Protecting canister lights

[LurfysMa]

We are converting an attic area into a storage area. In the area over the living room, there are two recessed canister lights that protrude about 8" into the attic. The contractor cut holes in the plywood so they can protrude through.

I am not concerned about the looks, because it's a storage area, but I am worried that someone (like me) will accidentally step on or bump the exposed cans.

I thought about building a open-ended box around the cans and putting some kind of heavy screen over the top. Does anyone have a better idea?

I'm just looking for protection against accidental kicking, stepping, or bumping while still providing ventilation and protection against heat build up.

Thanks

[ameijers]

Is attic floor insulated, or are the rafter spaces? If this is a 'cold' attic vented to outside, there should have been boxes there already, or you have been pumping cooled or heated air up there since the lights were installed. They don't really need ventilation, but they do need airspace around them to avoid hot spots. A closed box is fine, as long as the lid is removable to get to the junction box on the can. A few years ago, when people started super-insulating attic floors, they would sometimes put bats over the can lights, or blow insulation right up to them, and that did start some fires. IIRC, they changed can designs to double-layer to reduce that risk. Some builders quit installing flush lights at all. Electrical supply house probably has pre-made plastic things for the enclosures.

aem sends...

[spudnuty]

Do you know the make and the model # of the canisters? If they are IC rated then you could build a plywood box around them and not worry about clearance. If they are not refer to the manufactures specs as to the amount of free space to allow around the fixture for heat dissapation usually around 3": Juno's specs are here

a housing around something like this is always a good idea since they may be subject to physical damage. Especially in a storage area. What about the wires (BX, conduit) feeding the cans? Richard

[LurfysMa]

Prior to this project, the attic had a foot or so of blown-in insulation. The contractor bagged that, reran the electrical so that it wasn't sitting on top of the ceiling joists, put the loose insulation back, and put down plywood with cutouts for the cans. The attic is vented to the outside.

So you think if I have them build a plywood box around the cans with

2-3 inches of clearance on al sides, we will be OK? That would be more air space than they had with the blown-in insulation before.

[LurfysMa]

The exposed top of the can (the part in the attic) has no numbers or labels on it that I can see. From inside the living room, it's a cover plate with a swiveling fixture that takes a spot light. It's in an awkward place over the sofa which is hard to get to.

I think I'll be OK if I allow 3" all around. Before this project, they were covered by blown-in insulation. A box with 3" clearance ought to give at least as much heat dissipation, no?

I am also happy to put some type of heavy grate or screen on the top.

[SQLit]

Certainly did not do you any favors there. Reduced the amount of insulation you can have in the area of the plywood. R13-15 maybe..... sure hope your not in cold country What my brother and I did was to install some 2x8's on top of the rafters then put the plywood down. Gave us enough room for the insulation. We use the area for moving box storage and other non essential items that can handle 160F.

Screen and storage does not sound very good to me. Accident waiting and all that. Time to make some 2 by something boxes to cover up the lights. Best check to see if these fixtures are IC rated. If not then the plywood will need to be at least 3 inches away from the can.

[LurfysMa]

I think we will have better insulation than we had before. They put as much of the original insulation back as they could under the plywood and they are adding new insulation between the rafters before adding sheetrock to the attic ceiling.

We actually used microlams for most of the attic area where there were longer spans. This one area is fairly narrow so we just did the plywood and plan to put mostly empty boxes and empty suitcases etc.

Not sure what you mean by "screen and storage". I was considering a plywood or 2x6 box with an open top covered by a heave screen or grate.

[spudnuty]

Best make sure those cans are IC rated. Usually you can pull the trim part straight down (depends on the make) they're held in with stiff springy wire. You can then compress the wire and pull the eyeball out off the housing. The rating and type will be inside the can. Alternately you should ask the contractor what he installed. Richard

[LurfysMa]

OK, I did that. There are a lot of numbers that start with "H" (H78, H89, etc.). I didn't see IC anything. There's also no make or model #s.

What am I looking for?

It does have a UL tag.

It was done before we owned the house and about 20 years ago (mid

1980s). No idea how to contact the contractor.

[LurfysMa]

Using a Google search, I see that IC means "insulation contact". I still can't find any kind of "IC rating" anywhere on the fixture.

It is in a metal cylinder. The cylinder itself is 6" diameter and 6" deep to where the domed top begins and almost 8" to where to top of the dome. The bulb housing has about 1" clearance at the base. It takes a 75 watt reflector flood (110), which is 4.5" deep.

So, the bulb and housing has close to 3" clearance inside the cylinder. I am planning on putting a box around that with another 1-2" of clearance at the closest point. The original installation had over

12" of insulation in direct contact with the housing, so I can't imaging that my box will provide less ventilation.

Right?

[spudnuty]

Those could be approved trim #s. Look here at non IC vrs IC rated fixtures:

you took the eyeball down was there an external housing around it? The IC recessed lights I prefer are a dome inside a metal box with the bulb holder inside the dome. Like here: just to be safe you could treat it as non IC and follow the instructions other posters have suggested. You could also replace them with IC2s as in the 2nd URLS I pulled a non IC housing out of a clients house last year. There was less than 1" clearance to an overhead plate of plywood and ceiling joists within 3" of either side. They were using 100W bulbs. The entire inside was completely charred and blackened but luckily it had been confined to the immediate area. They were very lucky indeed. If in doubt hire a professional! Richard

[LurfysMa]

The label says something about trim numbers and then lists a bunch of numbers like H71, H71T, etc.

There was no square external housing as in this photo. Mine looks like this:

That's my plan. I will build a wooden box with 3" clearance and probably a screen or grate top.

My box will have at elast 2" more clearance than the insulation that has been there for 20 years.

I hope they were thankful (to you).

OK, thanks for the help.

[spudnuty]

So if it's like that one in the picture that's a retrofit fixture. So you plan to box in the entire fixture? Well since the insulation already covered the fixture for all these years you'll probably be ok. The IC designation would usually be included in the model # and it's strange you find no makers mark. Richard.

[LurfysMa]

The top of the can protrudes about 4" above the new plywood. I plan to build a box around that and maybe 2-3" higher.

That was my thinking -- plus I'll be allowing 2-3" additional and an open top.

I pulled it out as far as I could without disconnecting the power lines. No maker at all that I could see.

Thanks for your help.

[TKM]

Those "H" catalog numbers indicate the cans are made by Cooper Lighting (their Halo line). Check at:

Doubtful that you have "IC" type cans though. They haven't been around that long. "IC" stands for "insulated ceiling".

TKM