“Do these A19 lights look okay in a recessed BR30 fixture? Or is it better to get the BR30 flood lights instead?”
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A BR30 is much more efficient than an A19 lamp in a recessed fixture. An A19 lamp will fit and make light, but not efficiently. Between 4/5ths and 9/10ths of the light from an A19 lamp doesn’t shine toward the fixture’s open aperture ring and flow out of the fixture. A BR30 lamp emits all of its light in a narrow-ish cone away from its base. An A19 lamp emits light in a uniform sphere except for a narrow-ish dark cone toward its base. An A19 lamp is also an inch shorter than a BR30 lamp so the increased distance allows a narrower cone of light. An A19 is 2 inches shorter than a BR40 and correspondingly less effective. Using something like a 2 prong receptacle adapter can move the lamp toward the aperture, but if its moved out far enough to emit even 1/3 of the light from the lamp it will be a wide cone of light that gets into peoples eyes as glare, like a bare light bulb hanging down. The recessed fixtures made before reflector lamps became available had a metal reflector and a concentric ring anti-glare baffle. The baffle has to be removed to change the lamp and the reflector always needs to be cleaned. On a high ceiling it requires a ladder and 5 or 10 minutes each. Without the glare baffle the reflector lamps could be changed with a suction cup on a pole in a minute or so each. I don’t think the LED’s longevity changes the economics of lamp changing, LEDs last indefinitely, but the phosphors still wear out and they reach 1/2 brightness at 12,000 hours like the long-life fluorescent lamps made for use where they’re expensive to change. [The LED panel and trim ring conversion is both the most expensive to buy and the most labor intensive to change, so it’s never the economical choice.] The LEDs useful lifespan is less than 6x the life of the 2,000 hour long-life incandescant lamp, and the BR30 LED lamps are priced at a premium relative to the A19 lamps in the same ratio as the incandescant lamps were. Given either the huge increase in the relative cost of using a ladder in a commercial setting, or the huge increase in the value of consumer convenience now vs 1970 when the R lamps overtook reflector fixtures, the reduced maintenance cost justifies the higher price of the BR30 LED reflector lamp even more than it did 50 years ago for the incandescant R30 lamp, It does puzzle me that the BR30 is priced higher than the A19 because an LED emits light in a cone so the BR30 a simpler design with fewer parts and less assembly labor, just one flat disc of LEDs instead of at least 6 small paddles each facing a different direction. The pricing is still taking advantage of the expectation established by the more difficult to make glass envelope used by the older technology - which means even 10 years into the LED lamp era subsidies and changing mandates are still delaying a transition to competitive commodity pricing,
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.I should start by saying that the package clearly states “not to be used in totally enclosed or recessed fixtures “. However, no one that I talked to could tell me why that is. Now with that being said, we have the set of four in recessed fixtures and they work and look great.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.I have used both A19 and BR30 bulbs in recessed fixtures and they both work great. The only time anyone has noticed is when I pointed out to them that they can use either bulbs.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.A19 lights look just fine in BR30 fixture.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.Yes they do, very little difference between BR30 and A19 when on.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.The A19 bulbs are not recommended for use in a recessed or fully enclosed fixture. Might want to look at the BR30 bulbs as well. In a pinch however these could be used but it would be the equivalent of putting a 60 to 65 watt bulb in.
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