Recessed can lights in ceiling with beams

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Little Bill said:
Unless the customer just won't have anything but cans, I would go with the wafers.
How exactly do you adjust the joists?
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Good question. When I put a coffered ceiling in my family room I roughed the cables above the ceiling and then cut in the wafers in the exact center of each box. That was the only possible way to get the 16 lights centered in the boxes.
 
kwired said:
Are you using genuine "can lights" or are you using the wafer thin recessed units?

Not worth the effort if using the wafer thin units.
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Pros and Cons.
Cans have a little Pro I like. They can take the std PAR/BR bulbs, or a can-convert LED "wafer" or LED "wafer" recessed in diffuser.
That setup makes it easier to change the bulb/light as they fail, or change due to color or lumens wants/needs.

The retrofit wafers - kinda stuck with the installed brand, and, not that easy to swap out. Many do however have the color select switch on them. Pulling down the spring retention wafer can make a mess and/or damage the drywall. Wiping the raw edge of the cut hole with mud or latex caulk before installing wafer helps reduce both issues when replacing the light. Wafers fail like bulbs do, some brands have better MTBF value.a

The spring retention wafers do also seem to have wider trim. I myself prefer recessed lighting that uses thin to very thin trim, it just looks more refined.
 
Little Bill said:
Unless the customer just won't have anything but cans, I would go with the wafers.
How exactly do you adjust the joists?
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slice/dice, x-frame, sister, hanger.

If it's new construction home, all the in-ceiling lights should match, maybe change size where needed, but mixing cans with spring wafers is not a good look.
 
kwired said:
The heat issue is with dissipating enough heat to protect the LED's from overheat damage, they likely don't get anywhere hot enough to be an issue for possible combustion of the framing member in question, unlike the heat given off in conventional incandescent lamp type luminaires.

These wafer thin luminaires get a little warm to the touch but not enough you can't stand to touch them like some old luminaires could be.
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I just IR'd one of my 4" 500lm 4K wafers. Ceiling is wide open to attic space (no insulation). Light face side clocks in at 104F.
 
For giggles, temp'd backside of my 6" BR40 4K 1400lm led in a sealed can. Clocked in at 140.2F

Spring wafers may not work if design size and lumens can't be had. Example, I not finding any 6" wafers that put out 1400lm and are thinner than 1/2 drywall.
 
FionaZuppa said:
For giggles, temp'd backside of my 6" BR40 4K 1400lm led in a sealed can. Clocked in at 140.2F

Spring wafers may not work if design size and lumens can't be had. Example, I not finding any 6" wafers that put out 1400lm and are thinner than 1/2 drywall.
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Since a 75W incandescent (normal max in a standard 6” can) will put out about 700lm, that should be the benchmark. Your 1400lm LED is a 150W incandescent equivalent.
 
retirede said:
Since a 75W incandescent (normal max in a standard 6” can) will put out about 700lm, that should be the benchmark. Your 1400lm LED is a 150W incandescent equivalent.
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The box of LED's says "17W, 100W equivalent"

I don't have all my notes around at the moment, but online says 2600lm is around 25w LED or 150w std.
Other lumen scales show LED's are near 1300lm(18w).

And to make things even more convoluted, the "lm" spec alone does not equate to visual brightness. 20lm blue will appear super dim vs 20lm lime-green light. To adjust for same visual brightness the blue needs more lm output, which means more power use. In other words, color/power/lm/"brightness" are all in the math.

Anyways, lighting is fun.
 
Knuckle Dragger said:

"He could use a 1/2" thick wafer light.
Up there we typically have 3/4" strapping between the substrate and the ceiling joists"..
 
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