Recessed cans

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RowE

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I have noticed a lot of 4" recessed cans that are not IC rated buried in insulation in several new homes lately. They do have a thermal cut off, but the label says not insulation within 3". How are these getting passing inspection?
 
RowE said:
I have noticed a lot of 4" recessed cans that are not IC rated buried in insulation in several new homes lately. They do have a thermal cut off, but the label says not insulation within 3". How are these getting passing inspection?
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Either bad inspectors, no inspections or the insulation is getting put in after the install
 
I do a lot of 5" and 6" cans and it doesn't make sense to use non IC as the cost is virtually the same, least with the ones I use. On the 4" there could be a larger price difference and also a much larger housing to deal with. I'm wondering though is there any where you could use a non ic can where insulation is required. For example the ceiling with an attic above my inspectors are also looking for the airtight sticker. So they would reject a non ic can immediately.
 
Could be a lot of things. If it's a trac home, owners tend to make changes after the rough inspection and the purchase of the home. So yes, the inspector could be "missing" them because they weren't there on the rough inspection, and then not remembering what was there when he walks final. But he may not be looking that hard either. I'll admit that I'm surprised that you can even buy a can that's not IC rated.
 
4" are a major PITB. No company that I know of makes a 4" remodel IC rated can. The new work IC rated 4" are the aluminum box style, so getting them into an existing ceiling may even involve cutting down drywall to mount them, and they won't be anywhere near as adjustable as a remodel can since you've got that 8"x12" box to position between joists and the depth will stop you from hugging one side if the roof is not a truss style.

Ragin Cajun, there are IC rated LED remodel cans out there. I recently put some 5" in from Juno, but they're outrageously expensive (upwards of $175 without trim).

Lighting manufacturers are way behind on redesigning luminaires for LEDs. There's no need for the whole housing that was needed with incandescent lamps. All you need is a clip-in unit with a safe wiring compartment and a heat sink designed to keep the temperature under 90 C to prevent combustion of surrounding materials. There's no reason a recessed LED needs to weigh more than 2 pounds now.
 
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