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ncarey1002

Retrofit canned ceiling lights vs replace with wafer lights?

2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago

Our 25 year old house is in the middle of some well-needed upgrades. We have remodeled our kitchen and family room and we have added the LED wafer-type of ceiling lights. We would like to upgrade our ceiling fixtures (both canned flood lights as well as celing fixtures) throughout the house. We have a total of 24 canned lights and about 8 other flush mount ceiling fixtures that need upgrading. We are planning on downsizing in 5-10 years. I would like to know should I take the simple route and just retrofit the canned lights with the LED plug in type, which I can do myself, or spend the extra hiring an electrician to pull out all the cans and replace with the wafer lights so all of the lights throughout the home are the same. I think I am able to replace the ceiling flush mounts with the wafer style. Thanks for your thoughts!

Comments (12)

  • PRO
    2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    I do not like LED s where you cannot change a bulb and I like 4000K which most wafers do not have . Who knows what might be the choices in 10 yrs I think if you love the ones in the kitchen do them everywhere for consistancy but be aware if one dies you need to have a back up since sure as heck when the light dies they no longer make that one . I have all 4" pot lights they were all halogen and now all the bulbs are LED nothing fancy to be done just oredered the LEDs to replace the halogen

  • 2 years ago

    Just replace the tungsten bulbs with screw-in LED bulbs. Much cheaper and the bulbs are recessed so minimal glare (wafer lights are very glaring because they aren't recessed.). IMO, 4000K bulbs are for offices and workshops; I don't go above 3500K indoors.

  • 2 years ago

    Just use LED bulbs in the existing cans.

    There are probably high quality wafers out there, but they are common in new construction here, and after a little while you see flickering ones, ones that that are losing brightness, ones that just go out and since it requires replacing an entire fixture rather than just a bulb, people don't address it right away.

    I don't really like anything about 3000 inside, but make sure you also get bulbs or fixtures with a CRI of 90 or above.

  • 2 years ago

    Thank you for the advice - with current "boob" ceiling fixtures in my hall and closets - would you recommend installing the wafer or should I just replace with the super thin surface mount. Again, I don't know how people feel about having so many different types of lighting styles on the ceiling.

  • 2 years ago

    I don't think people pay much attention to the style inside closets. In a hall I would probably put another decorative fixture.

  • 2 years ago

    I am going to pass on just using LED bulbs in the cans - the fact trim have turned a cream color and against my nice whit celings, stick out. Also, you can see up inside of them - not modern or attractive - I think it screams "1990's and in need of an update. Will opt for the retrofit instead.

  • 2 years ago

    Consider changing the closet lighting if it doesn’t meet current code and is a potential fire hazard. i recently replaced all the bare bulb closet fixtures in my house for that reason. A nice plus is that the electrician set up closet door sensors so the closet lights go on/off automatically when the doors are opened/closed.

  • 2 years ago

    " I am going to pass on just using LED bulbs in the cans - the fact trim have turned a cream color and against my nice whit celings, stick out"

    What you're calling "cans" have three components: the housing, trim, and bulb. My preference would be to replace the trim and use LED bulbs. You didn't write how large the housing are but for 6" housings, I like the Juno 27* trims with PAR-30 3000K bulbs (example). Of course you can also just replace the trim and bulb with an integrated unit such as this Juno 6RLD, available in 3000K and 2700K color temperatures. With either solution, there is NO reason to remove the housings.


    "I think I am able to replace the ceiling flush mounts with the wafer style."

    You can't do that because the electrical boxes are in the way. Use a surface-mount such as the Halo SMD (available in various shapes and sizes) that can be installed over the electrical box.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    I hate the LED thin lights except when I have no choice. I like to select the correct LED bulb for inside can lights. Frankly, once I change out the bulb, it might not have to be changed again for the rest of my life. It's much cheaper than changing out fixtures.


    All of my downlights have PAR bulbs installed.


    The internal reflector inside the PAR bulbs provides a clean crisp light not available from those crummy wafer lights.







  • 2 years ago

    It's interesting that with recessed lighting, or can lighting, one of the design aspects that used to be considered important was that the actual light source was Recessed, and that you could not see the bulb, the light came from a more concealed source in the ceiling. You could recess the bulb at varying depths with many fixtures.

    Now we are back to stuck on fixtures on the surface. The LED wafers, I am just not a fan. The are plastic, they look plastic and they remind me of those Tap Lights people used to stick up with double sided tape in a closet or something.

  • 2 years ago

    @palimpsest: "The LED wafers, I am just not a fan."

    Wafers, because of their separate j-boxes, aren't a retrofit for recessed housings or for ceiling-mounted electrical boxes. But their biggest deficiency, IMO, is that their lenses are visible -- since they're not recessed -- resulting in glare.

  • 2 years ago

    I agree. Cold glare seems to be the latest trend in lighting.