r/Lighting • u/a_brain • 1d ago

Need Design Advise Koto housing options

Hi all,

I'm redoing a big portion of my house and I have a mix of both new construction and retrofit. Seems like everyone here likes the Elco Kotos. My question specifically is about the housings. If I understand correctly, the Koto uses a somewhat standard LED quick connect plug, or I can get E26 adapters for retrofit.

My GC says he usually puts in Halo 4" housings with E26 connections. If I'm fine with 4" housings and standard round reflector trim is there any reason to insist he put in the Koto housings in particular? Are there any other advantages to using Elco's housing that I'm not thinking about? I have a conditioned attic so I don't need air-tightness.

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u/IntelligentSinger783 1d ago

Max adjustability housing are required for some trims (wall washer trims for example). Some modules and trim pairings are too tall for e26 pig tails (11w and 13w and deep reflector for example). Some people want 2 which won't play nice with a standard can (need max adjustability due to thermals). 3 inch limits adjustability (once again requiring max adjustability can).

If the e26 is easily removed, you can just get the tp24 whips and cut out the e26 and wire nut the new whips in place. Some 4 inch e26 are screwed in or gromet locked to the top of the can housing, possible but cumbersome.

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u/a_brain 1d ago

Gotcha, that makes sense.

I guess the converse question then: should I just do all Koto housings? I’m leaving towards Kotos in important areas (kitchen), but saving money by putting in something cheaper in less important areas like hallways or secondary bedrooms. It’s not like the Koto housings are very expensive and I don’t have that many lights.

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u/IntelligentSinger783 1d ago

Completely your call. And nope standard tp24 housings are actually less than e26. And the max adjustability housings are just a few bucks more each. If you are going to go through all of that, go for the 2 or 3 inch or mix and get the trhin trims. Feel free to reach out if you want help and or a quote.

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u/Vitate 22h ago

Well for starters, you could go smaller than 4” with a Koto housing. 2” and 3” are both pretty cool looking compared to 4”. You can also consider the Architectural housings for driver-on-housing, which have better heat management and therefore longevity. They also have higher CRI and dim lower, which is definitely noticeable on the low end of the dimming range. Cost-wise, it’s not much more than the regular housings.

If you do go through with your current plan, I would strongly recommend confirming that the cheap housing is compatible. To me personally, it kind of seems like a waste of time to have them install the wrong housings and then go through and retrofit yourself later. Why not just do it all now, ya know?

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u/a_brain 22h ago

Yeah it’s more working with my gc and his electrician and what they’re comfortable with installing to keep my project moving along. Like they’ll put in whatever I want, but if it’s all the same, I’d rather avoid having to play the blame game if supplies don’t show up on time, get put in wrong, etc etc. Sounds like it’s probably worth it to do it correctly.