Amico 5/6 inch 3CCT LED Recessed Lighting (dimmable) vs BR30 LED bulbs

last year

Hi there, thanks for helping out in advance!

I'm debating whether I should go ahead to change our existing recessed lights with Amazon's best sller Amico 5/6 inch 3CCT LED Recessed lights (retrofit installation) vs just changing the light bulbs with new BR30 LED light bulbs. What's the pros and cons of using such retrofit lights? What does 3CCT mean, and would such retrofit light last longer (average life of 35000 hours according to Amazon website, versus Amazon branded BR30 LED light bulbs which claim to have life of 10,000 hours (some other brands claims to have 25,000 lifetime hours). Any thoughts? Thanks!

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wdccruise
last year
last modified: last year
Can you use long-neck PAR30 bulbs (example) instead of BR30 bulbs (example)?* It would depend on the spacing of the lights as the PAR30 beam is much narrower. I installed PAR20/BR20 recessed lights, experimented with various bulbs, and found BR20 to be awful: the longer bulb extended below the ceiling and were visible, there was too much glare, and the curved lens looked old-fashioned. I'd try a PAR30 and see how that works.

The 3CCT refers to the support for three color temperatures (switchable).

*1000bulbs.com
W Chuang thanked wdccruise
3onthetree
last year
There are a few reasons that some in the design industry do not like the LED integral recessed cans:

- the flat sealed lens is too "dead looking" when off

- the baffle depth is too shallow

- the throw of the light causes glare

- you don't have the slight difference in lamp style, like from a PAR to BR, to fine-tune

- single stamped metal trims are bulkier

- if the LED goes out in the future, you have to replace the entire trim, which will probably not match the others. Nor will the sheen or transparency of the lens.

- you can't experiment with different 'bulbs', you can only change the CCT

- and for your specific selection the 5"/6" replacement means the trim is very wide and prominent. If you have a properly sized BR30 'bulb' that means you have 5" fixtures, not 6".

As far as longevity of LED integral cans vs LED 'bulbs', it's a crapshoot for any of them. Longevity is predominantly a function of how much heat the driver electronics is exposed to. Some lamps are designed better than others for that. But if one goes out, it is overall much easier to just change a 'bulb' (or all of them) than 1/all the fixtures.
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This is a 6-year old thread! But for any readers in the present with a similar concern, the OP really raised two separate questions (perhaps without realizing it): 1) Using recessing lighting fixtures throughout the entire house (regardless of type of lamp used); 2) The type of lamp to be used throughout the house (regardless of the fixture in which it's used). First, recessed "downlights", even with flood lamps rather than spot lamps, is primarily intended for task lighting, not overall ambient lighting, and certainly not for "feature" lighting where the fixture and the glow of the lamp are the "feature" to attract the eye and create a pleasant emotion. Task lighting means lighting placed for a certain task: illuminating a counter top or island; illuminating the area adjacent to a door; illuminating art and wall hung/mounted objects (when the recessed lamp can be rotated and adjusted within certain angles). The only overall ambient lighting possible with a recessed fixture is indirect or "bounce" light, which is greatly reduced in usable lumens. In other words, recessed light fixtures are ideal when you want the light source to not be visible, but you want "something" specific to be illuminated. The best results for overall ambient and special feature lighting are from other types of fixtures--not recessed "task lighting" fixtures. In most situations, strong lighting design is a combination of the three types of fixtures: task lighting fixtures, ambient lighting fixtures and a very few, carefully chosen feature lighting fixtures. There are very few situations in a residence (or any other building) where only a single type of lighting fixture will be satisfactory for every type of lighting need. Second, as to the type of lamp, there are many line and low-voltage lamps (and associated lighting fixtures) to chose from. Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Like fixtures, there is no single lamp which is universally "best" for every lighting need. What all of this means is that for best lighting, one needs to study, become informed and choose wisely to get fixtures and lamps which best fit the various lighting needs throughout a house.
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the Alzak trim kits i've seen have reflective parabolic surfaces that are intended to spread light from a conventional (A19) incandescent light bulb (not a floodlamp-shaped bulb). I've considered using A19 LED light bulbs with these (say the dimmable 600 lumen LED sold at Ikea). They don't look as nice installed as a BR30, PAR30, or CR6, all which give a flat recessed lamp surface to look at, and probably still aren't quite as adept at spreading light. It can be less expensive though, especially when comparing a 4" trim kit and $12 LED bulb with a CR4. I've had mixed luck installing even the new, redesigned (625 lumen) CR6 into 5" cans. They work fine with those that have an actual round can beneath the intended trim kit, which most do. But some insulated-ceiling fixtures just have an open box once the trim kit is removed, and there's nothing for the three clips on the CR6 to hold, nor can the Edison screw mount be placed at a certain height so the CR6 is held by the socket at the right height so the integral CR6 trim ring winds up at ceiling height. The 6" version of these fixtures (which i've never encountered) might work by leaving the trim kits in; the 5" version is too small and the CR6 winds up 3/4" from the ceiling.
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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
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wdccruise
last year
last modified: last year
@3onthetree: "if the LED goes out in the future, you have to replace the entire trim"

True, but those Amico recessed LEDs are so cheap at $5 each, he could keep some spares for when/if one fails. (But when I installed recessed lights in my living room ceiling I tested a bunch of retrofit integrated LEDs, rejected them all, and went with Juno trims and PAR20 bulbs (I tested a bunch of those too)).
dan1888
last year
You can use A19 standard bulbs. 17.5w leds in your existing cans are cheap at Costco. Dimmable 1600 lumens 90 CRI 3000K 15000 hour life. Feit 4 packs.
3onthetree
last year
At $4.67 per Amico fixture, that's bottom of the barrel China. Though Amico was a Canadian company (bought out with private capital I saw) supposedly with factories in US, Canada, and Europe, but I doubt they could sustain that price point unless it was China. That's fine, as long as it is designed and quality controlled from outside of China, then longevity has a better chance of meeting it's spec. They don't have a UL listing, but on the other hand have an E26 base (vs E27 for euro markets that most Amazon 'bulbs' have) so that is better.

An A19 'bulb' is the traditional shape of a light 'bulb' we all know and love. That is the wrong 'bulb' to use in a recessed can. There will be a big gap around it and the baffle, and the throw will go sideways into the baffle and probably up into the can too. And 17.5watts@1600 lumens is more like a 150watt equivalent 'bulb,' which might be too much depending on spacing of the existing cans. Replacement of a 65watt BR30 incandescent should stay in the 700-1100 lumen range for an LED substitute. A BR or PAR shape will fill out the baffle and trim better.

Amico 5/6 inch 3CCT LED Recessed Lighting (dimmable) vs BR30 LED bulbs

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wdccruise

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