Recessed Lights Are Evil
February 1st, 2011 | 86 comments
I love recessed lights, but even the best ones create a ridiculous amount of heat in attics, which can lead to ice dams. Until I started performing infrared inspections in attics, I never quite grasped how much heat recessed lights contributed to attics, but now my eyes are wide open. The main problem I find with recessed lights is that they’re not insulated well enough; on a recent home inspection in Maple Grove, I found a home with forty-six recessed lights sticking up in to the attic, along with some wicked ice dams on the roof.
A standard recessed light will stick up in to the attic about seven inches. If an attic has fourteen inches of loose fill fiberglass insulation, how much insulation does that leave on top of the recessed light? Hang on, let me get my calculator…
At any rate, there’s far less insulation above recessed lights than anywhere else in the attic, and these are the areas that get the hottest, so they should really have more insulation than anywhere else in the attic. Unfortunately, that never happens. The combination of minimal insulation and hot light fixtures shows up clear as day using an infrared camera.
The images above show how much heat is leaking through the insulation above an IC rated, airtight recessed light with a 65-watt incandescent bulb. IC rated means that it’s safe to have insulation directly in contact with the light, but it’s not synonymous with airtight. You can usually tell if a recessed light is airtight just by looking inside it; if there are a bunch of holes inside the housing, it probably isn’t airtight.
If you can see light pouring through on the attic side, it’s definitely not airtight. All of these little holes in the housing are passageways for heated air to escape in to the attic; they’re called attic bypasses.
Having said all this, I don’t think recessed lights are truly ‘evil’, but they sure can cause a lot of problems, and there seems to be very little understanding of this in the building trades. Here’s what you can do to prevent problems:
If you plan to install recessed lights that are going to protrude in to your attic, make sure they’re airtight, IC-rated lights. After the lights are installed, be sure to double down on the amount of insulation above the lights; you’re gonna need it.
If you already have airtight recessed lights in your home, you probably need way more insulation installed on top of them. This is usually quite simple to do, but without an infrared camera, it might take a little time to locate all the lights.
If you already have non-airtight recessed lights sticking up in to your attic, don’t worry; there’s a fix for this. Simply construct an airtight box out of rigid foam insulation, and ‘glue’ it together with spray foam.
Now place this airtight box over the offending recessed light in your attic, and use a bunch more expanding foam to seal it up and make it completely airtight. Not only will this prevent air leakage from around the light, but it will dramatically increase the insulation level above the light. While the box pictured below is the ugliest box I’ve ever seen (I built it), it’s still very effective at preventing heat loss.
If constructing and installing insulated boxes throughout your attic seems like too much work, you could always replace any standard incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights or LEDs; they produce far less heat, they’re easy to install, and you’ll start saving money on your electricity bills.
Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Maple Grove Home Inspections
Reuben C. (not the Inspector)
February 1, 2011, 9:26 am
I don’t think I will ever install recessed lighting in an attic space again for exactly the reasons you’ve mentioned here. The problems and additional work it creates just doesn’t seem worth the benefit. I guess I’ve never been too much of a fan of recessed lighting in general.
Reuben Saltzman
February 1, 2011, 11:11 am
I don’t blame you a bit. Especially if you haven’t purchased a 6 1/2″ hole saw.
Jeff Garvey
February 1, 2011, 12:19 pm
Ok – question on this. My house has 8 recessed lights that go into the attic and guess what….ice dams. How do you suggest insulating them more, should I just add more blown in insulation over the lights or to the whole attic space?
I am pretty sure that this is what is causing my ice dam problem and want to fix it but I want it to be a good fix and not just a hokey one. How much insulation do you suggest to have put in up there?
Reuben Saltzman
February 1, 2011, 2:45 pm
Hi Jeff,
I guess it all depends on how much you already have. If your insulation is 14″ deep, it should be about two feet deep over the recessed lights.
In my particular case, I built that insulated box for my recessed light just so I wouldn’t have to pile on quite so much insulation.
You might want to build a bunch of boxes light that…
Chad
February 1, 2011, 2:58 pm
Have you inspected any homes with unvented attics that use foam insulation (either closed or open cell) at the roof deck (above or below the sheathing.)
Just curious how these are doing in this weather condition?
Reuben Saltzman
February 1, 2011, 3:13 pm
I just inspected one recently, and it was doing quite well; no melted snow.
"One Home Inspection Please, and an Infrared Scan On The Side." | Reuben's Home Inspection Blog
February 13, 2011, 6:04 am
[...] Recessed lights are a huge contributor to warm attics, whether they’re airtight or not. [...]
Thinking of adding more insulation to your attic? Read this first. | Reuben's Home Inspection Blog
February 15, 2011, 4:45 am
[...] Recessed lights are huge contributors to ice dams. I recently wrote about this in another blog - Recessed Lights Are Evil. [...]
BONNIE RAMSEY
August 2, 2011, 10:26 am
I have a three year old triple-wide mobile with recessed lights in the kitchen. When the home was installed I had the lights get hot, dim, come back on. Manufacturers said there was too much insulation around the lights. (there is no attic). Here we are 3 years later and it is doing it again. Since, I do not have an attic, what lighting is best to avoid this problem. Recessed lights are “hot” for the kitchen.
Reuben Saltzman
August 2, 2011, 7:39 pm
Hmmm… it certainly sounds like the lights are overheating. The first thing I would try is replacing the bulbs with CFLs or better yet, LEDs. LEDs cost a ton of money, but this would still be less expensive than replacing the lights, the bulbs should basically last forever, and they generate very little heat.
Greg
October 11, 2011, 11:10 pm
I was about to build boxes of out messy drywall, but I like the insulation idea instead – plus the bonus of added R value.
However, is there a fire hazard with the rigid insulation and spray foam? I have non IC pots with halogens.
Reuben Saltzman
October 12, 2011, 4:03 am
Greg – as long as you maintain the required distance to the insulation, you shouldn’t have any problems. Most (maybe all?) non-IC recessed lights require a 3″ space. If you remove the bulb and look up inside the light, it should say what the required distance is.
You’ll just have to make some really big boxes.
Greg
October 12, 2011, 11:44 am
Thanks for the super-fast reply. Yes, it says 3″ so I’ll made some decent sized boxes and pile on the insulation above that. I also plan on going to the new LED lamps from Philips when the price drops a bit more. I believe the draw is just 11W, which should make pot lights just a little less evil.
ralph ford
October 31, 2011, 4:24 am
I have IC cans in place, ready to sheetrock ceiling. All cans will get LED bulbs. What would be wrong with open cell spray foam sprayed directly on the cans to close all the little holes in the can and seal it where it contacts sheetrock?
Reuben Saltzman
October 31, 2011, 4:46 am
Hi Ralph,
My concern with applying foam directly to the fixture is that the foam might get in through the holes to a portion of the light where it shouldn’t be, and possibly cause problems with the light. What if the next owner didn’t know about this and then installed standard incandescent bulbs, and caused the lights to overheat and start a fire? Also, you’d be making these lights very permanent by doing this. Those are the only concerns that I can think of.
- Reuben
ralph ford
October 31, 2011, 2:56 pm
Hi Ruben,
Thanks for the quick reply. I never considered any of these things.What you are saying makes perfect sense. I think it would be prudent to make insulated boxes. That seems to be the best option. Thank you for you time.
- Ralph
Paul
November 16, 2011, 9:28 am
Hello, Great comments and I learned a bunch just reading this. I have ic rated cans and i do run 11 watt L.E.D. lights in them. I was wondering if I should buyild a box around the can light or just use more insulation. What would you recomend as the best option for me too… One other question, I did cut the opening and ripped away some of the plastic that was between the insulation and the sheetrock. Should i replace this and retape this moisture barrier, my old house never had this plastic. It I build the box large enought 6 inch clearence and the ripped out plastic is in the “boxed” area would i need to do anything more?
thank you again and great info, very very helpful!
Paul
Reuben Saltzman
November 16, 2011, 8:58 pm
Hi Paul,
If you’re using LED bulbs, it’s probably far less critical to build the insulated boxes; just beefing up the insulation over the light would probably be good enough. Try shining a very bright work light up at your recessed light from inside the house, and then go in to the attic and look for any light leaking through. If you can see light coming through around the sides of the light, you probably also have air leaking through as well. If that’s the case, it would be worth re-sealing the plastic. If you see light leaking through the recessed light, it’s not an airtight light, and you would benefit from building the boxes. You would want to seal the box down to the plastic in the attic to make it airtight.
- Reuben
Tejas
November 20, 2011, 12:26 pm
Hi I have existing lighting in the center on my. Bedroom and want to remove that and add recessed lighting. Do I need to get permits for that? Also I would he getting the airtight ic cans along with the fluorescent dimmable bulbs.is there anything I should look for before starting the work?
Reuben Saltzman
November 20, 2011, 3:15 pm
Tejas –
I don’t know where you’re writing from, so I can’t answer your question about whether permits are required. Here in Minnesota, basically any electrical work requires a permit.
Yes, there are lot of things to look for before starting the work, but the answer to that question probably goes beyond my ability to teach; there are so many potential red flags to look out for when installing a new recessed light that you would probably do well to buy a book on electrical wiring before starting this process (ie – are the conductors you’re attaching to rated for 90 degrees Celsius?).
CMC
December 14, 2011, 7:40 pm
Fabulous timing finding your post tonight! Electrician is wiring my new house this week and I’m putting in about 10 IC-rated AirSeal recessed cans that will fitted with MR16 Low Voltage halogen bulbs until the LED industry … or another technology we don’t know about … catches up. I decided to go with the recessed, which I’ve used before and love, only after I was assured that I could foam right up to the housings to ensure that my lighting choice didn’t send out the window the money I’m spending trying to get a tight house. But today, my electrician said that we needed to box them in — not for the reasons you said, but b/c otherwise, the junction box will be unreachable. My attic will be, for all intents and purposes, inaccessible once we sheetrock over. My builder isn’t pleased with having to construct boxes, but your photo suggests I could do it in a way that’s even better than plywood. Long winded road to three questions:
1. If my electrician is wrong (I’m looking into that), doesn’t IC rated really mean that one can eliminate the problem of leakage by ensuring that the cans are buried, in direct contact, with insulation (in my case, foamed at the base and covered deeply in cellulose).
2. If the cans are 1C rated, why would you need the 3″ of space on all sides inside the box?
3. If I’m going to try to construct boxes out of rigid foam insulation, did the spray canned foam sealer actually act like glue to keep it all together?
To the extent you have answers, thanks very much.
Reuben Saltzman
December 14, 2011, 8:07 pm
CMC – 1. IC rated means you can have insulation up against the light; not that the light will be airtight. Deeply covered in cellulose won’t be the same thing as airtight. The name “AirSeal” kind of implies that they’ll be airtight though…
2. If the cans are IC rated, you don’t need the 3″ space.
3. Yes, the spray foam is what I used to seal the box together. I actually used some long drywall screws to hold the sides in place while the foam set, then pulled the screws out later.
Good luck!
Nancy
December 19, 2011, 11:25 am
We would like to update the track lighting in our great-room and it seems recessed lights are the only options. We do not have an attic in that area, would these lights cause problems?
Thank you for your time.
Nancy
Reuben Saltzman
December 19, 2011, 4:18 pm
Hi Nancy,
I assume you have a vaulted ceiling? If so, yes, recessed lights could certainly cause snow melting problems.
Greg
December 28, 2011, 10:53 am
Hi Reuben,
Great info here.
I was trying to figure out a way to enclose my lights; I have 30+ of them, not my choice. I almost went out and purchased the pre-made enclosures, so you saved me quite a bit of money here.
I do have a question for you. There is a vapor barrier below the blown in insulation. Will the foam effectively seal to the barrier or should I peel it back and seal directly to the drywall. I am guessing it will adhere, and I should leave it in place, but I just want to be certain. Thanks.
Greg
Reuben Saltzman
December 28, 2011, 12:51 pm
Hi Greg,
Foam-in-a-can won’t make a perfect vapor barrier seal, but as long as air isn’t passing through, it won’t make much of a difference. It will certainly be good enough. Foam away.
Drew
December 31, 2011, 2:23 pm
Hi Gred,
What about the recessed lights on the ceiling of the first floor of my 2 story house? I want to air seal them, but I cant get access above them to build any kind of box/enclosure like you recommend for attics. I’m in the middle of replacing the 65-watt incandescents to 12-watt equivalent LEDs. I saw a similar post above, but are there *any* options to airseal these canisters? What about silicone caulking the holes in the canisters (and the threshold between canister and drywall)? Since the LEDs run so cool, I would think that this approach would remove the risk of fire typically associated with sealing the canister holes. Thanks! -Drew
Reuben Saltzman
January 1, 2012, 7:15 am
Drew – I don’t know of any way to air seal those lights. I wouldn’t go squirting caulk inside the canisters. If they’re on the first floor of a two story house, what is the concern?
Drew
January 1, 2012, 2:02 pm
You wouldn’t think it’d be an issue, but when I stick my hand up there I feel tons of air infiltration. I did a blower door test and the energy auditor told me ttruth and better seal up my place (house was built in ’94).
John
January 8, 2012, 5:17 pm
Nobody is mentioning insulation dust. I have 15 recessed lights and 2 bath vent/lights. We have a terrible problem with dust in the house which I believe is from the celulose insulation dust migrating through small openings around these items (I have already sealed the furnace outlets). I’m thinking the positive/negative pressure fluctionation from opening/closing doors is causing the celulose dust to migrate into the house. Has anybody had any experience in this area?
Reuben Saltzman
January 10, 2012, 6:22 pm
John – I’ve never heard of insulation dust coming through recessed lights. I’m sure it’s possible, but I’ve never dealt with that aspect of it.
scott cunningham
January 17, 2012, 7:19 pm
I just had remodel (non CI) cans installed in my living room. There is an open attic with insulation on the floor. presently the cans are uncovered with the batt insulation because they will over heat and can be a fire hazard. The boxes you talk of to prevent heat loss, will this be a fire hazard? I love the idea and am ready to do it tomorrow.
Reuben Saltzman
January 17, 2012, 8:31 pm
Scott – as long as you maintain the required clearance, it won’t be a fire hazard. I say go for it.
Matt
January 26, 2012, 1:46 pm
I bought a house in Chicago with recessed lights in a vaulted ceiling. We are having a lot of snow melt, even when temps are around 20. I’m wondering what my options are short of ripping down all the drywall and doing some spray foam. I read on another site about Continental Electric’s airtight baffle trim. Any luck using that? It seems like they might be an affordable solution at about $8 each.
Reuben Saltzman
January 26, 2012, 3:57 pm
Hi Matt,
I’ve never tried using airtight baffle trim; I’m sure it would help, but also changing out to CFLs or LEDs would be a big help as well.
- Reuben
John
January 26, 2012, 4:51 pm
Regarding my Jan 8th post, I contacted the Cooper Lighting Company who makes my HALO brand recessed lights and they advised that I had two options. 1. Change my insulation or 2. install the 30 Air Tite baffle in the current recessed fixture and use GA-AT trim gaskets. I did not find the correct HALO baffle locally but did find one made by Commercial Electric that I plan to try. Check back in a few weeks and I will let you know if this works.
Suzie
February 5, 2012, 2:29 pm
We have a 2-story house built in 2007 and just today noticed water dripping from only 1 of the 6 recessed lights in my kitchen. It happens to be the light above the sink. There is no attic space above the light, just our upstairs hallway. The dripping only lasted a couple minutes. This also happened (same light) about 6 months ago for just a couple minutes. There is no staining, no indication of water damage, but it’s making me nervous to know water is coming from somewhere it shouldn’t. It did rain some last night, and it is colder here than it’s been in awhile (we live in Texas)…just some facts if it helps. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
RODRIGO
February 21, 2012, 6:54 am
I installed recessed lights in the kitchen, I live in Arizona it get pretty hot inside the attic during the summer, If I made the box big enough, do you think I will have any problem?
Reuben Saltzman
February 23, 2012, 5:16 am
Rodrigo – that heat is going to go somewhere. There more heat that doesn’t go in to your attic, the more heat you’ll have in your house. I think you’d be better off installing LED bulbs.
To answer your question though, no, I don’t think you’d have any problems if you made the box big enough. If you have IC rated lights, you could make the box barely large enough to cover the light and it would be big enough.
John
February 23, 2012, 7:18 am
Re: my Jan 26th post. What a difference the air tight baffle makes. I installed the Commercial Electric baffles I found at Home Depot on Jan 28th and noticed an almost immediate decrease in the dust. It’s amazing how much insulation dust can be sucked in through the small openings in these recessed lights. I plan to vacuum the ceilings, walls and furniture in the near future which will give me a final reading on how much this helped, but I can already tell that it made a big difference. I would suggest to anyone planning to install blown in insulation into their attic to make sure the attic is absolutely airtight between attic and living area first.
Mold in the Attic | Structure Tech Home Inspections
March 20, 2012, 3:47 am
[...] I mentioned in my blog about evil recessed lights, they can be a huge source of attic air leakage. Notice all the light pouring through this [...]
Frank
March 20, 2012, 9:19 am
We recently purchased a house and have 42 non-IC high hats upstairs and have considerable heat loss going into attic. About half of these recessed lights are on cathedral ceilings with no access from the attic. I would like to replace all the high hats with LEDs and at the same time hope that this provides a better airseal to attic, particularly on cathedral parts. For non-cathedral parts, I am also in the process of getting insulation (cellulose) blown into attic (on top and around the original fiberglass rolls from about 15 years ago). Do I still need to create boxes and have space around non-IC recessed lights if I will use the LED’s. I figured the low temps would mean the risk of fire/heat is gone. If so, sounds like my only issue may be with dust as described by some other posts.
Reuben Saltzman
March 20, 2012, 10:49 am
Frank – the official answer is yes; you still need to create boxes and have space around the non-ic lights, even if you’re using LED bulbs.
Reuben Saltzman
March 20, 2012, 10:49 am
Frank – the official answer is yes; you still need to create boxes and have space around the non-ic lights, even if you’re using LED bulbs.
Mold in the Attic « About Fiberglass Construction
March 20, 2012, 1:24 pm
[...] I mentioned in my blog about evil recessed lights, they can be a huge source of attic air leakage. Notice all the light pouring through this [...]
Tracey Norton
April 9, 2012, 9:40 am
We have 26 IC rated can lights. They are installed in a vaulted ceiling with no attic space above the lights. Our energy audit confirmed that each light fixture was like an open window. What can we do to seal those lights so we are not wasting heat/cool. We have extremely high electric bills. Thanks
Reuben Saltzman
April 10, 2012, 5:09 am
Hi Tracey,
You can install LED or CFL bulbs to significantly reduce the amount of heat generated by the lights, and you can install airtight baffles to reduce the amount of air leakage.
Scroll up to the comments left by John on 1/26/12 and 2/23/12.
- Reuben
Hot in here
June 13, 2012, 4:15 pm
Using an infrared thermometer i am showing 95+F temps on the recessed lights left off all day the rest of the room is 80F. Would building or buying a recessed cover help with the heat? Not much room in that part of the attic, I have R-30 fiberglass insulation covering the cooper-lighting? air-tight ic rated remodel kits installed in the attic along with airtight baffle and gasket installed.
Reuben Saltzman
June 14, 2012, 7:06 pm
Yes, building insulated recessed covers would help prevent heat from radiating back in to the house… but I personally don’t think it would be worth the effort.
malcolm from New Ealand
July 11, 2012, 3:41 am
Hi there, many new zealand houses have high celings and recessed lights, i have been told that if you replace the old downlighs with CFL and use 10L pails over the protruding fixtures in the attic and cover with insulation ( we have the pink batts type here) and fix it to the celing, would that be safe ?
Reuben Saltzman
July 13, 2012, 3:41 am
Malcolm – I don’t know what a 10L pail looks like, but knowing that 10 Liters is roughly 2 1/2 gallons, I’d say that would be way too small of an enclosure for the lights, assuming they’re not IC rated.
On the other hand, if the lights are IC rated (meaning you can put insulation right on top of them), go for it.
Angela Macedo
July 31, 2012, 12:14 pm
We purchased an older (1977) manufactured home that was a foreclosed home near a lake in California. It gets cool in the winter (as low as mid 30′s at times) and very hot in the summer (100+). We didn’t know the background of the “remodeling” done to the home because of the forclosure issue. Thus, we have run into a variety of issues…we have “pulled a loose string” so to speak and have “unraveled” many issues. One being there are more ceilings than one home should have! That being said, one of the rooms has vaulted ceilings and we want to add more light into the room with recessed cans. Because of the ceiling issue, there is sheetrock, insulation and then roof with less than 4″ to work with. Are there any can lights with such a low profile that could be installed in a vaulted ceiling?
Thank you for your help!
David W
August 8, 2012, 3:58 pm
Hi Reuben,
Great site and discussion. I have a problem with het loss through recessed cans in one story second home we own near Lutsen, MN. We have electric hot water heat and our bills have been atrocious in the winter months even though we turn the heat down to 50 when we are not there. I had a full blown energy audit done this spring to identify areas of heat that are not obvious. The recessed cans are part of the problem but access from above is very limited so I am looking for options. I think we have IC cans in the ceiling with standard 65 watt spots. I plan to switch to CFLs or LEDs to reduce consumption from usage but the heat loss issues is a separate issue. If I can not put rigid foam boxes over the cans in the attic space, what do you recommend I do from inside each room? Are you aware of any new products for remodeling to replace or retrofit existing recessed cans to reduce heat loss? Thank you.
Reuben Saltzman
August 8, 2012, 7:35 pm
Hi David,
Your best bet would be to install airtight trim kits for your lights; it won’t take the place of insulation, but stopping air movement will make a big difference. Just figure out what brand of recessed lights you have, and search online for an airtight trim kit.
Wendy
September 14, 2012, 10:48 am
We purchased a home in March. we have been told that there is usually a large ice dam in one spot on the roof. Previous owners had tried everything to fix it but nothing worked.
We have also replaced a pot light that was in the kitchen. with a regular light. The insulation around the old pot light was burnt! Obviously almost a disaster.
The good news for us,,,, after reading the above info we are hoping that the ice dam problem is solved. Guess where the pot light was….RIGHT UNDER THE ICE DAM AREA! I can hardly wait for winter to see if this was what caused the ice dam, Such an easy fix.
Reuben Saltzman
September 14, 2012, 2:31 pm
Wendy – let me know how it turns out.
Minnesota Native
October 11, 2012, 9:09 am
I’m about to install non-IC recessed lights. These homemade/makeshift airtight boxes you speak of — won’t they be a fire hazard if the heat cannot escape? Does the 3″ clearance include a required opening above? Thank you, Reuben.
Minnesota Native
October 11, 2012, 9:28 am
An additional thought. I doubt it but … could replacing the incandescent bulbs that come with the non-IC recessed lights with LEDs reduce the required clearance? (LEDs produce less heat) Dare I say … completely eliminate it?
Reuben Saltzman
October 11, 2012, 12:52 pm
MN Native – no, installing airtight boxes won’t create a hazard as long as the 3″ space is maintained. As for your thought on LEDs – I’m sure this would greatly reduce the potential for a fire, however, would the next person who moves in to this house and changes the light bulb back to a standard incandescent be aware of this? Probably not. Stick with the 3″ air space.
dalton
October 12, 2012, 12:58 pm
I have ten non-ic lights that protrude up into the attic would it be any better to use the foil faced insulation board to make the boxes instead of the plain foam board?
Reuben Saltzman
October 12, 2012, 7:28 pm
@dalton – I honestly don’t know. Good question. I’ve always thought the foil was only there to allow the material to be left exposed for flame spread and smoke development purposes, but I’m guessing it would also act as a radiant barrier.
Brent R.
October 16, 2012, 10:53 pm
I noticed the floor in my kids room has one hot spot. I traced that spot down to the kitchen below their room right where I have a recessed light. I’ve never noticed this in the 8 years we lived here. Should I be concerned? Especially since this is a new development? I haven’t changed the size or wattage of the builds recently either. Thanks for your reply
Reuben Saltzman
October 17, 2012, 3:53 am
Brent – check the wattage of the light bulb and compare it to the wattage allowed by the light. You should be able to find this by removing the light bulb. If the wattage of the bulb doesn’t exceed the wattage allowed by the light, you should have nothing to worry about.
Lee
October 20, 2012, 4:51 am
I’ve recently replaced about a dozen cans that I was told were airtight when I bought them but have since discovered they are not, and I put LED bulbs in them. I live in South Florida where the most important thing is keeping the house cool, not as concerned about the attic and definitely not worried about ice dams! my question is whether ot would be ok to put a rubber gasket seal around the trim of the LEDs to seal them against the ceiling? or is there another way to do that?
thanks
Daniel
November 20, 2012, 3:05 pm
Dear Reuben,
My bedroom is located above our den in our two story house, where we watch TV often and have recessed lighting. Additionally, there is an attic above my room. We have noticed that my room is consistantly about 5-8 degrees (F) hotter than the rest of the upstairs and the hallway just outside my room, which is not over the den. This happens year round, regarless of whether we have the central heat or AC on, so it is not a ventilation issue. Additionally, it is not a window or facing the sun problems because other rooms on this side of the house do not have the same problem.
Is it possible that these lights downstairs are causing the heat difference? If yes, is there anything we can do without ripping up flooring/ceiling? (Will different types of lightbulbs work?) If no, any ideas what the cause of the heat is?
Thanks,
Daniel
Reuben Saltzman
November 20, 2012, 6:13 pm
Daniel – it’s certainly possible. Try installing LED bulbs.
Kyle
November 26, 2012, 11:11 pm
This post may be a little off topic but I have had a difficult time finding info through thorough Internet scavenging and two different residential electric companies. The recessed lights in my kitchen arc periodically and quite loudly…but this seems to only happen at night. I’m guessing this may be because that is when they are most often used but it usually happens well after they have been turned off at the switch. One of the electricians I had out offered to come back in the evening to check it out but of course when he did we heard nothing. Any possible first step procedures to figuring out this problem? Thank you so much for an answer. This type of problem really worries me for possible fire issues. I have also switched every bulb thinking one of the bulbs was bad and causing the issue, no luck there.
Reuben Saltzman
November 27, 2012, 4:46 am
Kyle – What kind of bulbs do you have? Have you tried replacing them? If yes, and you’re still hearing an ‘arcing’ sound, you probably do have a problem that needs to be looked in to further by an electrician.
Jim Andersen
December 27, 2012, 6:12 pm
I’m planning to blow additional fiberglass insulation in to my attic. I have several 15+/- can lights. I don’t think that they are IC cans. I have been changing out all the lights to CFLs and retrofit air tight LEDs. Do I still need to make a box for each of the cans or since I’m using bulbs that emit very little heat not worry about having insulation cover the cans
Thanks
Reuben Saltzman
January 2, 2013, 5:51 am
Hi Jim,
If the can lights that you have are not IC rated, the only safe answer I should be giving you is to make boxes for each of the cans to keep the insulation away.
Angie
January 17, 2013, 7:39 am
We have recessed lights in our boutique, They go on and off intermitendly, We think it may be the transformer but were not sure, as these bulbs are not cheap can you please advise.
Thanks
Reuben Saltzman
January 17, 2013, 10:13 am
Hi Angie,
The lights are probably thermally protected; they’re shutting off because they’re getting too hot. Try using bulbs that don’t get as hot – lower wattage / CFLs / LEDs.
- Reuben
Timothy Wilson
January 21, 2013, 2:50 pm
I have a one and a half story home in Saint Paul that the previous owner finsihed the upper level. There are 3 recessed lights and a ceiling fan, in the top that is about 3 feet wide. Nearby are 2 skylights on the slope. I have a pretty steep roof. I have perpetually had dripping coming from the window frame edges in the winter. I removed the trim and found foam. What is my best action? The recessed lights and fan have big hot spots that show on the roof outside. I don’t really want to rip out a ton of sheetrock and start over. I am uncertain how much room I have to work. I had th roof reshingled and they pt a ridge vent in and I still have the same problem
Reuben Saltzman
January 21, 2013, 3:25 pm
Hi Timothy,
Your first step should be to identify the source of the moisture. Today it’s very cold outside and most houses don’t have any snow left on the roof, so this is most likely the result of frost in your attic. I don’t know how you could possibly identify this without removing drywall.
Bob Wilson
January 25, 2013, 7:07 pm
I have about 55 Juno IC AT can lights in my house in Alaska and what a dope the guy was who built this house not to mention the dope/me who bought it. I have HUGE issues with Ice Damming and Leaking that I just want to walk away from. I tried the so called Air tight seals from Juno–that was a waste of money. Another one is to use CFL bulbs…if the fixture leaks then it leaks–period. I m truly at a loss and really dont have the energy to crawl around in a low attic building toys boxes to place over 55 fixtures. I feel like suing Juno and my local building code people, these lights should never be installed.
Julio
February 15, 2013, 5:59 pm
I am replacing the lights on the first and second floor of my house with recessed lights. I’m using IC rated Airtight housings (http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/202707602?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=h5ricat6pk&storeId=10051&N=5yc1v&R=202707602#more_info) with LED lights. I was thinking about using a radiant barrier (http://greenjeansinsulation.com/2010/06/the-insulator/) around the canisters in order to insulate them. What’s your opinion on this?
Reuben Saltzman
February 18, 2013, 4:53 am
Julio – I’m guessing the radiant barrier would be nearly useless.
Debbie
February 22, 2013, 5:01 pm
why not use ICAT recessed lights?
or promote products like air tight inserts
that internally seal leakage from attic
into living space?
get brand name of recessed light & model
number. go to mfg and search for
air tight insert/baffle/trim.
much better than building boxes..which works
fine with proper clearance…but sealing them to attic floor
with great stuff…come on!
and if you don’t know…don’t speculate.
fire hazard
Reuben Saltzman
February 22, 2013, 8:38 pm
Debbie – ICAT recessed lights will only stop air leakage; not heat transfer to the attic space.
Kim
April 18, 2013, 10:39 am
We are about to ‘renovate’ our two garages (one original, one an add on) that are both below living space. We plan to use spray foam in the garage ceiling due to the cold floors in the winter and to give us an air tight seal and then cover with fire-rated drywall. The ceilings are very low and the electrician who installed our new panel suggested we use recessed lighting in the garages. Assuming the use of IC rated lights so that the spray foam can go all around them, is this allowed or does it violate breaking the fire/thermal barrier due to the cut out needed for the light?
Reuben Saltzman
April 18, 2013, 2:26 pm
Kim – you would do well to check with the local authority having jurisdiction, but the consensus I’ve received from other inspectors on this matter is no. This would not violate the fire separation wall.
LT Dupre
May 14, 2013, 3:32 pm
I have an office in Louisiana (no ice damming to worry about here). My law partner won’t let me leave three can lights in our foyer because he was told twenty years ago that if there is any insulation touching the top of the can, that it could combust. Our cans are not airtight but our office is less than ten years old. Is there a risk to leaving the lights on overnight (looks great from the road at night)?
Reuben Saltzman
May 14, 2013, 6:06 pm
The risk is probably quite minimal. If there’s a concern, install LED bulbs. They create far less heat. If you’re going to be leaving them on overnight, you should do that anyways.
eddie gonzales
May 18, 2013, 11:30 am
no need to build a styro-foam box, just go to walmart and buy an inexpensive styro-foam ice cooler,,,just the right size….done
dalton
May 18, 2013, 5:10 pm
You might want to see if the Styrofoam ice coolers are flammable first …before placing them over your hot light boxes. Great idea if their flame resistant.
louieg
May 22, 2013, 2:58 pm
You provide a great alternative for the invasion of or escape of energy. keep in mind that LEDs do produce heat. Many use heat sinks to remove the heat.This heat if accumulated can cause damage( premature failure of the electronic circuitry. I suspect that if higher/longer stacks were provided then heat accumulation would be more minimal. I plan to use your solution to air infiltration but enlarge the box.