Had an electrician put lighting into my media room (was the Den). He put in 4 pot lights (6 in) at 18in from the wall. We purchased the 65W equivalent LED Recessed Light Kits (retrofit) at 3000k white. With only 1 installed, found them way too bright. at “11 watts” I feel I need 4-6 Watt.
I did order one of the new GE dimmable’s that work with all lighting types… so here comes my question. What are people doing in equivalent situations? I see Cree has a 40W equivalent , and I (believe) I can get the Satin Nickel Matte Baffle Trim which gives me the same look, at least 25W equivalent softer… Though I was hoping to try and find a roughly 30W equivalent… Does anyone have suggestions? Am I thinking about this properly? I will admit, the Nickel trim looked amazing, and I look forward to it if I can maintain that look…
Suggestions? I intend to buy new bulbs (LED, or what-have-you) tomorrow.
I use the GE Link BR30 in my hallways, some rooms I use the flat hues but in areas with lots of lights like my kitchen I use these TCP dumb bulbs: (I love them)
They get very bright but work awesome with a dimmer and I set dim levels on turnon. When dimmed to 40-60 % you get a nice warm light. Also I have had no flicker at any dim setting which is a turnoff for some LEDs. I like this setup because the group is much easier to dim evenly in groups compared to multiple smart bulbs.
BTW I use this dimmer and they work great together:
Thanks. Yeah, that is the same switch I ordered. This will be my first dimmable, but for a media room, I think it is a must.
Thanks for the bulb recommendation. It more or less confirmed that for my application the LED bulbs will be best. Would be curious to see how others are accomplishing this same task, but greatly appreciate it @Ders
I ended up trying a 40W equivalent (6W) Cree light bulb with shower trim, to me that was borderline perfect lighting. So, I agree with you. the 40-60% is what I am looking for. Too bad I couldn’t find a retrofit recessed LED at 40-50W equivalency…
Is there a way to program the GE switch for manual “ON” at 50-60%? I don’t have a dimmer, and am not completely sure how they function. (Good news is I will have mine sometime tomorrow).
I think the bigger problem is that 3000k is too harsh for a living space. I recommend getting a 2700k (soft white) retrofit kit. Even at the same wattage, it will be easier on your eyes.
Interesting, that is worth trying out. I will try that out. The 40W equivalent is 2700 as well, so it may be less the wattage, and more the color that is my issue. Very interesting…
The GE dimmer will return to its last setting when you turn it on, so there’s no need to program it.
Btw, some LEDs won’t turn on with less than 5% power. So if someone dims the lights <5% before turning them off, it might seem like the switch doesn’t work when you turn it back on.
