How to Replace Old Recessed Lighting with LED

Recessed lighting is a great way to improve lighting in homes like living rooms or kitchens. However, traditional recessed lighting, which uses incandescent lighting, comes with issues some of us don’t want to deal with.

Instead of stressing about new ways to fix your old, recessed lights, replace them with more modern recessed lighting. LED recessed ceiling lights make the best options for energy efficient, hassle-free fixtures.

In this blog, you will learn how to simplify your life by replacing old recessed lighting with LED recessed lights also known as LED can lights.

Changing from incandescent recessed lights to LED can lights is an important step to modernizing your home or residential area. While it may appear simple to change these lights, please consult a licensed electrician to perform the replacement.

Below are the steps an electrician will take to replace the recessed light.

• To begin the replacement, the electrician will turn off the power. They will do this by either turning off the circuit breaker or unplugging the light fixture.
• Then they will remove the existing fixture by unscrewing the screws and lifting it out of the housing.
• When the old fixture is removed, the electrician will install the new LED light fixture. They will need to check the wiring to make sure there is no damage. If everything looks good, then they will mount the LED into place.
• After the LED fixture is mounted, the electrician will connect the wiring. The electrician will make sure all the connections are secure and to the corresponding wire before continuing the installation.
• Once the light is installed, the electrician will put a cover plate over the light to protect it from dust and to minimize glare.
• Once the cover is on, they will test the light and if no issues occur, you will have a new LED Recessed light fixture.

Before getting into LED can lights, you need to know why you should move from incandescent recessed lighting. The reasons for distancing from traditional recessed lighting is the increase of blown bulbs, blinking lights, and overheating concerns.

Blown Bulbs

Most bulbs will eventually die out over time. However, many traditional can lights have incandescent bulbs that do not last very long. This means more frequent maintenance overtime.

Blinking Lights

A common issue with most incandescent recessed lights is that they blink or flicker. Incandescent bulbs which tend to flicker after long term use. Investing in LED recessed can technology stops blinking and flickering.

Overheating Concerns

A malfunction in recessed lighting that can happen is overheating. Depending on the recessed lighting layout, your light fixture can suffer from heat buildup. This poses a threat and can lead to fires.

To prevent overheating concerns, you should purchase LED recessed cans. LEDs use built-in heat exchangers to prevent overheating unlike incandescent and fluorescent lights.

LEDs are beneficial to curbing some of the issues that traditional recessed lights experience. These benefits include:

• Longevity
• Versatility
• Environmentally friendly

Longevity

LEDs last longer than most alternatives, especially incandescent light bulbs. As mentioned before incandescent lights cause the most issues with recessed lights. This leads to many frequent replacements.

LEDs differ because they last about 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs. This means that less replacements of bulbs, which saves money and time.

Versatility

LED lights also offer more versatility in terms of design compared to traditional recessed lighting. LED can lights come in various settings including kitchens, living rooms, and retail spaces.

You can customize LEDs to have different sizes, shapes, and trim options. Adding these lights is also beneficial because it creates visual appeal.

An example of the versatility is LED can light. These lights are perfect for recessed lighting. The versatility of these lights allows you to choose from beam and dimmability options.

Environmentally Friendly

Finally, adding LEDs helps decrease your carbon footprint. LEDs do not have harmful substances like mercury which makes them safer for humans and the environment.

These lights also emit less heat than incandescent bulbs. This reduces the issue of overheating and a potential fire hazard. It also lowers the amount of energy waste. Higher heat means more energy is being converted to heat than being made into light.

By switching to LEDs, you are also using an energy efficient light. LEDs use less energy to produce light. This allows you to worry less about blown bulbs or the lights flickering.

Hopefully you see why it is important to switch to LEDs for your recessed light. Browse HomElectrical to find different LED options to illuminate your home!