Kitchen lighting layouts in new construction typically includes a standard installation of 5 to 8 recessed downlights designed to operate 75-watt R and PAR lamp types. The widespread application of incandescent lamps in the kitchens of new and remodeled homes has been one of the larger increases in residential lighting load over the last several years.

The prior PIER research involved the homebuilder community and included developing a database of the current and evolving building stock relative to kitchen downlighting. It was found that two critical factors related to the retrofit potential for downlights:

• Kitchen renovations are one of the most popular activities for existing homes.
• These renovations typically involve the installation of inexpensive incandescent recessed downlights.

Data from the industrial partners indicate that there is a significant number of downlights going into homes that already exist. This observation indicated a significant opportunity for the development of a retrofit lighting system designed explicitly for the homeowner that would integrate easily into the typical renovation process. This type of system would also have broad potential in the hospitality market and in small commercial building as a retrofit.

A key direction that was developed in the first PIER project for new construction was to develop a builder-friendly system that was designed explicitly to reduce cost of installation and to simplify the process. Current downlighting installation systems are complicated, labor-intensive and prone to errors in construction. Many of these factors are evident in residential retrofit and major renovation. The consumer/homeowner is often faced with a wide variety of size choices and components. Further, the installation process can be complicated and involved, particularly with wiring and ceiling installations.

The development of this retrofit project is going to be driven partially by the need for an integrated, installer-friendly system. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is currently over halfway through the 3-½ year PIER funded research project to develop a new energy efficient downlight system for new construction applications. Results of that initial project will serve as the starting point for this project on retrofit applications.

With Lithonia Lighting, the industrial partner on the new construction project, LBNL is in the final phases of product development and hopes to have an initial prototype of the system by the summer of 2002. That system includes remotely ballasted CFL lamps, a novel "builder-friendly" installation technique and superior photometric properties.

The installation of incandescent downlights into kitchens is currently one of the most popular residential renovations. The principal barriers to achieving energy savings in these home retrofit/renovation applications are the availability of a low cost, high performance and easy to install and maintain downlighting system.

There is currently almost no market use for residential CFL downlights in these retrofits although a small fraction of the incandescent downlights that are being installed may use screw-based CFLs placed in them. Screw-based CFLs are often problematic in these fixtures for a variety of thermal and optical reasons. Major concerns arise with use of this technology in that they may not perform well in the harsh thermal environment typical in recessed cans.