You can still buy square recessed fixtures (just google 'square recessed lighting'), but you may spend a lot of time looking for a model that fits the holes in your ceiling. I would try and remove one, so you can measure the hole in the drywall. If you find out that you can't remove them without destroying some surrounding plaster anyhow, that will make your decision for you.

$150 is on the high side of the prices I've heard, but you may very well be in a pricier-than-average market. The only way to know whether the price is fair is to get a few quotes. If it's only a few lights, it may not be worth a lot of shopping time.

I'm not sure that price is too terribly high since the materials (housing and trim) can cost upwards of $100 each for a 5" recessed light.

It looks like the ceiling drywall sheets used when the basement was finished were fitted OVER the openings. To remove the old fittings will require cutting a larger hole in the ceiling.......so that means high hats I guess PLUS an expensive finishing job.....
Shouldn't the ceiling be finished and painted before the final fitting of the high hat?

Just wondering, why do you want to replace these fixtures? The light from cans won't really disperse significantly better. In fact they'll probably have less beamspread.

All recessed fixtures provide relatively poor general illumination. I don't see much reason to break the bank trading a sow's ear for a boar's ear. What am I missing here?

davidr - you are correct in that new cans will have a tighter light distribution than the old squares. The reason for the switch is that one of the old squares flickers and spits - so that there is a wiring or fitting problem there. Accordingly I have removed the bulb on that one unit. I thought that if I am going to replace one unit that I might as well replace all of them at the same time or it might not look good. In addition an electrician told me that the old square lights are "dangerous" as they dont have thermal cut-offs and are thus fire hazards....

I live in an older home. There is square housed recessed lighting (4) in the den. I have broken one of the glass square coverings. The glass is not clear but opaque so when the lighting is on, you don't see the bulb. I can't find the square opaque finish glass I need. Everything I've found is clear glass. Need help. Thanks!

You might be able to get a replacement piece from your local glass shop

Thanks, David, for your reply. I have already checked with Home Depot and Lowe's and they no longer cut glass. I'm going to check at the smaller hardware stores in my area.

Another alternative could be a translucent plastic (similar to the existing glass in look) cut to size.

Pa47 if they are Halo squares you can find the replacement covers which include the opaque glass online. I am replacing mine and they are Halo 10P recessed lighting trim. They have various sizes 8", 9", 11"

I'm having the exact same problem!

You can buy square recessed LED panel lights. Amazon has them.

But how do you attach those new square recessed LED panel lights over an old light as in T Ulrich's post above? I have similar square recessed lights, 12" square. Is there a conversion kit involved, if so who makes it?

The other problem with these lights, is the available illumination is diminished because the output is captured within the ceiling.