Our kitchen, living room, basement and master bathroom have traditional recessed lighting. As we renovated the kitchen, we added LED lighting in the new light fixtures.

I wanted to update the existing recessed lighting to LED so it matches plus it’s energy saving. I took a trip around the internet and decided not to pay someone to do this for us. It is 100% an easy homeowner project.

I don’t love the gaps around the bulbs and was unprepared for the amount of dust and bugs that came out with the old fixture. My advice….wear a hat and safety glasses this!

I purchased a Retrofit kit of 6 for my kitchen. I plan to keep on going until all of my recessed lights have been converted to LED.

My affiliate link for a 6 pack of retro kits with 5 color temperate settings is here https://amzn.to/3SYiujB

Most recessed lights are the standard 5-6 inches. Measure across the actual hole in the ceiling to check -do not include the plastic outer ring.

This kit has 5 different light settings to suit your preference and they are dimmable. I chose the softest option which is the least amount of lumens. I went with the soft white for us. ( Don’t fret over the choice ….it’s easy to change if you want to adjust them. You just pull the fixture down, flip the switch and slide it back up! )

This is seriously so easy. Grab a ladder and unscrew the bulb. Reach up inside and detach 2 springs inside to remove.

2 springs are all that holds the plastic baffle.

As far as the replacement kit goes there are only 2 steps to assemble them. Remove all parts from the box.

Unscrew the existing screw and slide the metal piece over the top. Place screw through 2 layers and screw it in. There are 2 holes so you can adjust for 5 or 6” lights.

Squeeze the 2 springs inward and brace them inside the 2 metal legs. Check that you have it set to the desired color setting and that’s it!

Screw the socket into the preexisting light bulb socket.

Bend the 4 springs to fit inside your fixture and gently push up in place.

And repeat, repeat, repeat!!!

Here my affiliate link for a 6 pack of retro fit kits https://amzn.to/3SZ0sxG . You can also head to any hardware store to find them.

No more gaps. No more bugs. Energy efficient to lower those power bills. It’s a win win. Except now it’s time for me to touch up the ceiling with a brush around the lights 🤣. I rolled as close as I dared.

So much cleaner looking !!!! Every.single.light in my kitchen is on a dimmer switch too.

Don’t you agree they look better?

In summary why convert to LED?
• not only does it look cleaner…it IS cleaner. The LEDs seal up the space – I was utterly unprepared for the dust and bugs that came out with the old fixture.
• multiple light choices- warm, soft, daylight- plus dimmable
• they last 35,000 hours
• most importantly LEDs are more energy efficient which saves you 💵 on the electric bill
•may be tax deductible since it’s an energy saving home improvement!?? Kept my receipts just in case

What do you think? It was far easier than I imagined. If you want to update to LEDs I say go for it!!! you can do it 🙂

Cheers – Kristen