Can vs canless recessed lighting

Canless for ease of fitting; cans for light quality and flexibility. A wafer goes into a hole with a junction box beside it and needs almost no ceiling depth. A can takes more work up front but lets you choose the bulb forever after.

Shallow ceilings and retrofits: canless. The Amico 6 in. wafer needs only about 2 inches of ceiling space, is IC rated, and puts out 1,050 lumens with five color settings from 2700K to 5000K. Where joists or insulation leave no room for a housing, that is decisive.

Output with good color: a good wafer comes close. The Sunco 6 in. slim publishes 1,200 lumens at CRI 90+ with five color settings and an Energy Star listing - the best balance of output and color among the wafers here.

Wet locations: a wet-listed wafer. The HALO HLB6 is wet location listed and IC rated, with CRI 90 minimum and a published R9 above 50, dimming to 5% on leading- or trailing-edge dimmers. It is the one to put over a shower.

The best color possible: a can with a high-CRI bulb. A YUJILEDS CRI-MAX BR30 gives 1,200 lumens at CRI 95+ with R9 up to 95+, and a Waveform 95 CRI BR30 gives 800 lumens at CRI 95+ with R9 above 80. No wafer here matches that, and when a bulb fails you change the bulb, not the fixture. The bulb picks are in best recessed lighting bulbs.

Choose canless if you are adding recessed light to a finished ceiling, the ceiling is shallow or insulated, or you want the simplest install. Check the IC rating and, for bathrooms, whether it is damp or wet rated.

Choose cans if color quality matters most, or you want to change the bulb - for a higher CRI, a different color, or a smart bulb - without replacing the fixture. Smart reflector bulbs are in best smart BR30 bulbs.

Already have cans? Keep them. Upgrading the bulbs is far cheaper than replacing cans with wafers, and gives better color.