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recessed can size differences

bubblah
13 years ago

Before last week I never had thought of recessed lights beyond being one type: "recessed" ... suddenly there are 3", 4", 5", 6" sizes... IC, non-IC, air-tight, non air tight, white trim, black trim, eye ball... then there are LED, CFL and regular bulbs! Whew!

I currently have an "L" shaped hallway on my first floor, each leg is about 10' and currently we have just one light down at the end... so it ends up being very dark at the other.

My electrician friend, doing other work in the house, has suggesting converting the existing light to a "can", adding one of the 90* part of the L, and another down at the other end, a total of 3 lights.

These would be retro-fit installations. I'm planning to get air-tight and IC because I have a Cape house, so I want to minimize potential air flow into the knee wall, and there is some light insulation between the first and second floors as the second floor was originally just an unfinished attic.

So my long winded post boils down to--Can someone help me understand the pros and cons of the various sizes of the cans? Is there any one brand that is easier or better for retrofitting? I'm planning to mount and install them myself if that affects your advice.

Thanks

Comments (7)

  • DavidR
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you want the entire hallway to be lit, you'll need several cans, not just 2 or 3. Cans light up what's under them, and that's all.

    You'll be better off to install one or two extra surface mount fixtures which provide some indirect lighting (reflecting from ceiling and walls) to help fill the hallway without shadows.

    Don't be caught up in the fad for cans. They are the worst possible choice for general lighting.

  • DavidR
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    They light up a room evenly ...

    Only if you use large numbers of them. You can use about one-third as many fixtures if you use surface mounts. You'll have fewer shadows and less energy use, both from the smaller number of fixtures and from the lack of 6" perforations in the ceiling.

    Lighting designers figured out over 70 years ago that a combination of direct and indirect light was the most even, eye-friendly way to light a room. Cans provide essentially *no* indirect light.

    Cans are great for highlighting room features or adding some light to a dark corner. For general room lighting, they're an abomination.

  • lee676
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Most of those bright surface mount ceiling lamps take 2 or 3 bulbs, negating the energy use advantage.

    In commercial settings, where designers put efficiency first, you almost never see surface mount lamps. 70 years ago, they jumped on fluorescent
    lighting. They adopted T8 tubes decades ago, which only in recent years replaced the less efficient T12 tubes. And, in all the most important locations
    where good lighting is paramount, like luxury hotel lobbies and office boardrooms, you'll see lots of recessed cans. Look at these examples:

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    These rooms use recessed cans for the same reason fine homes do: they put out even, high-quality light, and don't shine in your eyes when
    you look at them. Try to imagine surface-mount fixtures in the above photos. Yes you could get away with fewer of them, but they'd call attention
    to themselves and light up the ceiling much more than recessed lights do. I like how the ceiling stays relatively dark with cans - the
    focal point is underneath them, what the floodlamps are aimed at, not the lamps themselves.

  • bh401
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    bump back to page 1

  • David
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    6" cans are the most common and usually the cheapest. They also provide the greatest spread of light.

    Retro-fit cans are used when you do not want to rip out the ceiling / or do not have easy access to the space above.

    The connectors can be edison base (being phased out), GU24 base or some other (typically for CFLs).

    CFL cans come with the electronic ballast separate from the bulb. When the ballast fails, access to the upper side of the can is required in order to change out the ballast.

    LED lights like the CREE LR6/ CR6 will fit into 6" cans. The LR6 and CR6 lights come with either the edison base or GU24 base + pigtail adapter. If the LED unit fails, just pop it out and replace it from below.

    The CREE LR6 does appear to output more usable light than a 15w CFL bulb in a 6" can as the emitters are just below the surface and very little light is confined/ absorbed by the can.

    HALO LED modules are not as pleasing as the CREE lights - you get a glaring spot of light unlike the LR6.

  • brickeyee
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "In commercial settings, where designers put efficiency first..."

    They put appearance first, and efficiency be dammed most of the time.

    The efficiency of a lobby is very secondary to the efficiency of the hundred of rooms in a hotel or large commercial building.

    How many cans do you see in the rooms?

    Many lobbies do not have any way to even turn off the lights besides a breaker.

    Just about every other room will have a wall switch.