Recessed lights provide fine lighting in a room. In addition, they are nicely concealed in a suspended ceiling. But what should you do if such a lighting no longer works? In this blog, we explain how to replace recessed lighting.
Safety above all else
Good news: replacing recessed lighting is not difficult. However, since you will be working with electricity, it can be dangerous. The first step is therefore very important and should not be skipped!
Turn off the power before replacing the recessed lighting. You do this by looking up the right group in the meter cupboard and turning the switch down. In addition, make sure that the humidity is not high. So postpone this job for a while if someone in the house has just showered.
Supplies
Before you start a job, no matter how big or small it is, it is useful to have everything you need ready. In this case, it’s just a few items. First of all, of course, the new recessed lights, to replace the old ones. In addition, possibly a new transformer, if the old one does not match the new wattage. Furthermore, you only need a screwdriver with a flat head, or possibly an electrical tester.
How To Replace Recessed Lighting: Instructions
Below we will explain step by step how replacing a recessed lighting works:
Step 1
Remove the existing recessed lighting that needs to be replaced from the hole. Take a good look at the recessed lighting to see if there is a ring on the light. In that case, all you have to do is remove this ring and then the lighting with the fitting will hang out of the hole. You can remove the ring with a screwdriver. Keep it well, because you will need it again later.
Is there not such a ring on the lamp of the recessed lighting? Then try to get under the edge of the lighting with your fingers and gently move it down. Is this not working well? Then you can possibly make a start with the screwdriver. Be careful to avoid damaging the ceiling.
Step 2
Do you have a recessed lighting with a ring? Then you just have to remove the fitting from the lighting and replace it. You can skip step 3 in this case. With complete lighting, the wires must be disconnected. You do this by opening the screws with the screwdriver or electrical tester. As a result, they get less and less stuck, until you can take them out completely.
Step 3
Read the instructions for the recessed lighting carefully and connect the brown or black and blue wires to the lighting according to the wiring diagram. Tighten the screws again to secure the wires.
Step 4
Test now whether the lighting works properly. This way you can be sure that they will do well before you have completely concealed them again. That saves a lot of hassle!
Step 5
Place the recessed lighting back in the hole. How to do this depends on the type of recessed lighting you have. In the case of the lighting with a ring, this is done as follows: push the lighting back into the spot and at the same time also place the ring back. In the case of a complete recessed lighting with springs, it is slightly simpler. Simply retract the springs and place the new recessed lighting in the hole.
Replacing halogen recessed lighting with LED
It is possible that there are halogen lamps in your room. It is smart to immediately replace them with LED lighting when these are broken. LED lightings are slightly more expensive to purchase but pay for themselves in no time because they are much more economical. The easiest way is to choose an LED lamp with the same type of fitting as the original halogen lamp. This makes installing the new lighting so easy.
Note: if the new LED lighting starts to flicker, the transformer may also need to be replaced. Add the wattage of all the lamps together to check whether the current transformer is still suitable or whether you need a new transformer. The transformer itself indicates which wattages the transformer can handle.
How many lumens when replacing halogen recessed lighting?
Do you want the same brightness as before? Then do not look at the wattage of the old lamp. Because an LED lamp is on average 10 times more economical, a 60 Watt ‘old’ lamp can be equal to an LED lamp of only 6 Watt. Instead of the wattage of a lamp, look at the number of lumens. Lumen indicates the light output of the lamp.
In a recessed lighting, the light is brighter than in regular lighting. A recessed lighting, therefore, needs to have fewer lumens for the same effect. The following rules of thumb apply to recessed lightings: to replace a 35 Watt halogen recessed lighting you need about 250 lumens. For a 50 Watt halogen recessed lighting, this is about 350 to 400 lumens.
