Cree (LLF) LR6 6 in. Dimmable LED Downlight Reviews

I had the opportunity to test out this light very briefly thanks to Vinnie at Ferguson. The light appears to be extremely well constructed, on par with other high end LED's.

 

The genius or achilles heal of this light , depending on which side your on, is that it replaces your entire recessed light baffle and trim kit (its plain white on this light). I assume this was to allow the manufacturer to get the actual light emitting portion closer to the edge of the recess (but I'm just spit balling). This wouldn't bother me, but if you are partial to black baffles or a fancy gold trim kit, you'll have to go with out.

 

The light and heatsink are huge, especially compared to a standard LED floodlight. On the back of the unit, it has 3 fins that can be folded out to help secure it in the recessed light can (they seemed pretty sturdy).

 

I tested this light in a normal receptacle, not in a recessed light can, but this still allowed me to assess the color temp and fill capability. Its rated at 2700k and I'd say thats pretty accurate. Its has that warm glow you'd expect from an incandescent bulb, not that harsh blue hue you get from some cheaper LED's. The light seemed to "flood" really well, emitting a good blanket of light.

 

I only had about 5 minutes with this light and was testing it in my garage, not in the home, but based on the color temp and construction and compared to other LED floodlights, I'd say this is a pretty good LED solution if you are looking to spend the money. The rep said they sale for around $90. If I were to make the LED investment, this would probably be the light I'd go with. That said, $90 is a little high for me (I have 32 recessed light cans), so I'll have to wait for the cost to drop a bit.

I purchased the Home Depot Eco Options version of the bulb. When dimmed the light looks and dims the same as an incandescent. Instant brightness, no warm up period for full light intensity. Full brightness does give the effect that a skylight has been installed.

I have 7 of these in the kitchen ceiling. A dimmer is a definite plus as the light is very bright at full wattage. The light distribution is extremely even. As an added bonus the recessed lights look so much better with the trim and full glass insert. No unsightly bulb to look at in the housing.

I had previously used 14 watt (65 watt equivalent) dimmable fluorescent bulb in the cans. The light from the led unit is much brighter.

 

 

Installation is simple. Just pull down the trim unit on your recessed lighting. Unclip the "hood" from the porcelain bulb holder(socket) mine had 2 clips to push in. Screw the module in the bulb socket and push the unit back into the ceiling. Removal is simple. Just twist the unit counter clockwise and pull down. The unit is then ready to remove, just like a conventional light bulb.

 

In July I installed one above the bath tub and one above the shower stall. Wow! the tile and glass have come to life. The light adds a sparkle to the glass and tile. We feel like we are in a showroom now. The tile and glass always had a grey look to it. The light quality from this has really enhanced the bathroom.

 

I wish I had more recessed lights to put this unit in.

 

 

I bought 15 of these lights and I'm very happy with them. There are really NO drawbacks  other than the initial capital outlay. Even with the current cost, you will save over $300 per bulb over 20 years (the effective lifespan of the product) in just electricity costs alone (assuming your kw/h cost stays the same over 20 years; it will no doubtedly go up though). This doesn't include using less of your AC because the bulbs give off less heat, or your time and auto costs going to the store to buy 10-20 replacement bulbs, dragging out the ladder and replacing them. To me, this is worth thousands of dollars over 20 years. Also, even after 20 years, the bulb will just be 70% the brightness of when you bought it. That's how the lifespan of LED lights are rated. The bulbs are solid state, dropping them won't hurt them. They take about 5 minutes per bulb to install. The lighting quality is EXCELLENT! This is a totally different animal than most LED products the majority of the public has seen. This is a single super bright LED chip with a high quality optical lense to diffuse the light. These bulbs also contain no harmful and toxic chemicals when you dispose of them, unlike CFL. Also, the lifespan ratings on CFL's are total BS. They probably only last half of their rating. These bulbs can be dimmed, but only to about 25-35% brightness and unlike the other review, I can dim a single light just fine. I only wish they made these in swivel mounts for my high angled ceilings.

I bought 6 of these bulbs for my kitchen back before LLF was bought by Cree. Installed them and was amazed. I did not like my incadescent kitchen lights...too wasteful. Tried CFLs, but quality of light was poor and they gave me headaches. I am sensitive to light for some reason (get migraines). But used these guys and it doesn't matter how bright I set them, I do not get headaches any longer. they offer an excellent spectrum of light. I got the RC6 2700 wavelength version. They are easy to install and worth the high price. Although, they are now around $88 a peice online now... getting better. But would never trade them in. Have them all setup on dimmer and they work nicely. Uniformly dim.

This  gives off great light, better by a little than the best cfl. Its is just too expensive at the time. It is also significantly brighter than the 65 watt br30 that it replaced.Since it the only light on a circuit, it does not draw enough electricity to use a dimmer.. update- they are down to $81.
next update- price down to $72.00, still not cheap, but I am biting again. Bought 4 more as we love the one we have. It gives off no discernable heat , Nice in the summer. My wife used to crank up the AC in the kitchen and a large part of that was the recessed lights. Payback time is now under 3 years even without the AC part of the equation. Will it last 20 years. I would even be happy with 10, by then we will probably have 4 watt leds as apposed to this 10 watt.

as an addendum to my earlies review, It will dim as a only light on 1 circuit. Thanks diddler for the info, I only wish Cree had given me the same in my email conversations with them. Light is now perfect, but for price. I am sure it will come down as all new technologies do and I will be on it for all of my recessed lighting.

Got these at the Home Depot to replace incandescent floods in my kitchen.  I am so pleased that I will continue to use these to replace floods as they burn out in my home.  The light is very pleasing not blue at all.  It great to be able to have enough light again...CFLs were so dim.

Just installed the first of these last night - took about 15 minutes.  You have to remove the existing trim and undo the bracket inside the can that has the light socket.  Then you fasten the grounding wire frmo the luminaire to the inside of the metal can, extend the 3 retaining tabs, screw it into the light socket, and press the luminaire into place.

 

Easy install.  Next one will take under 10 minutes.  IF my adoring wife lets me put any more in!

 

She doesn't like how bright they are, and she doesn't like to use dimmers.  Argh.  She admits that the light they put out is very nice, and that our existing incandescents are much yellower.  But she finds that the brighter, whiter light from the LR6s (2700k version) looks too industrial.  For the same reason, she hates halogen lights, whether low-voltage or screw-in bulbs.  Argh.  I have gotten away with replacing the incandescents in our hallway sconces and in several ceiling fans with Xenon or Krypton (I forget which) bulbs which give more light for the same wattage.  I have halogen 60W PAR-38s in my office, and she has not yet made me take them out.

 

And did I mention these are bright?  We have 10-foot ceilings, and the builder put in 85-W incandescents.  The LR6 is noticeably brighter.  I know, maybe not in terms of actual lumen output, because maybe my eyes are more sensitive to the spectrum the LR6 puts out or something, but bottom line, the LR6 is brighter than our 85W incandescents.

 

I would love to replace all 14 bulbs in our family room and kitchen (8 on one circuit, 6 on another) but if I have to choose between the loving compansionship of my wife or these sexy LR6s, the LR6s will have to go.  I have not yet broken the news to her that they cost $80 per fixture.

 

At first I had visions of putting these into all 50 or so can lights throughout the house over the next year.  That's not going to happen.  Probably 25-30 of those lights are on no more than 2 hours/day, tops.  That puts the break-even point at something like 13 years (discounting the A/C savings), instead of the 3-4 years for the family room and kitchen.

 

At $80/fixture, I might be able to put these in high-use areas.  Negotiations continue.  (WAF = Wife Acceptance Factor)

 Hi  guys , want to welcome back to planet sanity,$90 bucks for a light bulb?com-mon lets get serious.
while I applaud companies like Cree et al for their advancement in this field We need to scale back by a factor of 10 before any of this stuff makes any kind of fiscal sense...Please dont give me the old" but they will last 20 yrs and I be giving them  to my children argument. right now we are jamming a bunch of newly designed LEDs into as small a package as possible and shoving as much power as they can take to get those big lumens (er sales) 
The only guys that should be exited about buying these things should ex pentagon procurement guys who bought the $90 hammers and $2500 toilet seats .
So in closing if you wish to be an early adopter,on the bleeding financial edge thats great, but just remember guys its just alight bulb ...