Any Electricians: Replacing Halogen puck lights with LED

[Holladay]

I am looking at replacing 50 halogen lights with LED. I installed the halogen pucks 10 yrs ago. The transformers are buried under the ceilings, thus hard to access. They are in my kitchen/mancave/mud room/ cellar...bout everywhere.

The halogens are bright, rheostat workable, expensive to replace ($5/bulb), not energy efficient and don't have a long life vs the LED.

I need to replace 25 bulbs. I am looking at:



LE LED Under Cabinet Lighting Kit, 510lm Puck Lights, Under Counter Lighting, 3000K Warm White, All Accessories Included, Kitchen Lighting, Closet Light, Set of 3

My question is that since all the halogen transformers are buried, can I buy the LED puck and connect them into the wires from the halogen light wires?

The halogen transformers are 120v. Most have 6 x 20 watt bulbs (T-3). Some are 3 x 40 watt.

Can I just replace the light fixtures? Does the halogen light wire connector match the LED wire connector have the same plug in to use the same buried transformer? If the connections don't match, can I direct wire..cut the connectors off and use wire nuts. I live in the country and no codes, but want to be safe.

If I have to replace the transformers, that will royally suck. I will have to tear out a bunch of ceilings to access them

Advice?

The Chiefs Planet will come through AGAIN.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Mine are all 6" recessed can lights so I think I'll just go with these LED's, which will fit perfectly and not require a new fixture.

http://www.superiorlighting.com/LED_...4E26P3030KFLND

I think you'd like the look of BR30s better

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

I think you'd like the look of BR30s better

The only problem with those that I can tell is that they're "frosted", which makes the house considerably darker.

[Holladay]

I just recieved the bulbs today. I will install them this weekend.

[ping2000]

Just call the man!

[Pop Alexandra]

How did it go? Is it worthwhile to install puck lights or should I get the basic ones?

[Dunerdr]

Worth it.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

Worth it.

I've never done it with a fixture, but I've bought some crappy LED bulbs that don't last worth a ****.

IMO I'd buy a reputable brand. I'm doing it with bulbs, and I'd damn sure do it with a fixture.

[Holladay]

Not so well. I just replaced the bulbs with LED, not the hole unit. Thus I still have the ballast. I did some reading saying you need some resistance for the ballast to register so with the 4 light puck lights in series, 1 bulb needs to be a regular bulb. If I could eliminate the ballast, I think I would be fine.

My main problem is that the whole unit is buried within my bar overhang. I need to rip out the whole underside for access.

[Dunerdr]

I'm an electrician, its always worth it to just do the whole thing. The conversion bulbs are garbage. I'm facility maintenance at search bar data center. We've installed probably 5k+ t5 and t8 conversions. The ones that get gutted and the ballast removed usually last. The ones that still have a ballast in them usually either kill the ballast or the lamp doesn't last. IMO the lamps aren't lasting long enough to justify the cost vs regular. The actual true LED fixtures we have rarely have any issues. We have done maybe 50 driver changes in 5 years on the 2k ish true and actual led fixtures. The are much more reliable.