- How to Change a CFL recessed lighting fixture to a LED
At the condo that I reside in we have recessed lighting using the HALO H272ICAT housing with 4 pin compact florescent bulbs. They are slow to warm up to full brightness and unsightly to look at. This blog will show the process of swapping out parts of the H272ICAT with parts from the HALO H-7ICAT recessed lighting assembly so you can retrofit with standard bulbs, or as I did LEDs.
Step 0: TURN OFF THE BREAKER to the lamps. Shocks are not fun and electrocution is worse
Step 1: Take your last look at an unsightly CFL bulb
Step 2: Remove the trim by pulling it down. Different trims are attached with different mechanisms. They may also be stuck to the paint so you may need to cut around the edges if its been there for a long time.
Step 3: Once the trim has been removed you can hold the base of the bulb connector and remove the bulb.
Step 4: you can confirm the type of housing you have by reading the label. You can see from the top that this model is the HALO H272ICAT
Step 5: There are 3 sheet metal screws holding the can to the assembly attached to the ceiling. Remove the 3 screws. it is small area you may need a angled screw driver or you can use a 5/16 inch ratchet
NOTE: I used a CRAFTSMAN wratchet to remove the screws.
Step 6: Once you have removed the three screws, you can pull and twist the can until it comes out of the ceiling. it has the metal conduit still attached holding the wires and it will not fall to the floor.
Step 7: You now have access to the junction box with the wiring. At right is a metal tab. if you push it down and out it will release the metal door
Step 8: You can now see the exposed wire. in my box you can see the balast wires which are red, blue, white and black and the 120V main line wires which are white and black. It looks like they stringed together multiple lights so I have two sets of 120V wires. The ground wires are green. The green ground wires can be used as is, so do not remove them or take off the wire cap.
Step 9: Looking at the previous photo, you can pinch with a needle nose plyers inside the junction box to release the metal coaxial cable holding the can to the junction box. it will come off easily. in the photo below you can see the metal fins which i pinched to release.
Step 10: Remove the new can from the HALO H-7ICAT. Follow the same steps as above to remove the screws, open the junction box, pinch to remove the cable.
Inside of the HALO H-7ICAT; you can see it will take a standard 120V bulb
Step 11: You will need to cut the factory installed wire connectors since they will not fit through the junction box cut out. Once you cut them off, you can pull the wires through and release the can.
Step 12: now bring the can to the ceiling, pull the wires into the junction box and push the metal cable in until the fins click. The can can now hang from the ceiling.
Step 13: AGAIN MAKE SURE BREAKER IS STILL OFF. Remove all the wires from the wire caps by twisting the caps off and pulling the wires free. I cut the wires from the ballast at this time since I was not going to use them again. Note the green ground wires are kept as is and not removed. Group the white and black wires together so its easier to assemble them later.
Step 14: if you are lazy like me, use the push in wire connectors so you dont have to twist the wires into a cap. However, I found I needed pliers to push the cables in so have one handy.
Step 15: Once all the wires are pushed into the caps, pus the wires into the junction box so you can close the metal plate later. Not shown, this is a good time to test to make sure your wires are connected and everything is working. I turned on the breaker and put in a regular CFL light. if it lights up everything is good to go.
Step 16: replace the metal junction box cover. You can now push the can in, align the long screw slots with the three screw holes in the housing. Now secure the can with the three original screws removed from the old can.
Note: Here is the LED replacement kit I purchased from the home depot. It contains the trim, the LED light, and the adapter kit to use with a regular bulb socket.
Note: Here you can see the unboxed LED unit with the orange LED connector and the adapter to the right
NOTE: The back of the LED unit where you can see its housing and parts.
Step 17: Screw the adapter in the HALO H-7ICAT then bring up the LED trim and push the two orange connectors together. If you look at the picture above you can see the metal springs that are used to secure the LED trim to the HALO can. Just squeeze them until they fit and push the unit in. Below you can see the final LED trim installed.
Step 18: you are done. turn on the power and enjoy your new instant on and dimable LED.
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