ICAT LEDs vs fire-rated covers for recessed lights

Phyllis Attisano - Coldwell Banker Sales Agent

6 years ago

We bought our house last fall and have discovered over the winter that is quite drafty. House is 20yrs old. I brought in a professional who determined that the main problem is inadequate attic insulation. He also said that our recessed lighting in master bedroom, master bath, hallway & office are all not rated to be in contact with insulation. He's recommending that we either swap out fixtures for ICAT LEDs or install fire-rated covers on each. There are 21 fixtures.

The ICAP LEDs are double the cost of covers. We'll spend the $ if needed but wondering if it's worth the extra expense.

Sort by:Oldest

Comment (1)

PRO
Square Peg Audio/Video
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Along with doing custom audio/video, we also do a lot of remote controlled lighting projects which require us to swap out fixtures from time to time. We have electricians on staff and may be able to offer some solutions. Typically Non-IC housings are designed to handle higher wattage bulbs and cannot come in contact with insulation. However, they can be installed in an insulated ceiling as long as the insulation does not come in direct contact with the housing - this distance is typically 3" between the housing and insulation. With standard batting type insulation this is easily accomplished, with blown-in insulation - a little more effort is required. If you choose to keep the cans in place, you can retrofit them with LED recessed trims. These are sealed units (LED light & trim are molded together) that will fit flush to the housing - and along with a weather-proof gasket, will prevent drafts coming in from the attic/ceiling. The cost range for a 6" Halo Light is approx. $29 ea. Home Depot has CE contractor packs (5"-6") trims for $34 a four (4) pack. The 65W LED equivalent draws about 8 Watts. The low wattage will not generate much heat if in fact the insulation does come into direct contact with the housing - coupled with the fact that recessed cans are equipped with a thermal cut-off switch - so if the temp gets to hot, they will shut down. Insulation in general is also fire-retardant so there is protection there as well.

A second option is to remove the lights/cans altogether and use Lithonia Wafer LED lights. They are LED recessed lights that do not require any type of housing and are easily retrofitted into the same size opening. It is a sealed unit that can be used in any IC, Non-IC or wet location. A little more costly at approx. $35 ea. We have been using these lights for quite some time with great feed-back. If you're staying in your home for long while it's worth the investment.

Your house is not that old, so I'm wondering how the wrong cans got installed in the first place?

As always, our disclaimer - check with your local municipality for your specific code requirements.

Good luck

Frank P - Square Peg A/V

LED Retrofit below (tail screws into existing bulb socket)...

Lithonia Wafer LED below (direct replacement)...
Related Discussions
Potential LED recessed light problem
Q
Comments (7)
"Since I'm the electrician, I know where they are going. I'm using ICAT's of course, although they don't look very AT to me. I'm going to make sure they are well sealed to the ceiling plane, AND they are going to have boxes over them in the attic before the insulation goes in. " give me a minute to get my foot out of my mouth...LOL! if there are no holes in the housing..they are air tight. but what I find is that the cuts in the sheetrock are often oversized, so that the leakage is now at this penetration. I use a mastic tape to seal between sheetrock & housing of recessed light, then once trim kit is installed, the mastic tape seal doesn't show. by doing this additional sealing, the box over the recessed light in attic isn't necessary. after a decade & a half of testing homes for air leakage...doing the air sealing work..trying everything from ice chests to sheetrock boxes to ul rated 'hats' that go over recessed lights, I've found that the above method is the best. its a real pita to cut box to fit & seal air tight around 'legs' of recessed cans, and in a lot of cases the can is next to joist & box can't fit in between. expanding foam (aka great stuff) covers but doesn't seal leakage sites. but it expands so much...that you can't see the leakage sites anymore. over time, the foam shrinks allowing more leakage. thus the mastic tape method of sealing. I use only Hardcast brand #1402 mastic tape from hvac supply. I also use the hardcast to seal supply boxes to ceilings from inside the house. (I say ceilings..because that is the average location of ductwork in my area) hardcast will seal the same in wall, or floor applications. see attached pic to view how it looks. easier than explaining! best of luck.
...See More
Any preference between 4" or 6" recessed lights??
Q
Comments (55)
I have just skimmed through the responses above, so I might be missing something. Steph2000, I'm not sure if you are having trouble finding a 4" housing or a 4" retrofit LED module to work in the housing. If it's the LED module, I would think the Cooper/Halo retrofit would meet your needs. It can go just about anywhere (I have them outside and in my shower), but you can't use it in housings in direct contact with spray foam insulation. It comes in 4" but I have it in the 5"/6" with my 10' ceilings. It was recommended by my lighting specialist, and it's great. My brother used the 5"/6" in his remodel (he has 8' ceilings at the most) and it looks good there, too. The LED's are a cleaner look than regular recessed bulbs. And once they are installed and you are living with it, you spend about 0% of your time staring at the ceiling. I'll link it below. lcskaisgir, you might want to consider these LED's, regardless of your can size. Here is a link that might be useful: Cooper Halo Retrofit LED
...See More
Flickering recessed LED lights when *not* dimmed
Q
Comments (16)
Both lights and LED compatible dimmer were purchased within the last few months, so it's latest technology. There are only two on this dimmer and both flicker (by flicker I mean an intermittent dimming, not rapid blinking). One suggestion I saw was that, since they are wired in series, if the first one is having power fluctuations, it could impact the second one. My first idea is to swap positions and see if both still flicker. The problem is that this issue is really hard to reproduce. You need the lights on at full power for 2 or more hours. Because the lights are so bright, we don't usually have them at full power (and there is no flicker). The reason I suspect the Thermal Cut Off Device is that after 2+ hours on full power the lights do get pretty warm. Maybe this behavior is by design?
...See More
Recessed Cans vs. Flush LED lighting?!! PLEASE. HELP.
Q
Comments (22)
IMO the most critical aspect of residential lighting design is the lighting of walls, kitchen counters and cabinets and the light quality and distribution of wafer and giant gimbal units is unfocused and disappointing. There are few affordable adjustable-angle and wall-washer recessed fixtures other than the small gimbal, elbow and eyeball fixtures that extend below the ceiling. Recessed lighting began with store displays and couched accent lighting is still its best use but today's open space designs and giant TV's have reduced the opportunity to create dramatic focus points in a house but that just makes those few opportunities more critical. For a tight budget the most affordable 4" retrofit adjustable LED I've found is the Nora Cobalt with a Haze reflector that matches the Cobalt Click 2 downlight. Its has a Cree COB LED and is Title 24 compliant for excellent color rendering at the price of a retrofit PAR 20.
...See More

ICAT LEDs vs fire-rated covers for recessed lights

Comment (1)

Square Peg Audio/Video

Related Discussions

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US