Interior Designers, stop using these recessed lights! (Here's what to do instead)
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- čas přidán 10. 12. 2022
- I've seen way too many projects with amazing finishes, beautiful furniture, and gorgeous colors get ruined when the contractor picks the recessed lighting. In this video, I take a trip to my local big box store, show you the kind of downlights your contractor is selecting, and then give you some options that will help keep your ceilings quiet so the attention is where is should be - on your interiors!
Products Mentioned in the Video:
2" Downlights by @HEWilliams
hew.com/products/2dr
BeveLED Mini by @USAILighting
www.usailighting.com/mini-pro...
The Little Ones By @USAILighting
www.usailighting.com/the-litt...
Also to point out by the time you buy the can fixture bulb, reflector and trim ring you looking at $50 to $70 for each light. There are other options that you can get like the can less ones and still be about to change the trim ring.
So glad I saw this vid,🌸 USAI makes some awesome lights, I'm doing a remodel, I wish more ppl would show their 1" downlight, thanks new sub 💖🧚🏻♂
I have experienced a lot of led failures after 1 or 2 years. I am no longer interested in led lights that are not changeable. The style of some of those is incredible but i have been burned too many times before (and so has the environment).
Any reputable spec grade manufacturer will have serviceable fixtures.
100% even high end commercial fixture become obsolete after a year or 2 and they only option is to replace the fixture at full cost, then sometimes they dont match anymore so now you replace them all.
Edison base all the way, then you can always swap the bulb with the latest and greatest
@@CobraJamrock Integral LED fixtures from reputable manufacturers are serviceable from below. but it isn't as simple as a bulb swap. that much is true.
@@DeliveredLumens to a point, driver replacements cant be $100, and arrays also. thats IF the manufacturer still supports it.
you have too much faith in manufacturers and you underestimate fixing costs, we've delt with Signify, Acuity, Moda, Phillips, Lithonia, Liteline, Stanpro. its all the same story "we dont make that version anymore" "LEDs last forever you shouldnt need to repair them"
Same experience here, with over 100 LED lights throughout the house. These integrated fixtures are a pain to service when the LED dies out, unless you buy a dozen in advance. It's way simpler to just use cans and pick LED light bulbs you want by diameter, power, and nowadays even color adjustment.
Thank you! This is so helpful...
This is a LEGIT PSA to ALL designers. Thank you!
The presentation neglected to discuss the effect of the deep recess in the new narrow diameter downlights. Deep recess and narrow apertures create a spotlight effect which requires more fixtures to even out the illumination. It would be good to hear of the tradeoffs between ceiling height, angle of illumination, and fixture spacing with these arrow aperture lights.
Fair enough. It’s a complicated subject but I should dive into it
Hi! We are trying to get quality downlighting as our main source of light for an 8” ceiling house. The twist is we are having trouble sourcing the brands you recommended in a quick timeline (we were going to buy the contractor grade until we saw your video 😅). Any more accessible brands (i.e. quick to order and arrive) you also recommend? Thank you so much for sharing such helpful info! 🙏
How did the renovation go?
Thank you for sharing this information! I love the look of smaller recessed lights. I am building a series of modern A Frame houses and would love to know what you would recommend for 25’ tall 35 degree ceilings. Not really worried about cost as much as functionality and quality considering these lights will outlive most all other lighting fixtures. Thank you again.
You’re going to want to look at an adjustable downlight for this application so that it can be titled to reach nadir relative to the ceiling slope.
With that ceiling ceiling look for 1500-2000 lumen down lights with probably a 30-40 degree beam spread.
Let me know if you need more help.
Great presentation! Subscribed!! I'm looking to use Ketra 2D adjustable fixture in my project. The building requires 2-hr fire rated housing or light cover. Most covers are 9" deep - too deep for the ceiling. Any other options aside from building them out of sheetrock?
what would you recommend for shallow exterior recessed downlight that needs to be 5" or less in depth love the video and been using 3 & 4 inch recess lites like the 1" lite !!! prefer a square trim thanks Diana
Diana, my go to is Orma from Inter-Lux. If you need more information email me. Mail [at] deliveredlumens.lighting
Great info. Basic question... how do you change the light bulbs in the small openings?
The narrow fixture I showed doesn't have a separate bulb you remove the LED engine and replace the entire thing.
This is amazing, thank you. I have been struggling with this issue for a new house. I plan to watch all of your videos. I'm just putting together my lighting schedule. Was considering the USAI 1" fixtures but thought they would be too expensive. I'm looking at some 2" WACs. Are the USAI fixtures more expensive?
shoot me an email at mail@deliveredlumens.lighting
Nice1..Delivery & thank u
I have a 20x20x 8ft height kitchen. Can you recommend 4" led gimbal lights for my cathedral ceiling new construction and how many I need for the space.
I installed 1 led light in home but after 1 week not working then I bought again after 2 weeks blinking so I bought a 4 pin pl-c downlight 1×26w g24q because cfl downlight bulb is easily replaceable but leds are not replacable
Mirroring previous comments, thank you for the informative video! The wife and I live in a small 2-story cottage built in 1900 in the historic district of a small town. We are renovating both bathrooms in the home and after watching your video I plan on replacing the recessed can lights in the upstairs bathroom with 1” or 2” LED’s. That bathroom has a pantry-like footprint, long, narrow with the entrance at one end flanked by a large tall window at the other end with a walk-in shower (48” x 32”). The recessed lights will be compliant with wet environments. To your knowledge are the 2” lights able to share one driver or does that attribute only apply to 1” lights? Thank you for your insights, very helpful and appreciated.
@jamespitchford7390, @Delivered Lumens, to replace the old larger recessed lights, do you have to completely redo the ceiling? How do you deal with the huge hole? My entire home has dimmable 6-inch cans with black rippled backgrounds. I would love to change all 50, but it seems it may not be worth it at this time for me. =)
All great info. In the questions below you say you'll want to work with your contractor or distributor. I am a diy'er so there is no contractor involved, and there is no H.E. WIlliams or USAI distributor near me. I'd prefer to get better qualify fixtures than are available at the box stores or Amazon, but it's not obvious how to do that.
That’s totally fair. In that case you’ll want to reach out to your local USAI or HEW rep. You can find them on the website
I agree with you 100%, but i cannot find a local store that sells these. Are there any good online sites to buy these from? And i would like to see a product educational video to help better understand product features and options. Thanks.
You're going to want to work with your contractor and local electrical distributor for better options
I have 6-inch can lights in my kitchen with LED screw-in bulbs. What should I replace them with? You know what you are talking about. I would appreciate your help. Thanks Much
My wife and I just pirchaes a home built in 2013. The ceilings are incredibly tall and steeply pitched. The light fixtures are sitting at 13', and the ceiling pitches above them to about 19'. The current fixtures are recessed 6" lights, and the room feels incredibly darkonce the natural light is gone and we are solely on interior lighting. Do you think a 2 - 3" recessed LED would help, or would they be too small to light our space well?
Great video. It answered many of my questions. You're in NYC. Can you recommend someone on eastern Long Island who won't break the bank? Thanks.
Shoot me an email mail@deliveredlumens.lighting
Awesome info. I just had my Contractor put in lights (remote remodel in a house that had no ceiling lights) and they drilled 4” tunable Halos everywhere and I cannot stand the glare! They sit flat at ceiling level!! Any ideas on reducing the aperture by adding an aftermarket magnetic ring which also sinks the light into an enclosure? I have 20 of these all over the house. Thanks for suggesting an after market solution!
I’m not aware of an after market solution. Let me know if you find something!
Thanks for making this video! I was literally about to install 6” can lights in my basement ceiling, but am definitely going with a smaller fixture now.
Any suggestions for spacing if using a 2”-3” fixture? My space is around 15’x25’. Again, it’s a basement so I want there to be adequate lighting, but don’t want to be too bright either
Glad I could help!
Its a basement.
@@diegudr
That doesn't mean it has to look like s*@t for the same price.
I have been searching the internet to learn the design principles of lighting. Hardly anything on CZcams. I wanted to know how designers think about SMD vs COB lights for architectural lighting. Can a 4" SMD recessed light available at HomeDepot be used as architectural downlight?
I've got a few on layouts and layering light💡I have used adjustable gimbals on 4" recessed lights for accent lighting. To get the pure light you need for art, it should be low voltage cans though, which drives up the cost.
Idea for fiture video: lighting ideas for barrel vaulted ceilings and groin vaulted ceilings
We have a new house being built and I wanted to have designer lighting effect in living, kitchen, bedrooms etc. I would like to know the pricing of the HEW lights. Can't find a rep here in Oklahoma.
Hey Monica! You can use the contact page at HEW to find your local rep. hew.com/contact-us
Great info but I never did hear you compare the cost. You quoted $100 - $300 for your preferred options, per light. A descent 6" contractor can light housing (Juno IC22) along with a good LED retro trim kit can be purchased for well under $20. Depending on someone's budget, that might work better.
What if i have 8 inch holes? Im not drywalling new holes for these. Ill use the flat retros.
My question is about beam spread since I do not want a spotlight affect - I am looking for you to address that. I am working on a kitchen in an old Victorian in an historic district that we originally spec'd WAC lights w/ an aperature of 3.5" costing upwards of 300 a piece but have a 45 angle beam spread. What would you recommend ?? If the cost is less for a smaller aperature then we would need many more lights than we'd like to do. lmk thoughts!! ideas, suggestions all welcome.
Beam angle is really a function of ceiling height. The higher the ceilings generally the narrower you go. In a 8-9 foot ceiling. 50-60 degrees is the way to go. At about 4-6 feet apart depending on the architecture
What's the best way to reduce the aperture size when home has pre-existing 6'' cans throughout? Are there retro fit kits that will reduce the aperture ?
If you have existing 6” cans some manufacturers make retro kits that will reduce apertures but you’re left with a plate to cover the opening. If that makes sense.
Is there a way to retrofit these into existing 4 or 6 inch recessed light fixtures? My house was updated in the 90's and I'm looking for a way to make the canned lighting more modern and avoid using the flush mount lights.
Same scenario here. I'm betting the only real solution is cutting a square in the drywall large enough to remove the larger housing then fitting a new drywall piece in with the smaller aperture.
The have retrofit kits for some. You might be able to break the box lose for the mounting and start over but you got to be careful not to pull the wire. IF you can get to them from above no problem.
You’re probably right. Sometimes the electrician can push the old fixture out of the way and you can reuse the old opening. Most of the time you have to cut the old heads out.
Our 4" and 6" inserts fit nearly any old can. Our Koto series offers up hundreds of style options and finishes. No need to even call an electrician. It's almost as easy as changing a bulb.
How do I find sources for better down lighting? I am located in Raleigh, NC. Thanks.
Work with your local distributors / to source better lighting. Showrooms can help too!
Is a 60 Deg downlight best for the lounge room or would the result be better using a 90 Deg downlights. Both are deep low glare lights.
It depends on your ceiling height. 9 ft k would probably do 60 degree lower than that 90
But… how do you calculate the size of your light spot where you stand in a high ceiling so you don’t have shadows. If a light goes out I’m only changing the bulb not the whole housing.
Can you recommend a 2” or 3” incandescent recessed fixture? I don’t like the way LED fixtures dim down.
Chris, halogen downlights in 2-3” apertures are out there. However they require ELV or MLV transformers. A good LED downlight and dimmer will perform as well or better than a halogen. It’s about specifying quality.
@@DeliveredLumens LED fixtures when dimmed do not achieve the warm amber tones that a halogen or incandescent fixture does.
Ah! Look deeper! Most spec grade downlight manufacturers offer a warm dimming solution. Here’s my favorite! www.usailighting.com/dimmable-led-downlights-warm-glow-dimming-products
I don’t think the average person is going to notice that an LED fixture color temperature while dimming does not emulate an incandescent or halogen lamp. LED is the way to go in this day and age, and LED technology is improving rapidly as well as becoming more and more price comparative to legacy sourced fixtures.
@@djm5k like anything else, you get what you pay for. The cheap stuff at the big box stores won’t deliver the same experience as a more fully designed product. That said, totally agree LED is where you need to be looking!
Great info, but what about all the "canless" recessed downlights on the market? They aren't flush like the wafer lights and they seem to be much more reasonably priced than typical "high hats"?
Hmmm do you have an example?
@@DeliveredLumens
Maxxima 2 in. Slim Recessed Anti-Glare LED Downlight - 5 CCT 2700K/3000K/3500K/4000K/5000K, 500 Lumens, Canless IC Rated, Dimmable Ceiling Light Fixture with Square White Trim, 90 CRI, J-Box Included
What lights would you recommend for a attic conversion where there are sloped ceilings?
You'll want an adjustable downlight so you can point them down and fight the slope!
BR40 in 6 inch recess and sloped ceiling 4’ apart and 4000 kelvin CRI 95. Perfect for art studio. I want bulbs not the retrofit style. “Only” 75 bulbs.
What happens when these integrated LED lights burn out? Does it require demo and patching of the ceiling to replace them?
No, a quality spec grade downlight can have its parts serviced through the aperture from below the ceiling.
Pretty much, yes. Most of the LED disk/panel flush mount lights on the market today have solid-state emitters that can't be serviced/replaced without removing the unit, and are hardwired.
Could this light you’re recommending be used with 240 volts power source ? I meant international markets where their voltages is 240v
There are absolutely 240V sources on the European market!
I'm going to put the Little Ones in my office right in the center of the Coffered ceiling. They should just disappear until needed.
How about replacements? Do u need to replace the whole set?
Can the lady of the house replace it? Or we need an electrician to do it?
Integral LED fixtures can be serviced over time. It depends on the make and model.
Do you offer consulting service on the side? Love to send you the drawing of my remodle and get a recimended lighting layout and brand modle to use.
Let me know how I could help!
@@DeliveredLumens I'd love to send you over the house drawing, and maybe have you go over the house and layout what you think would be ideal for a lighting solution, and recommend products. Obviously for a few but hopefully not a big one 😜
@@DeliveredLumens sent you a msg on insta
Or install a dimmer on the circuit.
Thank you
You're welcome!
We have a 4 year old man. House. They are hard wired to romex and not sure how to convert it to a quick change system
There is no housing. There is a metal box on the light itself. Romex goes straight in that. Can't even find them. Can't splice as it's not code correct?
Personally, I wouldn’t use the old boxes and splice I would recommend complete replacement.
My hallway ceiling is 9 feet tall, 34 3/4 inches wide, and 18 feet long.
What size light/beam would be best, and how many pot lights should I use?
It’s hard to say without knowing what you are choosing to use. Likely 3-4
Currently agonizing over lighting for our new custom-build contemporary house. Recently got violent sticker shock from our architect’s lighting guy … wish I would’ve been given a ballpark lighting estimate for his stuff three years ago when we first started on this crazy journey. Too bad he’s the 50th person to sticker-shock us too. The architect’s stuff is just not in our budget now so I’m looking at some options the builder is presenting. Feeling a bit annoyed at the whole situation and defiantly proletariat about the whole thing telling myself: “Nobody notices or cares about the downlights anyway”
It’s a tough thing, because lighting is often the last thing and the pricing shocks people. What are your goals?
@@DeliveredLumens yes you get it! Three goals we have as homeowners are 1) recessed lights that are as inconspicuous as possible 2) cohesive lighting that evenly washes the spaces as the foundation of more dedicated and focused task lights and chandeliers and 3) standardization on an even grid on the ceiling and the fewest number of products possible - again for cohesiveness as well as maintenance. Honestly think we're just going with 220+ 4" Juno deeply recessed Podz with WarmDim everywhere we can throughout the house. If there were any budget-friendly 3" products with enough lumens to deliver what the photometric analysis said we need, obviously we would've chosen that. Anywhere they had 1" downlights (like in shelves and credenza ceilings etc.) I think we're just doing powerful Klus tape lights. In fact, the CSL package for our house has a vast variety of 1, 3, and 5" (!!) cans with 50° and 80° variations and HL LEDs mixed in the same space ... as a homeowner I immediately think: "If one of these fails, how the heck am I going to know the replacement part number?" I was reassured that these never fail and that our salesperson would always be there to support us but (call me a skeptic) this was somehow not reassuring. Besides the price, the mix of dozens of products and subcomponents was just overwhelming for us non-expert homeowners. Anyway, I'm glad I found your video because at least it made me realize we definitely don't want 5" cans!
@@lisa-eitel This is what I do everyday! If you want to discuss the project in more depth let me know - mail@deliveredlumens.lighting
... now I'm on the USAI Lighting site thinking about this more 😄
I'm trying to talk a friend out of installing ceiling recessed lights in her new house because they just make the room look awful. I guess it's a personal taste thing, but why should a home look like an office? The downward light is harsh on people's faces due to shadow effects. I suggested to her to keep the nice ceiling clear of the swiss cheese look and instead install standing lamps plugged into wall receptacles that can be controlled by wall switches. Then she would have the freedom to decide lighting for ambiance and can easily change it over time. I'm a designer and believe recessed lamps to be 1980's-ish. What do you think?
So I think you’re half right. The best lighting works in layers. Good recessed down lighting is subtle and with small apertures like in this video you’ll have a clean aesthetic. But they should always be paired with softer decorative and ambient light sources
I beliebe you can get both recessed and a regular center light installed. It doesnt need to be this complicated.
Hate those baffles
No one uses the dinosaurs anymore Ultra slim led are the way to go.
If you love glare
THINK TWICE BEFORE DOING... New smaller LED fixtures...nice looking - Yes Easier to install - Yes... but thats about it. I've installed hundreds of the new, flat, wafer style LED fixtures over the last couple years and after much pain and suffering have learned the fallout is terrible. When they die... you have to replace the entire fixture not just screw in a new bulb. And forget the 22 year life expectancy claim. Plus... good luck finding a replacement fixture of the same model with the same lumen output in the same color as the one you are replacing. I Installed 20 LED fixtures in a customers great room two years ago. was able to find a match when the first two lights failed... since then no luck. Same manufacturer, same model number but the color of the lights when lit do not match. The only fix was to replace all 20 fixtures to maintain color and brightness matching.
Cost and quality are serious considerations. No doubt. Inexpensive wafer downlights are not nearly as thermally protected and are likely to not perform well over time. That's why they're $20
This guy is just shilling for the companies he reps. If you notice, the 'advantages' he claims for the low voltage downlights are totally subjective. Glare? Too big a hole in your ceiling? The simple fact is that if you can use a 3.5 inch LED BR30 bulb in a traditional 4 inch 'can' fixture....and then, if the bulb dies, you simply replace the bulb yourself. When you install these new fancy low voltage LED downlights, when one of them dies....YOU GOTTA CALL AN ELECTRICIAN TO REPLACE IT. And, you have to hope that the company still makes the same model fixture. LED BR30 bulbs aren't going anywhere.
Its not comparable. One has an exposed bulb with large opening. The other is a smaller opening (apperture) with a windowed glaze for disfussion.
The whole argument is just "choose a different fixture from my brand that im selling."
I mean its your channel so fair enough. But leds dont deliver the lifetime like they promise, and its nearly the same cost unless you do a cheap wafer.
I’ve worked with recessed lights of every medium. If you buy bad LED you’ll get bad results.
@@DeliveredLumens how do you characterize a bad led. What performance specifications are listed on the box that can describe the quality of LED?
what a pointless video
Great info. What about the pin lights? With no trim?
The USAI little ones I showed at the end are a sub 1” aperture and available in trimless. They have some different installation challenges. But look AMAZING when completed.