Recessed light can/trim recommendations

[MiamiCuse]

I am remodeling a house and plan to change out all the lights. The existing recessed lights are over 30 years old and badly corroded and over half of them are no longer working. I have the ceiling ripped down now and plan to remove old ones and install new ones.

I would prefer to use the same lights for living room, dinning room, family room, hallways and den. After doing some calculations I would need about

100 lights on the inside. These are for general lighting so would use probably 60W bulbs. I would have other lights for task lighting, wall scones etc...The outside eave would need an additional 40 additional cans which brings the total to 140 lights.

Can anyone recommend a good source for recessed lights. Any special brand/model? Will I get any volume discount if I get so many lights?

Thanks,

MC

[John Grabowski]

I tend to stick with the Halo brand. They are readily available almost anywhere. The H7 housings are rated for damp locations such as your eaves. I think that the H99's are also rated for damp locations. They have a good selection of trims also which can be used with a variety of bulbs. If you want to save electricity and heat you might want to consider a fluorescent housing, but the initial cost will be higher. For that quantity of lights I would suggest that you get a bid from one or two electrical supply companies. You should be able to get a good price that way as they like to sell volume.

[mattmeitzner]

Sticking with what JG said - I chose Halo due to the availability at Lowes and HD, and the wide selection of baffles and trims. They also sell a 6-pack and 12-pack at HD and Lowes that saves about a buck a light (and they're only around $6.50 for the can to begin with). I think there's also a 10-pack that comes with baffles that saves a few bucks on the can/baffle combo, but you obviously lose the selection of trims. Who knows though, perhaps an electric supply house could even beat those prices, considering your volume.

As for the type of housing, also consider that you can buy an incandescent housing and put in a compact fluorescent bulb. This is what I did and it cost me half of what just the fluorescent housing with integrated ballast would have cost me. Just something to consider.

[Joe]

Anything you can do to lower your 6000 watts lighting load will benefit your budget and the environment. Definitely consider CFI's for now and go for LED's when the price gets more mainstream. The latter will offer some novel decorating schemes, too. HTH

Joe