Drafty Lighting

[Mikeyboy]

All the recessed lighting in my house (1st and 2nd Floor) are Halo Non-IC Light Fixtures. Since you have to keep insulation around 5" away from these fixtures, I feel drafts through these lights? Is there a cover that I can attach that would block any outside air from coming in and inside air going out?

[Bill Arden]

since they are non-IC you won't find any kind of "cover" to use since such a cover will cause them to overheat.

Your best bet is to either replace the ones in the attic (2nd floor) with IC ones or build a box around them and cover the box in plastic. Just be sure the box is more than 10 inches away from the can since you need a larger air gap when you insulate over it.

[Mikeyboy]

The majority of my recessed lights are Halo H7RT. When I go to their website and look at the specs they recommend this reflector trim when purchasing it:

http://www.cooperlighting.com/specfiles/pdf/Halo/30catspecsheet.pdf

It says air-tite. Does this mean I can replace the existing trim that I have on it now and use this one which would prevent anymore leakage?

[kylepeavy]

I recently replaced the trim on my recessed lights with Commercial Electric T47 air tight trim. Apparently the T47 is discontinued or at least Home Depot doesn't carry it. It looks very similar to the Halo in your link. Mine are pretty air-tight if you adjust the height of the socket so it's just at the right level - it takes a little patience.

There is another benefit too: I used the reflective silver one, and then put 60-watt equivalent spiral compact fluorescent bulbs in there - the reflectiveness makes them much brighter even with a lesser bulb. It looks really sharp now. Several friends have copied what I did after seeing mine.

[Mikeyboy]

Did you have big drafts? Does the air-tite can really prevent air leakage?