Opinions wanted, Jenco slim panel LED lights, 18 for $99!?

Usually when it comes to pot lights, if you save on material, it'll cost more on labour as you're fooling around with them more. Which is fine if you're a homeowner with extra time on your hands but not if you're paying someone. I would sooner buy it from an electrical wholesaler.

Depending where you are in Toronto OP the same cheap pots are carried by Zion in Scarborough.

Zamboni wrote: ↑ Depending where you are in Toronto OP the same cheap pots are carried by Zion in Scarborough.

So are these cheap pots fine? Looks like lots of cheap pots brands are for sale on Kijji and amazon, are they all basically the same? Any idea how these compare to the Trenz units sold at Lowes? These cheap pots are like half the price.

https://www.lowes.ca/recessed-lighting- ... 03946.html

houston

houstondallas wrote: ↑ So are these cheap pots fine? Looks like lots of cheap pots brands are for sale on Kijji and amazon, are they all basically the same? Any idea how these compare to the Trenz units sold at Lowes? These cheap pots are like half the price.

https://www.lowes.ca/recessed-lighting- ... 03946.html

houston

My experience with cheap LED lights is that you may get inconsistent lighting (lumens and colour), and they can be buzzy. Plus later when you try to get a replacement for one that’s died, you may have trouble finding a match.

I’d use them in a basement family room, perhaps. And get a replacement agreement in writing, so you can swap out problem ones. I wouldn’t use them in a “main” room, like a kitchen or main floor living room.

Just my $0.02. I don’t have enough time to do everything I want to do once, much less twice.

C

I've had several LED bulbs die on me, so I'm really hesitant about buying a set of lights with built in leds. There's almost no way to change just the LED since it's on a chip board, and even if you can, the colour temperature of the lights will not match. If you are unable to change the light, then you need to change the entire fixture, in which case in 5 or 6 years good luck finding the exact same fixture. If you do, good luck finding one with your exact lighting output and temperature. For any fixture that I need multiple of or fixture that has multiple bulbs, I'm only buying ones where I can buy a new bulb. The only time I'd use those low profile ones is a retrofit where space is limited and you have to expect the hassle of replacement after premature failure.

The cost for LEDs is dirt cheap, probably even pennies per individual LED. I got 2 meters of LED strips for 10 bucks, each 3 cm segment has 3 LEDs on it. Fixtures have different types that have higher output, but the cost is usually fairly similar if you're looking at actual component cost. I think they're probably still making money on those cheap ones. I believe the majority of the cost comes in the inverter/transformers as you need to convert AC house power to DC power on the LEDs, this is where the buzzing or ringing parts comes in. Cheaper ones will make more noise. Also need to be careful of these cheap ones maybe faking the certifications for safety on the AC side of it, that's only my suspicion though. DC side you're only looking at 5-12 volts and super low current so I wouldn't expect that to be as big of a fire risk as a shitty inverter.