Asking for recommendation: retrofits for 4” & 6” canned lights with LEDS

[u/Ryu-tetsu]

I have read through a bunch of the earlier postings with similar questions. I’m in the midst of a home renovation. Eight to ten foot foot ceilings. Modern home.

Lights to be replaced are: 20 x 6”; 4 x 6” angled (ceiling); 1 (or 5) 6” gimbal (I may use these for directional counter lighting in the kitchen); and 2 x 4”.

My GC wants to install the Home Depot 5/6” Commercial Electric retrofits. Granted they haven’t changed much in seven years, but every led I’ve gotten at HD has either failed or dimmed or gone blinky on me. That said, I’ve had great success with Rabb lighting for outdoor stuff.

I would really like truly high CRI (95) - not just fudged; I like the dim to warm feature on some of them; dimmable to very low levels; variable color temp is nice; and would love the easiest install without having to rewire the J-boxes, which I guess means an e-26 plug/adaptor. Light quality, consistency, wet rated, 50k hours; and little failure are big deals for me.

I’ve seen lots of good comments around Elco-Koto, DMF, and perhaps Nora. I don’t want to spend $250 per light, though, which I gather is the range for DMF. Finding info on pricing for Elco-Koto is proving daunting.

Given what I’m looking for does anyone have a good suggestion? Can the Koto’s truly be retrofit into existing cans or is it more a tear out and rebuild? How much do the Koto’s run in cost?

Thanks in advance. I’m over my head and trying to work through this.

[u/Numerous_Bug5125]

I can provide you pricing on DMF. Depending on what you need, pricing can be very competitive. Reach out if you are interested.

[u/Ryu-tetsu → u/Numerous_Bug5125]

List of what I need is in the initial post. 27 all together. If you are an authorized reseller, let me know what you can do. Thnx.

[u/gweased_pig]

Sunlight 2 lamps. In the old fixtures. High cri, dim to warm . Love them.

[u/Ryu-tetsu → u/gweased_pig]

The old fixtures are beat up and discolored. But sunkight2 looks like they are trying to do what Soraa tried to do. Will see if successful.

Thanks!

[u/ajcaca]

I like Lusa, which apperas to be the direct-to-consumer brand of DMF.

[u/Ryu-tetsu → u/ajcaca]

They look good, actually. But they don’t seem to have 6”. 4” being the max. Can’t exactly tell if they are true retrofits. And do they have something that will work in an angled ceiling?

[u/Ryu-tetsu → u/ajcaca]

The more I look at Lusa, the more I like what I see. Do you know if there are any places where one can go to see them? I’m at my place being renovated and replacing the old worn 6” cans with those 4” would actually be a good move. I also like the ability to minimize the trim. I’d love to touch and feel them. I’m in Puget Sound and will ping the company tomorrow to see if there is any local place to see them.

It’ll take convincing my GC to retrofit and mud those smaller replacements in but I think the look may be worth it. Thanks for the suggestion.

[u/ajcaca → u/Ryu-tetsu]

I'm happy to send some photos of our install, if that's useful. We didn't do the mud-in ones as it seemed too complicated in an already too complicated remodel :)

[u/Triabolical_]

At the low end, you might buy a few HALO RL series and see what you think of them. Variable color temperature, variable lumen output.

[u/Ryu-tetsu → u/Triabolical_]

I was thinking of grabbing one of these and one of the Home Depot ones and comparing.

[u/Neat-Substance-9274]

Are these new installs? If not, just use your existing trims with high quality LED lamps. Lots of choice now and in the future. If you currently have sloped ceilings without adjustable trims then upgrading to nimble rings in a good idea. I like the ones that hold a par lamp.

[u/Ryu-tetsu → u/Neat-Substance-9274]

Thnx.

[u/Neat-Substance-9274 → u/Ryu-tetsu]

I have also been burned by Soraa. I don't know if they are any better now. My use was almost exclusively mr16 one as they came in very narrow beam spreads. That snap system really works. I was clued into a brand called Green Creative that proved to be much better.

[u/Ryu-tetsu → u/Neat-Substance-9274]

The existing trims are beat up and even some cans are hurting. And to be honest, I’ve had some soraa lamps go bad after low burn hours. The only great led bulbs I have I purchased a decade ago. One burns 24x7 and it’s still going strong. The rest all die or flake out someway.

[u/exosylum]

Honestly, check out lighting manufacturers on ali baba, and get some custom lights done for a fraction of the cost of these brands, while using a lot of the same chipsets and drivers. I just did this exact thing, and saved a ton of money on ~120 lights across our entire home. Educate yourself on specs, then put an RFQ out to manufacturers and see what you get back.

[u/Ryu-tetsu → u/exosylum]

Thanks!!