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Question about recessed, can lights - sloped ceilings?

12 years ago

Hello:

Our house has sloped ceilings, and I'm wondering if there's a significant difference between recessed lights for sloped ceilings and recessed lights for flat ceilings. Can flat ceiling recessed lights be installed on sloped ceilings?

I'm in the process of figuring out what trim kit/baffle to put in my recessed lights (family room, kitchen, and den) and I just saw the sloped ceiling baffles with the ridges that are parallel to the floor. Are these significantly better for sloped ceilings than the regular baffles?

It looks like the sloped ceiling baffles can only be installed in the sloped ceiling cans, but I'm not sure if I have flat ceiling cans or sloped ceiling cans. My electrician never even mentioned I had an option, and I had no idea such a thing as a sloped ceiling can existed. Short of hauling myself into the attic, is there an easy way to tell if I have sloped ceiling cans or flat ceiling cans?

I realize the most obvious answer to my question is "Why don't you ask your electrician?" However, I'd like to avoid calling this particular company because they basically cheated and lied to us, and we had to fire them.

Thanks.

Featured Answer

dim4fun

12 years ago

Recessed fixtures for slope ceilings are adjustable to allow the lamp to be aimed straight down. Standard recessed housings can use adjustable trims. Recessed fixtures made for slope ceilings have this adjustability inside the housings for a cleaner looking ceiling with less glare.

With typical 6" housings the cylinder walls will be perpendicular to the ceiling if standard or approximately perpendicular to the floor if slope. You need to find out the brand and model of the housings to choose trims so you're going to need to get up there and read the label. Buy the trims from the company that made the housings to be ensure code compliance because they are ETL or UL listed that way.

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Comments (8)

ladoladi
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks, dim4fun. Dragged myself through the attic to find the model #. Turns out their made by Juno.

Are compatibility issues that significant?

The house already a few can lights before we installed additional ones, and when I was up in the attic I could not find a model or brand name on the old ones. They're from when the house was built in 1987, so whatever sticker was on it is long gone.

I'd been planning to put the same trim kit in the old ones and new ones... Is that clearly a bad idea? Do I have options?
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I am looking to do this as well, but with a new construction home. I have contacted several companies and am waiting to hear the solutions given. I have several Ecosmart LED bulbs from Home Depot ($25 each) that work great, but with the built in trim ring, they wont work on the recessed angled housings. I am thinking of installing regular housings and using the Ecosmart units, but am waiting to hear if that is OK to do (not sure if the bulbs can or should be used on an installed angle). Conversely, I found these replacement bulbs ( http://www.lightingever.com/9w-par20-led-bulb-track-lighting.html ) and I thought that they may work well in the specified angled housings. Again, waiting to hear back from them. To solve YOUR issue, if you can swap out the housings (I know you said there is no access) with the "retrofit" units you may be fine. If not, then I suggest using the bulbs from the link I posted, since they seem to be designed to fit inside of a traditional housing with trim, they SHOULD fit into an angled housing (I am trying to verify this).
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At the lighting store they suggested using recessed lights that are made for a flat ceiling on our ceiling which has a slope of about 15 degrees. Will these Juno 5" New Construction IC Housing Style # 32982 work or do we need to go with a light designed for sloped ceilings. Thanks for the help.
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We bought the Juno IC926 sloped ceiling housings. They are solidly built and you can insulate right up to them. They are also sealed so they will keep air from leaking through the ceiling. You adjust the bulb socket to point the bulb straight down depending on the slope you have. Most of all, I bought them because I don't care for the look of eyeball lights! (lol) Holly
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Thank you for the suggestion. I'm not opposed to a fixture better suited to a sloped ceiling, however, I'm not a fan of the adjustable "eyeball" fixture look where the adjustment extends beyond the trim. I'd be more interested in a fixture like this: https://www.build.com/elco-el42330/s1428432?uid=3357917&source=gg-gba-pla_3357917!c1710656546!a75290221628!dc!ng&gclid=CjwKCAiAkrTjBRAoEiwAXpf9CU8dK3Ai-vcZ1KvY5duvUA7t5BLDbXkdAF3VHJ3oJP2pUC7ycJB6nxoCtVAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds However, these types of fixtures are ~3x the cost of the Cree CR4T, and also require (I believe) a special sloped housing that is more expensive. I'm already in need of ultra-shallow housings for this install (they have to be < 4" tall) to fit the depth of the ceiling beam behind the ceiling drywall, which is going to be even harder to find and be much more expensive (I assume). My understanding is that these other options also won't have the light quality of the Cree. Interested in hearing other opinions and options. If the adjustable eyeball trims are my only cost effective option to get light pointed straight down, any recommendations on options that would provide comparable light output and quality to the Cree? Thanks.
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dim4fun
12 years ago
The stickers with brand/model number are inside the cylinder. I'm sorry you climed into the attic just to see the Juno brand. You need to look inside the housing. Not all brands of trims and housings are size compatible. What you want to do is often done but unless the trim and housing are intended to be together it's a code violation. It's all about heat. Someone has to accept responsibilty that a specific lamp & wattage in a specific trim will work in a specific housing, safely. If you do otherwise then you are the engineer.

Slope housings are generally more unique.
chisue
12 years ago
Do you even want cans in a sloped ceiling? I regret putting them in the cathedrals in our library. I would have prefered to 'wash' the ceilings with light from below. By the time light from a can reaches the floor, it's pretty useless. If you make the bulb brighter, I'd think you'd have some significant heat.
dim4fun
12 years ago
It's a designer's job when choosing lamps, trims and housings to ensure that - by the time light from a can reaches the floor it is NOT useless -
lilindo
12 years ago
PT Lilindo Utama Lighting is a well established custom lighting manufacturer company providing exquisite LAMPS and contract lights especially for Hotels-Resorts, Restaurants and Private Houses.

We offer you a great choice of contract lights and fixtures including beautiful table lamps, wall lamps, ceiling lamps and standing lamps in order to furnish your hotel, resort or private house an innovative, decorative and customized indoor lighting solution.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lamps
octevenings2001
5 years ago
Can I ask what you ended up doing? I’m in the same predicament. Thanks.
son truong
4 years ago
Question: my house was built during the 70s and i want to install recessed lights in myfamily room but the ceiling is sloped, any tips or advice if my entry point is through the attic. Thanks for your help.

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