Recessed LED lights going off & on
I just had cellulose insulation blown into the interior 2nd floor ceiling.
They went up to my third floor, pulled up some carpet all through the third floor, pulled up a board in each room, and blew insulation in to fill the space and create a heating envelope.
All is good EXCEPT a few recessed lights on the second floor ceiling now go off (intermittently)
The only thing I can figure is maybe the cellulose is not allowing the top of the lights enough air to cool down, and that somehow that is causing the lights to shut off.
Someone told me they might have thermostats in them to that effect.
In any case, now that everything has been re-attached, what can I do?
Can i just pull the fixture down, and clean out enough cellulose to remedy the situation?
or Will these lights continue to be a problem?
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Replies
I know this isn't the point of your question, but why are you insulating *between* a second and third floor? Is the third floor not conditioned?
Some led lights say they can handle direct insulation contact. Do you know the brand or at least the style? Slim led (canless) lights might be a replacement option.
Conventional IC fixtures (rated for contact with insulation), do have self-resetting thermostats in them that could do what you describe. By “conventional” here i me a regular recessed cans that have replaceable bulbs. I’ve never looked into other types of recessed fixtures to see if they have thermostats too, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they do.
If your lights operate normally for a while after you first turn them on, then start to shut off randomly, that would make me suspect they’re overheating. If the random on/off cycling starts right away, before they’ve had a chance to heat up, then I’d suspect something else, possibly loose connections.
I don’t see a problem with you clearing some cellulose out from around the the fixtures to help with cooling. I’d try this with only one or two lights first, then see if it improves things. If the lights work normally after clearing some of the cellulose, then you know it helps and can do the same thing with the other problematic lights.
If you have a different kind of recessed light with a separate ballast, note the ballast might be the thing overheating and not the light fixture. These can be separate devices with some fixtures.
Bill
First thing to look at is whether the lights are overheating and thermostatically shutting off, then turning back on again when they cool. Sometimes a lower-wattage bulb solves this.
I had a similar problem, when we reinsulated, I used Tenmat covers around recessed lighting before blowing insulation. https://www.tenmatusa.com/insulation-protection-covers/ff130e-recessed-light-draft-stop-cover/?msclkid=9e7c47be5fcf140a09c623463133f569&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=WC%20%7C%20Search%20%7C%20Brand&utm_term=tenmat%20recessed%20light%20cover&utm_content=WC%20%7C%20Tenmat%20Recessed%20Light%20Covers.
Blinking on and off is a common failure mode for the power supplies built into the screw in lamps.
Trying different lamps is a good idea look for lamps that make over 100 lumens per Watt they will make more light and less heat and consider lower wattage lamps.
It might be interesting to know how warm it gets inside the light fixture.
Walta
What type of bulbs are you running in the fixtures?