FF130E Recessed Light Cover

These things are an amazing solution to prevent heat loss from unsealed recessed lighting cans. Now before you start staring wishfully at your ceiling you should appreciate that the ceiling needs to be removed and you must have sufficient joist depth above the cans. In my case I have 18" bar joists and was replacing an entire plasterboard ceiling that had been damaged by a leaky roof. These light covers meant I didn't have to replace a half dozen Halo cans to reinstall a tight well insulated ceiling. These covers install remarkably easily. They can be seriously distorted to squash them through tight spaces and still count on them springing open to surround the can -- almost like a thick felt hat The covers are very hard to tear but lend themselves easily to the necessary notching or slitting with a sharp knife. Apart from needing sufficient space over the cans to fit the cover in, there are a few limitations that might interest you: 1. These covers retain heat so ditch the filament light bulbs in favor of CFL or LED -- or you run the risk of melting wiring in the can. 2. Wear eye protection -- preferably goggles. While it's never fun working around insulation, these things seem to shed a fine dust that's a particularly nasty eye irritant. It got behind my conventional safety glasses. Things went smoothly once I washed my eyes and put on a set of goggles with good side protection. 3. Oh yeah, each cover comes in its own plastic bag, The bags are a good size for debris but they have air vent holes that can become maddening leaks for things like sawdust and plaster dust. (Hey, these covers are so good that I'm reaching for even the most trivial "negative"...) All-in-all this is a wonderful well thought out product. Win Wiencke

To reduce expenses and to help protect the environment, in early 2021 our household started taking a number of measures to cut our energy consumption. Those measures have proven successful: total 2021 electricity consumption in our single-family, detached home in the US SE was about 8,000 kWh (3,200 of which was for HVAC), compared to about 11,000 kWh annual average in previous years. [UPDATE on 1/1/23: our total electricity consumption in 2022 dropped even further to just 5,500 kWh (1,600 of which was for HVAC) for the year. We have HALVED our electricity consumption. Huge savings.] We used a Klein Tools TI250 Rechargeable Thermal Imager (www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089QW8R9S) to identify where our home’s protective envelop was weak – places where we were losing heat / allowing cold air inside in the winter and losing cool air / allowing heat inside in the summer. The imager revealed problem areas we had suspected, e.g., around windows and doors. But above all they highlighted an extremely acute problem we hadn’t focused on, namely the 7 recessed lights in our kitchen. In summer, and with those lights off, the thermal imager showed the lights as 7 ultra-bright, fiercely orange circles, though the ceiling all around (under thick insulation) was deep, cool blue. It was ugly, indicating that we had been wasting massive amounts of energy and money for years. After crawling up into the attic, I discovered that those lights, which had been installed by a contractor we had hired over a decade earlier, had absolutely no insulation around them at all. We had failed to do our research in advance and instruct the contractor accordingly. I then discovered that those lights are not IC-rated, meaning that insulation must not come in contact with them, or we’ll have a fire hazard on our hands. Well, lesson learned: if we ever have recessed lights installed in the future, we’ll ensure they are IC-rated. But what to do? After much online research, we settled on these recessed light covers. We purchased one, along with some Great Stuff foam, as a test. After installation, the thermal imager revealed just 6 bright orange circles and one medium-blue (nearly the same color as the surrounding ceiling). We then installed the other six and are very satisfied with their performance in summer and winter. A couple lessons learned from the installation of these light covers: 1) This was an absolutely beastly job during the summer months, when our attack gets really hot. Bad timing. 2) Great Stuff foam works very well for this job, but I wish I had used a foam gun with a long barrel, rather than just spraying from the can. It would have been much easier to get to some of those hard-to-reach areas in that cramped part of the attic, and the application of the foam would have been less wasteful and easier to control. These recessed light covers can be used as described above for bathroom fans installed between ceiling and attic. Here are some other products we purchased at Amazon that we can recommend to those interested in cutting home energy consumption: Aootek solar lights 120 LEDs with lights reflector, 270 degree Wide Angle, IP65 Waterproof, Security Lights for Front Door, Yard, Garage, Deck (4 pack): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NQ4L1SB , as well as Solar Lights Outdoor,WWimy 210 LED 2500LM Motion Sensor Lights with Remote Control, 3 Heads Security LED Flood Lights, IP65 Waterproof, 270° Wide Angle Illumination Wall Lights with 3 Modes (2 Packs): www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08T9F2MM1 Purchased in August 2021, these lights continue to work well here in the SE, saving us over 150 kWh/year. We shared some of these lights with relatives in the North; they also report that their lights are going strong after a rough winter. STATINT Window Film Privacy One Way Daytime Mirror Static Non-Adhesive Solar Glass Film Heat Control: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W3VCZNF Dramatically reduces amount of direct sunlight, gives privacy by day, and protects from shattering. Kuman KW47-US Electricity Usage Monitor Plug Power Watt Voltage Amps Meter with Digital LCD www.amazon.com/Electricity-Monitor-Voltage-Overload-Protection/dp/B07DPJ3RGB Looking back, we can say that purchasing a Usage Monitor Plug has been one of our wisest and most useful moves, and a very inexpensive one at that. AcuRite Wireless Indoor Outdoor Temperature and Humidity Sensor: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T0K8NXC We got two of these to go with our AcuRite weather station. They allow us to monitor temperature and humidity in four places at once: outside, in our living room, in our crawlspace, and in our unfinished attic. Thanks to these readings, we have established a smarter, more energy-efficient way of ventilating our crawlspace. They also helped us see that our attic needed additional ventilation in the roof, prompting us to purchase the following. 4 SEASONS Solar Powered Polycarbonate Vent, Weatherproof Design, Quietly Cools Up to 500 Sq Ft, 400 CFM: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DMSCPJA RYB HOME Room Darkening Patio Door Curtain, Hanging Room Divider Screen Insulated Drapes Privacy Wall Panel: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D32DJ2V , as well as RYB HOME Blackout Curtains & Drapes - Total Privacy Thermal Efficiency Backdrop Curtains for Bedroom Room Divider Vertical Blind Living Room Patio Sliding Glass Door: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077SZRBNJ Grandekor Blackout Window Blinds and Shades Cordless Cellular Shades: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NWBGVL3

I purchased 15 of these for can lights and some in ceiling speakers in my attic. I think they will be pretty effective and its definitely easier than trying to seal all those fixtures up with spray foam. However, I wish they were a little bit larger in size... I found myself using some scraps of extruded polystyrene and spray foam to bolster areas that didn't fit very well. I used spray foam to seal and attach these to the surroundings. I see others have just cut around the electrical, but that wasn't an easy option for my fixtures. I also think these are fairly expensive for what they are, but definitely still a time saver. It seems there is an opportunity for someone to develop a product that is more compact, easier to install, and cheaper to be a bit more DIY friendly!

I purchased these light covers for 8 recessed lights (non-ic rated) installed in my attic floor. My attic desperately needed more insulation and I wanted to ensure I could get an airtight seal around the cans as well as blow insulation over them. I researched several different products and called Tenmat to ask additional questions. I was hesitant to put covers over the non-ic rated cans, but the representative answered all my questions and explained how these covers would work. These covers are huge and easily provide the clearance over the lights. They make a bigger version if you really want to ensure maximum clearance. I was able to seal them to the attic floor with great stuff (fire rated version just to be safe). The covers are very sturdy, yet can be cut if you need to get around wiring, etc. Blew plenty of insulation over the covers and haven't looked back. Now I'm just waiting to see the lower energy bills this winter... I also use compact flourescent recessed bulbs to keep the heat to a minimum inside the recessed cans. If you are trying to find an easy solution to covering recessed lights in your attic...I highly recommend these covers.