The Gadgeteer recently showed you how to easily change your downlights into pendant lights without hiring an electrician.  Today, we’ve found another way update the look of your recessed lights.  Sky Mall is offering Recessed Light Covers in a variety of styles from modern to traditional.  These Recessed Light Covers snap into place over your existing recessed lights.  Simply slide in the inner can with clips to hold it in place, then attach the glass insert and detailed steel outer ring.  The inner diameter is 7″, outer diameter is 8.5″ .  The Recessed Light Covers are $34.99 each at Sky Mall.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: DIY, Home Improvements, Home lighting

Another Way to Change the Look of Recessed Downlights originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 6, 2010 at 12:51 pm.

I reviewed an earlier model of the AirFlow Breeze and was not greatly impressed, but the addition of a temperature sensor in the ‘Ultra’ model makes a big difference. Let’s take a look.

Airflow Technology’s Breeze Ultra is a unit you place in a floor, wall, or ceiling vent then plug in to help move more air. Because it has a temperature sensor, it only comes on when the furnace or air conditioner is on, and you can set the temps that turn it back off.

It uses 2 low-voltage fans (bigger than, but similar to what you would find in a computer) to move the air relatively quietly. It claims 32-35 decibels, the level of a ‘soft whisper’. I am not sure it is that quiet- you can hear them running from several rooms away, but it is a much softer noise than the other Breeze I tried. According to the website, they cost less than $5 a year to operate, which seems reasonable.

Unit in use. A better cord path would be nice.

Installation is similar to the other Breeze, but it only comes in one faceplate size (almost 8 x 14″). The screw holes are still not pre-drilled (this time this makes some sense since it offers 2 hole options) and it still uses your old screws (yuck). You plug in the power jack through the face plate and adjust the length of cord you want to leave out (a nice touch) and seal the hole with a plug. It also includes a blank plug if you can plug it into AC from the back.

Once plugged in, you program the settings using the included remote. Programming is easy and well-explained. I do rather wish that you did not need the remote- that the main buttons were available on the unit, but I suppose that would be tricky if it were floor or high mounted. The remote is small and well-labeled.

Small remote

LEDs show mode (nicely color-coded for heat, cool, and fan only), fan speed, and the pre-set temperature to turn off at. The unit turns on when it senses the heat or a/c on, and you tell it when to turn off. I wish the display showed what temperature it was now instead. The LEDs are rather bright and I covered them with masking tape. After all, I saw what I set it to and can hear when it is on, so they are not telling me much useful and I already have enough LEDs shining in my house.

So… after not being impressed with the non-Ultra Breeze, how’d this one work?

Significantly better. This time, it was heating instead of cooling and this time I felt OK letting it run for several days unattended since it was not going to be blowing cold air all of the time. The room feels more comfortable… not by a ton, but it definitely seems to have taken the ‘chill’ out of the air. My favorite seat is next to a leaky old front door we have struggled to seal for years and I generally need a jacket and blanket to be comfy. With the Ultra running, I can omit one of those. My wife sits in a naturally warmer (but not ‘warm’) part of the room and feels a difference as well.

Would I pay $89.95 for the differences? I think it is cheaper than raising the temps a few degrees for a season, but I think other options would give our particular situation more ‘bang for the buck’. I suspect the results would be more significant in a better insulated home than in our old drafty place.

Bottom line- we have a lot of options to help stretch our heating and cooling dollars, and you have to find the ones that work for you. The AirFlow Technologies Breeze Ultra will make a big difference in a lot of situations.

Filed in categories: Home Tech, Reviews

Tagged: Home Improvements, HVAC

AirFlow Breeze Ultra Register Fan Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 28, 2010 at 10:51 am.

I do my best to be a steward of the environment through recycling, reusing, composting, minimizing fuel and electricity use when ever possible. As the story goes, this past year we purchased a new home in need of much updating and remodeling. My wife and I have taken it upon ourselves to integrate as much energy efficiency as we can into each remodeling effort. Our most recent home improvement project involved the complete gutting and redesigning of our kitchen area. Along with buying Energy Star appliances, installing a mountain of insulation, sealing every nook & cranny; we researched the most environmentally sound and energy efficient lighting technology available. Other than sunlight, the new LED technologies win hands down when compared to incandescent and compact fluorescent lights.

There are many LED bulbs available to retrofit a typical recessed (canned) light but only one (that I could find) that manufactures a true LED recessed light.  The engineers at Juno have created a very well made light called the ‘Juno LED Downlight‘.  Juno’s Downlight is the best made canned light I have ever seen and integrates several very high-tech features as well. And while these Juno LED lights are not a true gadget, LED lighting is a great use of new technologies to reduces your carbon footprint and electrical bills in the process.

The Downlight is available in five and six inch housings and each size comes in new construction and remodel styles. Historically, the retrofit LED option did not provide enough light output and generated a good deal of heat.

Juno has incorporated the latest generation Nichia high lumen LED light engines into the Downlight. Each size and style comes in three ‘flavors’ of light, 3000k, 3500k, and 4100k. These numbers are the temperature of the light itself. The lower the temperature the ‘warmer’ the light the LED gives off. The 4100k LED’s give off a much purer white light that I have read many think is too harsh. We went with the 3000k, 6 inch new construction Downlights and the lighting they produce is just what my wife and I were hoping for.

Installation of the Juno LED Downlight is no different that any other recessed lighting. My electrical buddy installed them quickly and easily.

The only thing I was surprised about, is a one second (or there a bouts) delay between the flipping of the switch and the light coming on. I believe the delay is from the capacitor charging. One of the great features of the Downlight is that it can be controlled by a standard dimmer switch (something most retrofit LED bulbs cannot do).

The cast aluminum heat sink is integrated directly into the housing providing excellent heat management/dissipation to ensure the long life of the LED and can be completely covered with insulation. The housing is engineered for use in IC (insulated ceiling) or non-IC construction and the .032” thick aluminum housing sealed for Air-Loc compliance. The LED is rated for at least 50,000 hours of use and produces 600 lumens using a mere 14 watts of energy. The point is that these and other LED based products use a tiny fraction of the energy and last several orders of magnitude longer than an equivalent incandescent light.

The Juno LED Downlight produces an excellent light, will last long after I am dead and gone, and use very little energy along the way (remember, every little bit helps ). However, I have to admit these lights are not cheap. Actually they are the most expensive recessed light I have ever purchased/seen. The cost of the Downlight at your average lighting store is over $200. But even at this high dollar price tag, these LED lights are in very high demand. At the time, I bought the last case of new construction 6″ 3000k in my end of town.

Filed in categories: Home Tech

Tagged: Green, Home Improvements, LED

Juno LED Downlight (aka recessed canned light) Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 2, 2009 at 2:30 am.