18, 2013

I have 57 can lights in my home, switching all to led had to save on my electric bill. My electric bill is now only 450.00 per month.

Reactions: 1

TNTRenovate

· #8 · Oct 18, 2013

Californiadecks said:
I don't know the LED's are pretty good these days.

Not saying that they haven't gotten better, just still not anywhere near an incandescent bulb.

Warm glow dimming and Color curve dimming get a lot closer, but still need to come way down in price and get rid of the buzzing.

Reactions: 1

CarpenterSFO

· #9 · Oct 18, 2013

Californiadecks said:
I have 57 can lights in my home, switching all to led had to save on my electric bill. My electric bill is now only 450.00 per month.

is right.

Reactions: 1

TNTRenovate

· #10 · Oct 18, 2013

Californiadecks said:
I have 57 can lights in my home, switching all to led had to save on my electric bill. My electric bill is now only 450.00 per month.

What was it before?

Every stat on energy consumption of incandescent indicate that a standard 100 watt bulb only costs something like $13 a year to operate. That would make a yearly cost of $741. LED bulbs are about 10% the operating cost. So you would save something like $56 a month

Not bad, but I'll pay the extra $55 a month to keep my incandescent light!

Calidecks

· #11 · Oct 18, 2013

TNTSERVICES said:
What was it before? Every stat on energy consumption of incandescent indicate that a standard 100 watt bulb only costs something like $13 a year to operate. That would make a yearly cost of $741. LED bulbs are about 10% the operating cost. So you would save something like $56 a month Not bad, but I'll pay the extra $55 a month to keep my incandescent light!

I get a bill every two months, I think my highest bill was 1300.00 for the two months. This may sound crazy, but even when no ones at home in the summer we have to run the AC for my Saint Bernard. She overheats very easy. It's one of the responsibilities of owning a saint in hot weather. Usually in the summer my wife's is home because she's a teacher with summers off.

Reactions: 1

PrestigeR&D

· #12 · Oct 18, 2013 (Edited)

I am glad I live near Niagra falls, .....you guys would be pissed if you knew what I pay for juice here in Buffalo, NY.........:whistling

Some LED lighting I like,....I like to work with the strip LED lights- low voltage for cabinet lighting or accents,,,,,,,,but as far as bulbs- no way one of those are going in my sockets- I don't care for the way the lighting looks/feels ....or the constant buzzing even though its faint- get a few of them charged up and it may drive you insane.........but, I am no lighting afficianado - JMPOV .

I do have the fluorescent tube lighting in the shop to cut down on electric but I really think (IMO) the only warm lighting your ever going to get is from incandescent ......I haven't found any LED lighting that can truly imitate incandescent lighting.

B,

Inner10

· #13 · Oct 18, 2013

TNTSERVICES said:
LED and CFL suck. Nothing like good old Incandescent. Too bad the libtards had to ruin it, like everything else good in life. Debuzzing coils work pretty good, but I could never find anything that completely removes the buzz.

Try a quality reverse phase dimmer like lutron maestro ELV. Most complaints with LEDs are people thinking they can just change the bulbs and their old dimmer will work fine.

TNTSERVICES said:
What was it before?

Every stat on energy consumption of incandescent indicate that a standard 100 watt bulb only costs something like $13 a year to operate. That would make a yearly cost of $741. LED bulbs are about 10% the operating cost. So you would save something like $56 a month

Not bad, but I'll pay the extra $55 a month to keep my incandescent light!

In an area of the country where you don't want the excess heat and electrical prices are high the payback can be pretty quick. In Canada we have cheap power and long heating seasons thus the savings isn't that great.

Reactions: 1

TNTRenovate

· #14 · Oct 18, 2013

Inner10 said:
Try a quality reverse phase dimmer like lutron maestro ELV. Most complaints with LEDs are people thinking they can just change the bulbs and their old dimmer will work fine.

Yeah, $20 bulbs and $130 dimmers...I think I'll stick with my $.50 bulb and $30 Lutron Dimmer.

And they still can buzz.

Inner10

· #15 · Oct 18, 2013

TNTSERVICES said:
Yeah, $20 bulbs and $130 dimmers...I think I'll stick with my $.50 bulb and $30 Lutron Dimmer.

And they still can buzz.

And you need a neutral in the box to boot.

Reactions: 1

Spencer

· #16 · Oct 18, 2013

3

This will be my kitchen. I love the look of these. With incandescants we would have baked. There is a slight hum but it is very very faint. I have had a problem finding a dimmer that I like. Best one I've tried is actually the 600 watt diva that isn't even made for LEDs.

See less See more

Xtrememtnbiker

· #17 · Oct 18, 2013

Spencer said:
This will be my kitchen. I love the look of these. With incandescants we would have baked. There is a slight hum but it is very very faint. I have had a problem finding a dimmer that I like. Best one I've tried is actually the 600 watt diva that isn't even made for LEDs.

Why would you ever need a dimmer on such few lights...?

Spencer

· #18 · Oct 18, 2013

Xtrememtnbiker said:
Why would you ever need a dimmer on such few lights...?

I asked an electrician for advice once and he said its better to have to much rather than not enough. I found that you can't have too much light. I like the light level when these are on full blast. For a kitchen it works good. Dimmers are definitely a must for setting the mood and winding down in the evening.

Xtrememtnbiker

· #19 · Oct 18, 2013

Spencer said:
I asked an electrician for advice once and he said its better to have to much rather than not enough. I found that you can't have too much light. I like the light level when these are on full blast. For a kitchen it works good. Dimmers are definitely a must for setting the mood and winding down in the evening.

I was just messing. Looks great. Post up some pictures when you finish it.

TNTRenovate

· #20 · Oct 18, 2013

Spencer said:
I asked an electrician for advice once and he said its better to have to much rather than not enough. I found that you can't have too much light. I like the light level when these are on full blast. For a kitchen it works good. Dimmers are definitely a must for setting the mood and winding down in the evening.

So you asked the guy who makes more money by putting more lights in if there was a such thing as too many? :whistling

Shocked that he said you can never have too much light.

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.