Canless Recessed Lighting

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I have no real preference; I shop for the one with the characteristics each job requires.
 
Go name brand of some sort not no name Amazon ones. I use halo, Juno, and last resort go to commercial electric but don't do a whole house in those unless you stock up on spares. Lithonia are supposed to be good but a 3rd more and my go to supply house has the Juno ones in stock usually.
 
I've done a number of new homes and remodels with wafers. They aren't the best option every time.

If you're adding into finished rooms, they're nice for symmetry. Cut your holes where you want with little regard for joists, pipes, etc.

If it's any kind of new construction (whole house, bsmt, gutted bath or kitchen, I want a real can light. Install once, sheetrockers cut them out, install trim, done.

It takes a heckuva lot more time to use wafers for new builds - lay out so you know where wires go, draw diagrams or mark print, lay out again on finish to cut holes. No thanks.

That said, rant over. To the OP question.
I've used Lithonia, Commercial Electric, Utilitech, Halo, Juno, and a whole host of Amazon brands.

The only ones I've had problem with were Utilitech (made by Cooper) and two of the Amazon brands (Amico was one, the other had no name)

The Amico didn't have function issues, they changed plug type at some point. I had all the drivers installed on rough-in, then when back on finish we were fighting those plugs before realizing there was about half and half of the two types.

The Utilitech and one no-name Amazon had ground fault problems in several drivers (again on a new home with drivers installed on rough-in.

I've probably liked the Commercial Electric the best
 
James L said:
I've done a number of new homes and remodels with wafers. They aren't the best option every time.

If you're adding into finished rooms, they're nice for symmetry. Cut your holes where you want with little regard for joists, pipes, etc.

If it's any kind of new construction (whole house, bsmt, gutted bath or kitchen, I want a real can light. Install once, sheetrockers cut them out, install trim, done.

It takes a heckuva lot more time to use wafers for new builds - lay out so you know where wires go, draw diagrams or mark print, lay out again on finish to cut holes. No thanks.

That said, rant over. To the OP question.
I've used Lithonia, Commercial Electric, Utilitech, Halo, Juno, and a whole host of Amazon brands.

The only ones I've had problem with were Utilitech (made by Cooper) and two of the Amazon brands (Amico was one, the other had no name)

The Amico didn't have function issues, they changed plug type at some point. I had all the drivers installed on rough-in, then when back on finish we were fighting those plugs before realizing there was about half and half of the two types.

The Utilitech and one no-name Amazon had ground fault problems in several drivers (again on a new home with drivers installed on rough-in.

I've probably liked the Commercial Electric the best
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I like the more expensive commercial electric ones the cheap one that's like the old Satco ones with the jbox on the back isn't great unless you have the smash rings
 
Bama_Electrical said:
I am looking to get away from using Cans. What type of canless lights are y’all using in place of cans?
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I use Halo. I would avoid the cheap no name brands. I've never had a problem with them even when using a dimmer. I've heard that some of the cheapo ones makes noises when dimmed.
 
James L said:
I've done a number of new homes and remodels with wafers. They aren't the best option every time.

If you're adding into finished rooms, they're nice for symmetry. Cut your holes where you want with little regard for joists, pipes, etc.

If it's any kind of new construction (whole house, bsmt, gutted bath or kitchen, I want a real can light. Install once, sheetrockers cut them out, install trim, done.

It takes a heckuva lot more time to use wafers for new builds - lay out so you know where wires go, draw diagrams or mark print, lay out again on finish to cut holes. No thanks.

That said, rant over. To the OP question.
I've used Lithonia, Commercial Electric, Utilitech, Halo, Juno, and a whole host of Amazon brands.

The only ones I've had problem with were Utilitech (made by Cooper) and two of the Amazon brands (Amico was one, the other had no name)


The Utilitech and one no-name Amazon had ground fault problems in several drivers (again on a new home with drivers installed on rough-in.
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I long ago decided that the Utilitech brand was like the skull & crossbones warning, stay away! Nothing more then the worst of the cheap house brands.
 
While the Juno & Halo LED trims are quality trims, from my past experience the light color outputs are fixed at 2700 or 3000 Kelvins. If I am mistaken would someone please correct me ? That said, when doing new work I always use cans. That way the lights end up exactly where I plan them to be. I like using wafers for remodel work, and again the color outputs on brands such as Commercial Electric (Home Depot brand) are adjustable from 2700K to 5000K. The other thing I like about wafers trims is that if you end up hitting a rafter right where you intend to place your light, they fit exactly up into the 1/2" sheetrock. Just my 2 cents worth. :cool:
 
infinity said:
Halo has a few adjustable types, I've used the 3000/4000/5000K or others that have 5 different output colors.
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Unless there is a reason to do otherwise, I always select the middle color. I figure there are only two colors of chips, and the middle color uses both chip colors equally, for longest chip life.
 
goldstar said:
While the Juno & Halo LED trims are quality trims, from my past experience the light color outputs are fixed at 2700 or 3000 Kelvins. If I am mistaken would someone please correct me ? That said, when doing new work I always use cans. That way the lights end up exactly where I plan them to be. I like using wafers for remodel work, and again the color outputs on brands such as Commercial Electric (Home Depot brand) are adjustable from 2700K to 5000K. The other thing I like about wafers trims is that if you end up hitting a rafter right where you intend to place your light, they fit exactly up into the 1/2" sheetrock. Just my 2 cents worth. :cool:
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Just fyi...
I've done several where all the cans got changed to wafers, and add more wafers to match

Commercial Electric wafers are larger than most, and in the case of changing from cans to wafers, they'll cover the hole of a Juno 6-inch can, which is almost 7 inches
 
Becareful of what you buy on Amazon, not all of them appear to be UL or ETL listed. I know Commercial Electric, Cree, Sunco, Lithonia, and Amico are. But some of the others don't appear to be.
 
LarryFine said:
Unless there is a reason to do otherwise, I always select the middle color. I figure there are only two colors of chips, and the middle color uses both chip colors equally, for longest chip life.
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I typically select the 3000.
Most of my customers prefer the 2700-3000.
I prefer the 4-5000 in garages or basement shops.
 
James L said:
Just fyi...
I've done several where all the cans got changed to wafers, and add more wafers to match

Commercial Electric wafers are larger than most, and in the case of changing from cans to wafers, they'll cover the hole of a Juno 6-inch can, which is almost 7 inches
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It would be nice if they had more 5" to replace all the 5" cans I have installed in the last 40 years 😊
 
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