LED Recessed Lighting Retrofit

How to modernize ancient technology in about an hour while improving safety and being "green" at the same time. This retrofit of a seventies-vintage "can light" cost approximately twenty-five dollars for the under-the-counter LED light kit, plug and related hardware. Energy savings? Consider the light output of better than a forty-watt bulb for about six watts--to say nothing of all the heat you WON'T be generating.

Step 1 Materials

One under-the-counter LED light kit (120 VAC)
One lamp socket outlet adapter
One standard replacement plug
One tube clear silicone sealant (or equivalent)
One 6" PVC wall guard (behind-the

Comments

[rob_fed]

The under the counter "puck" light used is made by "Lights America", they are made in China.  I used these pucks for my kitchen as "under the counter" lights.  Initially, they were very bright and cast a nice pattern.  But after 30 days, the LED's became noticeably dimmer, after 60 days, even more so.  One or two even stopped working after about 2 weeks.  Luckily, I got mine at Walmart and the return policy allowed for quick replacements, but after 6mos. the lights were not longer usable.  Past the 90day return at Walmart as they were really dim.  I took one apart to see if I could figure out why, turns out that the AC to DC circuit is very crude, only a 1/2wave bridge (2 diodes) and a large current limiting resistor.  I think that this circuit allow too much current to the leds when the AC line voltage was higher than normal (all AC fluctuates up/down a few volts).  Also, the design was inferior because all of the leds were wired in series, when one blew out, the entire string no longer worked.  I did contact Lights America and they sent me 6 replacements, the circuit board was different and the leds were no longer wired in series, but the overall  life and brightness degraded at about the same rate.  After a few weeks, the grew dimmer and dimmer.  I ended up replacing them back with 10w halogen puck lights.  This was at least 2 years ago, maybe these led pucks are better now.

[Transquesta]

Nope.  This specific kind of light is no better now than then.   Your experience mirrors my own.  Fortunately, however, 'puck' lights now come in various styles and nations of manufacture.  If you're lucky, you can find 'good' ones made in either Japan or Thailand.

[shooby]

I've never seen those recessed lighting fittings before, but I like them. Good job with this, bet it looks great.

[Transquesta]

This particular fixture is in the shower (!) of a friend's guest house. We figure it was OEM from the late sixties. (She wanted me to replace it with something a bit less 'scary.') By the time I got through sealing it, let's just say that safety was no longer an issue. :-)

[naruto the ninja13]

so is recesed lighting made for shower stalls or is it practical in other places?

[Transquesta]

Recessed lighting is made for anywhere that designers/builders/owners want it. That can be pools, shower stalls, etc. (*with* the proper seals/moisture barrier rating) or it can be in hallways, kitchens, bedrooms, et al.

What made this project 'special' was that it used new technology to replace the old, thereby cutting down on a lot of wasted heat/energy.

[shooby]

ahhh, hence the tiles. Recessed lighting is the best, closer to being an actual window or aperture. Little more costly to do though, especially retro fitting.

[Derin]

They suck!(you told me to lie,so i did:))

[LinuxH4x0r]

Looks good!