SIMPLE & SUBTLE:
Sometimes it’s the small details that really make a project. These small aperture LED recessed lights are plastered in place and virtually disappear into the ceiling. As if you can’t tell, all of these shots were taken prior to painting, it’s just bare spackle and drywall; once painted, the fixtures become nearly invisible. This particular product is the Sliver LED manufactured by USAI Lighting. Click here for photographs of the finished project.
THE DOWN LOW:
Our electrician & drywall contractor would definitely say the install side of this product would qualify as a super PITA. Forget about the spackle shield! They soak up the moisture from the mud and quickly become worthless as they warp and fall out of the fixtures. The easier tactic was to go about the mud job without the shields in place and simply scrape out the excess mud when complete. All-in-all; after a hefty learning curve the install came out great.
LAMPING:
Finally; lamping these puppies has been interesting as I chose to use some new LED MR16s from Soraa. The new LED lamping is now equal to or better than just about any type of traditional light source that you can imagine [IMHO]. Normally in the past, I would lamp these fixtures with halogen MR16s for the brightness and crisp white light that they produce. The new LED stuff gives you the same brightness and crispness with many color temperature choices, without the tremendous heat generated by a halogen bulb. There is virtually no difference in the quality of light over conventional halogen at a fraction of the wattage. Not to mention the fact that the bulb life ratings are multiple times greater than halogen. Love it