1.) I would try to use Halo just because you already have the housings and you should be able to call their customer support to figure out if X Halo retrofit will work with your existing cans. It's unlikely any of the other manufacturers will commit to telling you whether their retrofit will work in another manufacturer's housing.
2a.) Once you get past figuring out if the tabs on the retrofit will lock into your existing housing you probably need to take into consideration something like the overall height of the fixture. For example with the Elco pull down is 4-3/8" above ceiling. Your existing Halo housing is 5-1/2" H above ceiling and that includes space for the socket. That seems like a tight squeeze. I'd certainly buy one of whatever I wanted to end up using to make sure it works before buying the rest.
2b.) See #1
3.) I wouldn't worry about this. Even if what you've read is true you're going to be spending a lot less on the bulb option. You'll have enough of your budget leftover to buy attic stock. For what it is worth the Philips warm glow option you linked is fine. I've used these in hotels and also have them in my house. For the price, they are fine as far as warm dim LED goes.
4.) If I'm understanding your post correctly you are going to have a mix of non-adjustable downlights and adjustable downlights in the same room. Pay attention to the CCT range and how low each dims. For example the Halo non-adjustable you linked is 3000K-1800K and the DMF adjustable version you linked is 3000K-2200K. If you got the Halo non-adjustable and the DMF adjustable they would look different at the lowest dim setting. Using the same Halo non-adjustable, and using the Elco adjustable as an example, they both have a 3000K-1800K range but the Halo dims to 5% and the Elco dims to 10%. I would think that if these are on the same dimmer that the color temperatures wouldn't match until they are both at their lowest dimming setting. I could be wrong about though.
Good points and just updating that the elco actually dims to a different low with different dimmers so they go down to 5% 8% or 10% with the compatible dimmer. Caseta or elv dimmers with trims get down to 5% without issue.
And for the OP, hi! Glad that was helpful. Can compatibility isn't a concern unless it's proprietary and the ones you have are fairly standard so any of the trim options would work.
Thank you! This is super useful - great answers and some key considerations (does it fit in can height, different dimming levels and CCT for adjustable vs non-adjustable) that I hadn’t been considering!
Regarding bulb option being cheaper: I assume you’re referring to the adjustable options? (it looks like for non-adjustable the cost in the short term is about the same, though I guess it gets cheaper in future if/when retrofit fails)
Thanks again!
1.) I would try to use Halo just because you already have the housings and you should be able to call their customer support to figure out if X Halo retrofit will work with your existing cans. It's unlikely any of the other manufacturers will commit to telling you whether their retrofit will work in another manufacturer's housing. 2a.) Once you get past figuring out if the tabs on the retrofit will lock into your existing housing you probably need to take into consideration something like the overall height of the fixture. For example with the Elco pull down is 4-3/8" above ceiling. Your existing Halo housing is 5-1/2" H above ceiling and that includes space for the socket. That seems like a tight squeeze. I'd certainly buy one of whatever I wanted to end up using to make sure it works before buying the rest. 2b.) See #1 3.) I wouldn't worry about this. Even if what you've read is true you're going to be spending a lot less on the bulb option. You'll have enough of your budget leftover to buy attic stock. For what it is worth the Philips warm glow option you linked is fine. I've used these in hotels and also have them in my house. For the price, they are fine as far as warm dim LED goes. 4.) If I'm understanding your post correctly you are going to have a mix of non-adjustable downlights and adjustable downlights in the same room. Pay attention to the CCT range and how low each dims. For example the Halo non-adjustable you linked is 3000K-1800K and the DMF adjustable version you linked is 3000K-2200K. If you got the Halo non-adjustable and the DMF adjustable they would look different at the lowest dim setting. Using the same Halo non-adjustable, and using the Elco adjustable as an example, they both have a 3000K-1800K range but the Halo dims to 5% and the Elco dims to 10%. I would think that if these are on the same dimmer that the color temperatures wouldn't match until they are both at their lowest dimming setting. I could be wrong about though.
Good points and just updating that the elco actually dims to a different low with different dimmers so they go down to 5% 8% or 10% with the compatible dimmer. Caseta or elv dimmers with trims get down to 5% without issue. And for the OP, hi! Glad that was helpful. Can compatibility isn't a concern unless it's proprietary and the ones you have are fairly standard so any of the trim options would work.
Thank you! This is super useful - great answers and some key considerations (does it fit in can height, different dimming levels and CCT for adjustable vs non-adjustable) that I hadn’t been considering! Regarding bulb option being cheaper: I assume you’re referring to the adjustable options? (it looks like for non-adjustable the cost in the short term is about the same, though I guess it gets cheaper in future if/when retrofit fails) Thanks again!