LED Retrofit Recessed Lights

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

About Laurel Dane Designs, LLC

I am customizing our final house into a home one room at a time. This is our 11th and final home so every detail is curated to create our FOREVER home. I've worked on many homes of our own and client's home so there is plenty of inspirational for all home sizes and styles here. There are tutorial blogs for DIY projects to recipes- this blog is all things HOME. I hope you will join me and find inspiration here.

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