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Installing WAC I Can't Believe It's Not Recessed Lighting - Mary Anna Jefcoat
Before i dive into the WAC I Can’t Believe It’s Not Recessed light fixtures, i’m going to share a little bit of my light fixture back story and information on LED’s. I have been gradually replacing light fixtures in my home for almost three years. Paint and light fixtures are two huge ways to update your home, and those are tasks you can often do yourself (save $$$). I am not an electrician, but I did teach myself how to replace light fixtures and switches. Typically instructions are going to be included when you buy a new fixture, and there are countless tutorials on YouTube and other blogs. I did include a video of me installing one of my new WAC recessed look-a-like fixtures. Like i said, i’m not an electrician so if you don’t really understand what you’re doing then don’t do it. Now let’s talk about LED’s. My home was built before LED’s were a staple and all of my fixtures were outdated. I wanted all of my new fixtures to have LED bulbs because of the amount of energy they save. You can just replace your current incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs if you like your fixture, but in my case I didn’t like any of the fixtures. As i started replacing fixtures i was blown away at the difference the LED’s made. I didn’t realize i had been living in the dark! Haha. Now, there are different LED “shades” aka Kelvins (K). A soft white is going to be more yellow (2200k-2700k), and a bright white or cool white is going to be more blue/white in color (3000k-5000k). Be mindful of this when purchasing bulbs or fixtures. My new ceiling fans came with LED bulbs. For reference, the fan came with two bulbs and they are 6.5W 3000k. They light up a 10×10 bedroom perfectly and i like the “shade/color” they give off. I prefer a cooler/brighter white because i can see so much better and pictures don’t appear yellow. For a lamp or a bedroom you may prefer something more warm. OK, now the part i’m excited about! I had the old brass globe lights in two hallways, a bathroom, a closet, and laundry room. My ceilings are only 8 ft. tall so I didn’t want to go back with another globe light. I wanted something clean and non-distracting to the eye to not make the ceilings appear any lower. Because I am trying to do most of the work myself, I have to keep the electrical work as simple as possible. Instead of having to remove the box in the ceiling that houses the wires behind the fixture, I only had to connect the existing wires to the new WAC fixtures (the same way you install any other light fixture). They have a couple of different styles but the one i went with is called “WAC Lighting I Can’t Believe It’s Not Recessed 8″ Wide LED Flush Mount Ceiling Fixture – 3000K & 1050
Mary Anna Jefcoat