Review, Utilitech #0831957 LED Disk Downlight, at Lowe's Stores

Look for the red and white box, seemingly to replace discontinued Utilitech # 0752125. Find basis for this post in a captioned Google Photos album .

780 lumens, up from the 700 lumens of Utilitech #0752125, and still down from good (and missed) long-discontinued Sylvania 70732 at 900 lumens.

Here are the package contents, a pretty flat-faced light with lighting can attachment options, and with misunderstanding that it might be usable upon a ceiling junction box.

It is hard to photograph a white object against a white ceiling. Here the light is over a dark table, standing on can-light mounting springs. The 7.5" rim OD is over-kill for most light cans. There is enough rim expanse that mold imperfections are troubling.

A bit of diligence at Utilitech/ Lowe's stores should have determined that this light is useful only upon light cans. This is about as snug as it can be with a ceiling junction box, not nearly able to clip itself in upon the box adapter assembly.

This is the appearance upon removal of the plastic rim. A needless obscuring lens 1.2 mm thickness sits on top of a three-piece stack.

At middle of the sandwich is the 2.8 mm thickness magic trick, acrylic machined identically on top and bottom faces, that effectively turns light.


A white paper circle 0.2 mm thickness  obscures any visibility of the diode assembly.

The diode assembly is hard-wired to a plastic backing and power converter housing. 

Observe the sandwich of lens pieces, and a seemingly pretty set of diodes taped to the heat sink.

Before moving on to testing-by-comparison, note foolish spring design in the useless junction box adapter. Spring engagement is possible in a very narrow band of adapter distance from the ceiling surface. Presence of the junction box adapter proves Utilitech/ Lowe's error in communication with marketers in China.


The product listing at lowes.com  is only deceptive in not claiming usefulness on a ceiling junction box. The claim is still on the box, and inside upon instructions. Read the scanned instructions as a pdf, here . See instruction error in photos, for example, here:

Don't be deceived by the web site instruction:
Dual flush mount installation using recessed can or junction box

Customer support at Utilitech accused my misunderstanding. Don't I know how to do a dual flush mount? Do you understand what that might mean?

Look for 3000°K color and full-power brightness confirmation, on my comparison test stand. Utilitech #0831957 is at stage left. Sylvania 70732 v1 is at stage right. It does not look like the Utilitech is less bright by 780/900. I think the Utilitech has slightly lower color temperature.

Look again for 3000°K color and full-power brightness, in a second setup of my comparison test stand.  Utilitech #0831957 is at stage left. 850 lumens 6" Glimpse of 2016 is at stage right. Here I see confirmation of Utilitech 780  lumens.








Where this is a lineup of "85 watt" edge-powered LED downlights ,
bring in  observations of 6" Conturrent by Amerisus .

Amerisus lights are the best, but they are strung as direct current (with the very many advantages in that) and are not of interest to "consumers."

Glare numbers for Utilitech #0831957 are unimpressive, poorer than with Cooper, where I can see edge diodes, and don't like it. Yet, I don't see glare in this Utilitech light.

Now throw a really-big monkey wrench at Utilitech #0831957, even for the easy and possible can light retrofits.

Look at that not-cooled diode at the photo right side. This light will suffer early death. I will return it to Lowe's as defective. I will not trust any as having believable quality.

A 6" Conturrent has very obvious high quality in diode strip placement.

Cooper SLD4, year 2016.

More discussion follows, for the Cooper SLD6, year 2016.

Bragged-of Cooper "Rambus Technology," with nine diodes in clusters of three, is not better. Please see more of a 2016 survey of "Improved LED Downlights at Home Depot, " as a captioned photo album.












At 10/12/2017, look for customer reviews at lowes.com . Find it not credible, that there are yet no customer reviews. Find typically an inventory of only seven of these lights in a store. Find evidently a clearance-to-suckers price of $19.98. Find that a similar 4" can version mentioned in-store, has never been on-offer. Believe Lowe's must have no heart in this, even if unaware of product design error.

My one-star review of the Utilitech #0831957 was put in the trash, as I expected. That's OK if I am too harsh. Maybe two stars, or three, with observations here if they would fit? Would that pass? I was not allowed to talk with any responsible person at Utilitech or Lowe's.

Find a Lowe's $11.98 clearance price on remaining crummy Utilitech #0752125 . I just bought a bunch for cheap attic lighting, not suitable elsewhere, with the cheap too-bright diodes.

Find a new Lowe's offering of Cooper SLD6 at hefty price $40.67. Where Amazon has a $34 price , Lowe's is now out of the service of good residential LED downlighting opportunity. No mainstream marketer is in this business. Do you care? If you do, please join in making noise with US Department of Energy eggheads responsible for continued push of mercury pollution in CFL bulbs, and very poor efficiency of LED point-source bulbs for mindless continued use in light bulb fixtures. The LED opportunity is to save more than 90% of energy otherwise expended in incandescent lighting, while enjoying better safety and productivity in our lives.