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Sunday, January 4, 2015

More, Seriously Funny

I occasionally spend a day removing can lights, patching in wonderful LED lighting on junction boxes. It takes me a half hour to replace a can light with a RACO 175 junction box, texture matched, ceiling paint-ready. The patch will be hidden by currently-available LED plate lights , but still I try hard to match surrounding texture in the patch. I am committed that I shall do the right thing vs. an idiot applying a Tenmat cover, saving money even in installation cost. I deliver real energy conservation larger by an order of magnitude, and real protection against fire propagation vs. the sham where a Tenmat cover is ruined by tears to accommodate wires and the flimsy can supports, the hat not bonded to the ceiling by foam and lifting away in real fire conditions. 

Energy savings with the LED light and eliminated can light will repay installation costs in as little as three years , thereafter with perpetual payback of 33% on a pleasant investment. Energy conservation is a less important goal I achieve, than better illumination and more-productive living.

So, is this Seriously Funny ? The humor is that while I do this, 10,000 foolish installers are putting up ever more awful can lights. Probably they are installing 65 watt incandescent downlights, for reputed ambiance. Up twenty feet, defying the soon-needed replacement bulb. They aren't thinking about fire propagation, or much of anything. I don't know if anyone else seeks to eliminate can lights.

On average, the ant on the right path does matter.

Here is a plaster-patch method, very quick.

































































This is real, cheerful, light, 750 lumens 6" Glimpse LED, not too bright way up there over a shower, NEVER needing new installation on a can light.
My usual patch is with a ring of drywall, ideally the divot from can cutout, stashed above the ceiling, or from a section of the involved ceiling remnant of a new attic ladder installation .










































Please see more of the photos of this post, with captions, at this Picasa Web Album .  

1 comment:

Efficient Farmer said...

Can't emphasize enough what a good and useful resource your blogs are Phil. I've read almost every entry at this point. My guess is you have a lot of readers even if you don't have a lot of commenters. I've learned a lot, but most of all it is refreshing to see that there is a contractor out there that puts both care and critical thought into his installations.

I've always thought that recessed lights were a strange beast with how heat is rejected to both sides of the ceiling. I only have 4 of them thankfully, & I sealed the holes & fixtures to make them airtight when I replaced 100W bulbs with LED downlights. Figured I will just bury in insulation when we redo that.

But your method for replacing the j-box seems slick, and it's a permanent fix to the penetration. So something for me to think about doing.

Garrett