Cross reference
Gotham EVO and Incito architectural recessed downlights
Gotham is the downlight an architect writes when they do not want an argument about the ceiling. EVO for general illumination, Incito where the beam has to be tight. So what would I offer instead? Five lines I represent, one I do not.
- 2 in. to 8 in. apertures
- EVO 4 in.: 250 to 4,500 lm
- EVO 6 in.: 250 to 17,500 lm
- 85 CRI typical, 90+ optional
- Incito: 90 CRI, 10 to 65 degrees
- wet location, covered ceiling
The target
What Gotham publishes today
I checked the live catalogue, not my memory. Gotham publishes four series, IVO, EVO, Incito and MYO, in apertures its site describes as running "from 2 inch all the way to 8 inch".
| Family and aperture | Published output | CRI and distributions | Listings that decide the swap |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVO 2 in. round | 250 to 2,000 lm | 85 or 90 CRI. Narrow, medium, wide | CSA, damp and wet location |
| EVO 4 in. round | 250 to 4,500 lm, 3.1 to 40.1 W | 85 CRI typical, 90+ optional. Medium, medium wide and wide | CSA, wet location covered ceiling, non-IC, Chicago plenum |
| EVO 6 in. round | 250 to 17,500 lm | 85 or 90 CRI. Very narrow through wide | CSA, wet location, IP66, non-IC |
| Incito 2 in. round | 250 to 2,000 lm | 90 CRI. 15 to 55 degrees plus 35x15, 50x20, 60x70 | UL wet location, IC rated, IP66, Chicago plenum, Title 24 JA8 |
| Incito 4 in. round | 500 to 5,000 lm | 90 CRI. 10 to 65 degrees | Wet location, IC rated, CSA, Chicago plenum |
The EVO4 sheet, revision 09/03/25, adds a 4-5/16 in. aperture, non-IC with 3 in. clearance from insulation, and dimming from 0-10V at 10 percent to Lutron Hi-Lume below 1 percent. Its 10 W emergency output is a formula, and no R9 or IP rating is printed.
The equivalents
What I would offer against a Gotham downlight
Five are lines I represent for SESCO. The sixth is not, and leaving it out would make this a sales sheet.
| Line | Family | Why it lands in the same place | What to check before you swap |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMF Lighting | M Series Commercial 4 in. and M Series 4 in. IC | 750 lm at 9.5 W to 3,500 lm at 40.5 W brackets the working half of EVO 4 in., at 93 CRI against Gotham's 85 typical. Beams at 15, 25, 40, 60 and 90-plus degrees cover the EVO set and go tighter. Housing, module and trim order separately, so the ceiling locks at rough-in. | The commercial sheet lists 0-10V, DALI-2 and the Lutron Athena node but no TRIAC or ELV, so an ELV circuit needs the IC residential module. The adjustable DRD4M is damp; the fixed module wet and IP66. |
| Lightolier | Calculite LED 4 in. round gen 3 (C4RLED) | Signify's own answer to Gotham, the closest like-for-like here. 500 to 3,000 lm on 6 to 30 W, 90 CRI on every CCT with R9 up to 67 published, narrow, medium and wide at 43, 56 and 76 degrees, a flangeless trim and a wet listing. | It stops at 3,000 lm, so an EVO 4 in. at 3,500 or 4,500 moves to the 6 in. Linear driver frames want 19 in. of plenum, and the battery is a 6 W Bodine against Gotham's 10 W. |
| Lightheaded Lighting | Opus 3 in. Standard LED | The trimless answer on the card, and the only line here as tight as Incito. Per the Rev. 2026.07.31 sheet: 875 lm at 9 W to 2,850 lm at 33 W at 90 CRI, 1,025 to 3,300 lm at 80 CRI, 2200K through 4000K, beams at 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 70 and 80 degrees plus wall wash, and trimmed, trimless and wood trimless flanges on fixed, adjustable, pinhole and wall wash trims. The adjustables tilt 40 degrees and rotate 361 degrees. | A 3 in. aperture on a 3-7/8 in. cutout, so it neither fills a Gotham hole nor reaches a 4,500 lm EVO. Damp listed, wet optional. Flag feet suit 1-1/4 in. ceilings, thicker takes the kit. IC and CP housings are UL2043 plenum rated, ETL listed, one driver per lamp, five year warranty. |
| Liton | C-Series CH6 6 in. and P-Series LRXLD26 2.5 in. | CH6 covers 1,000 lm at 8 W through 6,000 lm at 50 W in eleven steps, each tied to a named reflector. It reads "suitable for dry, damp, and wet locations", with an IC-rated airtight design under 2.0 CFM. P-Series gives 1,000 to 2,400 lm at 15 to 55 degrees, 97 CRI. | CH6 is 84 CRI, so a 90 CRI schedule rules it out, and its 6-3/8 in. cutout answers EVO 6 in., not 4 in. Liton sheets carry a 35 degree C ambient recommendation and publish no DLC listing and no IP number. |
| ConTech Lighting | R4NC 4 in. round universal new construction | A straight commercial 4 in. on top of EVO 4 in.: 1,100 lm at 12 W, 1,600 at 16, 2,200 at 21, 3,000 at 30, 3,700 at 38 and 4,100 at 45 W. Clear reflector narrow, medium and wide at 35, 51 and 80 degrees. | The listing is the catch: "suitable for damp locations", wet only with the glass lens and applicable trim. It is 80 CRI minimum, 90-plus optional; Chicago plenum is not addressed. |
| Halo Commercial, Cooper Lighting Solutions (not on my line card) | HC4 LED 4 in. downlight | What a Gotham downlight most often loses to in a value-engineering round, and I would rather name it. Cooper publishes 500 to 6,000 lm on 6.1 to 58.4 W, 80 and 90 CRI, narrow, medium and wide at 50, 60 and 75 degrees, and 7 and 14 W batteries. | I cannot quote it, so it comes through another channel with its own lead time. No flangeless or trimless option is published on the HC4 sheet. It is IC rated only to 1,500 lm, damp listed, wet in covered ceilings. |
First quote against an EVO 4 in.: DMF M Series, because the modular housing gets the ceiling bought before beam and color are settled. Against a 6 in. EVO, Liton CH6. Against a Gotham-optics specification, Calculite. Against a trimless ceiling or an Incito beam, Opus.
The dimensions
The numbers that kill a downlight substitution
Lumens are the easy part. What sends a submittal back is the hole in the ceiling, how thick it is and what is above.
| Product | Ceiling cutout | Ceiling thickness | IC, insulation and plenum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gotham EVO 4 in. round (specified) | 5-1/8 in. self-flanged, 5-1/4 in. flangeless | to 1-1/2 in., adapters to 5 in. | Non-IC, 3 in. clear of insulation. 6-5/8 in. deep, 11 in. with battery |
| DMF M Series Commercial 4 in. | 4-1/4 in. new construction, 4-3/8 in. remodel | by housing; IC super shallow 1/2 to 1-1/2 in. | Non-IC. IC residential family air tight per ASTM E283; Chicago plenum housing |
| Lightolier Calculite 4 in. round gen 3 | 4-3/8 in. | to 2 in. | Non-IC; a separate AirSeal IC frame exists. Linear driver frames want 19 in. |
| Lightheaded Opus 3 in. | 3-7/8 in.; 3-1/2 in. wood trimless | 1-1/4 in. standard, kit for thicker; wood trimless 1/2 to 2-1/2 in. | IC and CP housings UL2043 rated for air-handling plenums; F housing non-insulated |
| Liton C-Series CH6 6 in. | 6-3/8 in. | 1 in. maximum | IC-rated airtight reflector under 2.0 CFM, Chicago plenum box option |
| ConTech R4NC 4 in. | 4-7/8 in. | 1/2 to 1-1/2 in.; trimless 1/2 to 1 in. | Non-IC, 3 in. from insulation. Chicago plenum not addressed |
| Halo Commercial HC4 (not on my card) | 5.63 in., 6.12 in. flange | 0.5 to 1.5 in. | IC rated 500 to 1,500 lm, non-IC above. HC4CP for Chicago plenum |
If the ceiling is already cut to a Gotham hole, none of these fills 5-1/8 in., which usually means a retrofit or surface product.
How to read this
What this page is, and what it is not
This is a professional recommendation from a manufacturer's representative, not a factory cross reference. No manufacturer named here publishes an equivalence between these products, and nothing here is approved, equal in a contractual sense, or guaranteed to clear a submittal. A 56 degree medium is not a 51 degree medium, photometrics get re-run, and the engineer of record decides.
To support a substitution I run the room in the alternate with the manufacturer's IES file, put the point-by-point next to the basis-of-design numbers, and write the comparison a reviewer checks: cutout, thickness, plenum, IC rating, delivered lumens at the specified CCT and CRI, beam, dimming, listing and warranty. If it does not match I say so.
Florida
What decides a downlight substitution here
An interior downlight here is reviewed against two things the rest of the country worries about less: how it is controlled, and whether the ceiling is really indoors.
Controls under C405.2
The Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, 8th Edition asks for occupancy sensing, automatic shutoff within 20 minutes, daylight-responsive controls in sidelit and toplit zones over 150 watts, and a light-reduction control between 30 and 70 percent. If the schedule shows nLight on every Gotham fixture, the alternate has to answer it: DMF gives 0-10V at 1 percent, DALI-2 and the Lutron Athena node, Opus eldoLED, DALI-2 and Lutron Hi-lume, Lightolier EcoSystem and DALI, ConTech phase and eldoLED. See the energy code page.
Damp is not wet, and a lanai is not indoors
This is where a South Florida downlight swap fails most: lanais, balconies and covered soffits get drawn as interior ceilings. Read the location line on both sheets. Gotham EVO 4 in. reads "wet location covered ceiling". DMF M Series Commercial is wet under covered ceilings only and its adjustable module damp, Lightheaded Opus damp with wet an option you order, ConTech R4NC damp and wet only with the glass lens, Halo HC4 wet in covered ceilings only, while Liton CH6 and Calculite are wet.
Salt air, and the one amber note
A coastal soffit and an inland ceiling are not the same purchase. DMF is the only line here with a coastal answer on the downlight itself, a Coastal Marine Grade trim at IP66 and IK10, though it prints no ASTM B117 salt spray hours. Sea turtle rules govern light reaching the beach and rarely reach an interior downlight. Where amber is asked for: Liton publishes a CH6 amber at 585 to 595 nm carrying 2019 FWC certificate numbers, Lightheaded an Opus Amber at 585 to 595 nm, 250 lm at 8.5 W and 350 lm at 12 W, whose sheet says it meets Florida Wildlife guidelines, a statement about the design rather than a certification, and DMF a 300 lumen module above 560 nm. An FWC certificate runs two years from issuance, so read the number with its date and confirm where it stands with the manufacturer and with the reviewing city or county. See the turtle-safe finder.
Judgment
Where I would swap it, and where I would not
Easy swaps. Corridors, lobbies, back of house, classrooms, open office and amenity ceilings on a 4 in. downlight between roughly 750 and 3,500 lumens, where nobody has drawn a beam onto a specific object.
Where I hold the spec. If the design intent is Gotham's glare control specifically, the low UGR statement and the 45 degree cutoff, the swap is about how the ceiling reads, not lumens, and I want a mockup first. If the ceiling is trimless and detailed to the mud ring, Opus and the Calculite flangeless trim are the answers and Halo is out. If the schedule is Incito for a tight beam, Opus at 5 and 10 degrees, DMF and Liton P-Series answer.
The limits on my own lines: Liton CH6 is 84 CRI, Calculite stops at 3,000 lumens, ConTech R4NC is damp unless the glass lens goes in, Opus is damp unless wet is ordered and stops at a 3 in. aperture, and DMF publishes no R9. That puts the exception on the page instead of at submittal.
Documents
The sheets behind every number here
DMF and Liton sheets are hosted here; the rest link to the manufacturer.
Questions
What contractors and engineers ask me
Can you match a Gotham EVO one for one?
No, and nobody can. I land in the same published lumen band with a beam covering the same distribution and a listing that suits the ceiling. For a 4 in. EVO: DMF M Series Commercial, Calculite gen 3 or ConTech R4NC. For a 6 in., CH6. Trimless or a tight beam, Opus.
The ceiling is already cut for the Gotham hole. Now what?
Then the cutout governs. Gotham EVO 4 in. is 5-1/8 in. self-flanged; DMF is 4-1/4 in., Calculite 4-3/8 in., Opus 3-7/8 in., ConTech 4-7/8 in., Halo 5.63 in. None fills it, so on an existing ceiling look at a retrofit or surface product.
The schedule says 90 CRI. Which of these hold that?
DMF publishes 93 CRI. Calculite gen 3 publishes 90 CRI on every CCT, R9 up to 67. Lightheaded publishes 80, 90 and 95 CRI options on Opus. Liton P-Series publishes 90 CRI, 97 at 2700K; CH6 is 84 CRI. ConTech is 80 minimum. Gotham is 85 typical and prints no R9.
It is going in a lanai ceiling. Does that change the list?
Completely. Gotham EVO is wet location covered ceiling. DMF M Series Commercial is wet under covered ceilings only, its adjustable module damp; Opus is damp with wet an ordering option; ConTech R4NC is damp and needs the glass lens; Liton CH6 and Calculite are wet.
Why is there a brand here you cannot sell me?
Because a cross reference that lists only what I carry is a sales sheet. Halo Commercial HC4 is what a Gotham downlight most often loses to, and you should know where it stops: at trimless.
Next step
Send me the project
The fixture schedule, the reflected ceiling plan, the ceiling type and thickness, whether any of it is a lanai, and the CCT and CRI called for. I come back with the equivalent, the cutout comparison and a price.
Send me the project Call 786-395-1222 See the whole line card