Recessed lights turning off by themselves — Leiden, Zuid-Holland

Recessed (can) lights that turn off by themselves and come back on after a few minutes are almost always activating their built-in thermal protection cutoff. Every recessed housing has a thermal switch that kills power when the fixture overheats, preventing a fire in the ceiling cavity. Once it cools, the light comes back on — and the cycle repeats. The most common cause is using a bulb with higher wattage than the fixture is rated for: a 75W or 100W incandescent in a can rated for 60W generates far too much heat. The second cause is insulation contact. Non-IC-rated (insulation contact) housings require a minimum 3-inch clearance from insulation. If blown-in or batt insulation has been piled against or over a non-IC can, heat cannot dissipate and the thermal switch trips. Older non-IC cans installed in the 1980s and 1990s are especially prone to this after attic insulation upgrades. The easiest and safest fix is retrofitting with LED modules or LED bulbs, which produce a fraction of the heat — a 10W LED replaces a 65W incandescent flood. LED retrofit kits that snap into the existing housing cost $15–$40 per light and can be self-installed. If the housing itself is damaged, corroded, or non-IC-rated in an insulated ceiling, an electrician can replace it with a modern IC-rated, airtight housing ($100–$250 per fixture installed). A licensed electrician should also inspect the wiring connections inside the junction box — loose wire nuts or backstabbed connections in the fixture's J-box can arc and cause intermittent shutoffs ($75–$150 per service call). If multiple recessed lights on the same circuit are cycling off, the circuit itself may be overloaded.