I never though choosing LED lights was such a long and painful task. Anyone that has yet had the experience and knowledge of installing LED recess lights in your house note that you have a HUGE surprise coming your way. Price of LED lights have gone down so much to the point that it's almost foolish not to install them. But, with that said and noted there are many many headaches to endure. Yes LED lights don't give off heat, yes they only use fraction of electricity, and yes you will save money on your bill so what can be so hard about installing one right? So here goes my experience (buckle up) I first purchased FEIT LEDs. These were the 100w equivalent 22w usage color temperature 2700K praised by many on Amazon and local electric supply stores. To backtrack those that are unaware LED light output is not only measured in watts but in temperature as well. The higher the temperature the brighter/whiter the light. It was noted that 2700 is warm white and it's the perfect balance to have for traditional houses. So I bring these home unbox them with few short dos and dont experiences get a few in each room (BIG NOTE always always test them in various rooms for output and color before you settling). I flick the switch and notice they are flickering and although box reads 2700k they feel like 2000k. I mean these were so yellow and dark I though I was in a movie theater when you walk in with dim lights. Let's just skip the color issue why are these flickering.....? Hmm maybe they are defective? Maybe it's the can? Maybe it's the wiring? Why are they flicker? This is where I am thankful I had purchased 4 to start and they were installed in multiple rooms with different switches and can models. So final conclusion 4 rooms, 4 switches, 4 cans some different brand all flicker its not my house wiring nor anything else this is a true defect. Next up some no name brand LED from a local store near my house. I figured I'd go with higher temperature since I hated the 2700 so this one was 4000k.
Guess what another curve ball. 4000k was to white and I felt like I was sitting in my office which uses fluorescent tubs. It had that hospital white feel. So maybe 3rd time is the charm? Long story short third light was 3000k and although light was great and looked okay it did not dim ! At this point I was ready to give up. I mean to go from flickering, to bad color, to not dimmable I might as well go with regular bulbs and end the madness. Luckily part of me said lets try one last time. I went with SGL 6 inch lights and ....... BAM! They work perfect! No flicker, I can dim them, easy to install and great price. The only small tiny issues although it says 3000k it's closer to 3500k if anything and the light has a .5 second delay when turned on but I can live with both. These are very bright lights and fall in the middle of yellow and white. For my standards I found a winner and the seller is extremely easy to work with. I purchased 24x 6" and 12x 4" models to replace all lights in my house and best of all I am happy with all. PS sorry for long review but figured some can use all this info before diving into LED saga.
These lights look great the color and brightness is good what I love most is how lows they dim I have 4 in my living room on a dimmer and a total of 20 in my house
They look so clean and as flush as you can get.
Dimming: no buzzing or flickering. Dimming pictures don't show how low they go
Be careful when you order or reorder these lights - they now come in 3 colors - 3000K, 4000K and 5000K. The 3000's are almost yellow and the 5000's are bright white. I ordered these twice before and they only came in 3K kelvin. I missed the upgraded color selections and simply reordered - my mistake. They now come in 3 colors. Bottom line is that I have lights that don't match color-wise.
I can make the differing colors work and it's my fault for not selecting the right color because it was a reorder and I didn't read the updated details. Be SURE you know which color you are ordering!
They have only been installed a few days but so far so good! This is our second home that we purchased and much like the first home, the first thing I do is swap all the lights out for LEDs. I had never bought this Brand before but they seem to work great, 3000k color is definitely the way to go, perfect white/yellow mix. I must say that these lights are NOT as yellow as the pictures show and that's a good thing. I bought 5 boxes of 4 lights (20 lights) and not a single problem with any of them. ALSO, just so you know these lights use the springs instead of adjustable metal clips. Springs are far easier and faster to put in. I have included some before and after pictures of our kitchen.
The existing cans I have are smooth inside and require the addition of clips to hold the LED springs. The clips are extra, and mount by drilling a small hole each side 180° apart, and attach with a screw. Clips take away a little clearance. The main difference on the SGL LED is the base is about 1/4" wider where the 2 - springs barely cleared inside diameter of the can and clip. I had to seat one side, then give the other a good push. That's why I gave it 4 starts instead of 5.
Last time I used Torch Light LED's from Amazon. On the Torch Light LED's the spring falls off on one side every time, and very difficult to reinstall. No problem with the spring on this one, it holds tight, and not going to fall off. That alone made a big difference in deciding which one was better.
SGL replacement 6" can LED lights works well, and similar to other LED's for replacement of floodlight bulbs. When I need more LED's, I will buy the SGL's 6" again.
Feature Product
- 🔥 BUY WITH NO WORRY: 5 year warranty. Replace 100W halogen bulb by 13W LED
- 🔥 ENERGY SAVING: Save up to 86% on your electricity bill, reduce emissions that contribute to global warming, mercury contamination
- 🔥 DIMMABLE: Works with most of dimmers to ensure flicker free dimming, please use with silicone-controlled rectifier type dimmer. Simply set the light to any mood you want
- 🔥 COMATIBLE: Suitable for most 6-in new construction, remodel, and shallow recessed lighting housings, also no doubtly can use in wet or damp locations
- 🔥 EASY INSTALLATION: Integrated LED recessed downlight with white die cast baffle trim and a medium E26 based screw in adapter, it can be easily installed without using any tools
Description
Specification
Dimmable recessed light :
Great price and solid, nice looking light. Read other comments about the springs being weak. They're fine, as strong as any light I examined in major retail home improvement stores. I have canisters with v-shaped slits in them, not brackets, but the torsion springs slip in nicely and lights push up into place easily and securely. Also, like the look, very streamlined without any circular beveling around light, just a matching white border and smooth edges which, to me, looks great. I needed more light in my kitchen, entry-way, living room, stairs, upstairs hall and porch. I put in Levitron 6674 SureSlide universal dimmers. No problems. The brightness or temperature tone of the lights was the biggest concern for me. I didn't want a fluorescent look nor an overly yellow look, so I ended up with the 3000K and am pleased to say they're perfect, especially with the dimmers, when you want a little ambiance or low background light. Easy to install by self, except for the 18 foot light on the vaulted ceiling above the stairs.
I bought one set of these lights a couple weeks ago. So far so good. I was worried about the actually color of the rim or flange, in the pictures they look slightly yellow or off white. They all are Snow White and look great. I ended up buying a second set a few days after the first set came in and was installed. Never having recessed lighting before I wasn't sure how these installed, because they were different than the other rings that were in the fixtures. I'm ashamed it took me longer to realize how they went in, then it actually to me to install all four lights once I figured it out, still only a 10 min job that makes a world of difference. As some noted a slight bend in the springs will snug them up fairly flush to the ceiling. Great lights I now find myself using them more than before. Hopefully they last for years to come. SGL light is on the left in the picture, showing comparison vs a regular halogen flood.
These are great lights. The temperature is perfect for my kitchen/dining room and I love being able to dim the lights now. I initially chose these lights due to the poor reviews of the Sunco lights, which now apparently have plastic tabs that the springs attach to, rather than metal, like this one does.
I put 11 of these in the Sunco 6" cans. Lucky for me that I only needed 11, because 1 had a very poor paint job from the factory. It looked like somebody had picked it up while the paint was still wet, because there was an oval (thumbprint?) where the paint was very thin and the metal beneath was showing through. It might not have been noticeable from a distance (I have vaulted ceilings in this room), but it was to me, and once seen it cannot be unseen.
Anyway, if you use these with the Sunco cans, be aware that the connectors are not compatible. I made a trip to the local hardware store and picked up a couple small bags of 2-pole push-in connectors for about $10. It took about 15 minutes to cut, strip, and convert all of the stock connectors to the new ones. After this minor setback, installation was a breeze.
I just finished installing 12 of these. The first one took about 10 minutes, most of which was figuring out how the springs slide up through the tabs on the inside of the cans. In my case, the tabs were initially flat against the can housing and had to be bent outward to accept the springs. I guess this was to make room for the flood light in the previous configuration. Anyway, bending them out was simple using a flat-blade screwdriver and needle-nose pliers. After that, each install took about 3 minutes.
We got the 3000K color, which is noticeably whiter than the old flood lights, but still yellow enough that it does not feel like a hospital or office building. Before selecting that color, I went to one of the big box stores that has a display of the various LED colors and made sure that's what we wanted.
In addition to all the other obvious advantages of LED, they look really nice, mainly because they are all uniform looking. After many years of replacements, the previous flood lights were all different shapes, had slightly different color and intensity of light, and some stuck out of the can at various amounts and angles. This was a dramatic improvement in the uniformity of the appearance of the lights.
We have no dimmers so I can't speak to flickering issue. Very satisfied so far. We'll see how long they last. I've had bad experiences so far with LED bulbs that go into ceiling fans, lamps, etc. Some have failed after a very short time. I'm hoping these last a long time.
_________________________________________
UPDATE 07/18/2018: One of the 12 lights failed after one year. That's the bad news. The good news is I contacted customer service (service@szledlighting.com) to get a replacement under the 5-year warranty. After emailing them a photo of the failed light, they shipped a 4-pack! So I now have 3 spares. The replacement arrived very quickly. I'm VERY pleased with the responsiveness of customer service. Really like this product and this seller.
This review is for 6inch 2700k LED Four Pack...Great light, ample coverage at 7ft and exceptional dimming.
Past experience selecting lights based on color temperature proved to be useless. LED's are a game changer so don't let past experience and k numbers fool you.
To me 5000k is a great soft light, not too yellow and certainly not blue. I thought 2700k would be too yellow for my tastes. NOT THESE!
These 2700k bulbs are a perfect soft light bulb providing a bright "daylight" type of light without yellow and certainly not the fake blue LEDs are notorious for.
We have four installed as task lighting in soffit above cabinets in 12×12 workspace in a large kitchen. We went a single task light above the sink and the impact was dramatic.
Very happy with the purchase.