Patent ID: 8506135

Claim:
A method of retrofitting a luminaire comprising: providing a pre-existing luminaire housing; inserting a lighting unit into the luminaire housing, said lighting unit capable of conforming to various luminare housings and having: one or more light source supported by a thermally conductive support plate; and one or more heat pipe connected to the thermally conductive support plate and to a thermally conductive base plate; and affixing the thermally conductive base plate to an interior surface of the luminaire housing, wherein the luminaire housing is not pre-configured for receiving the lighting unit, wherein the base plate is affixed so that the support plate is at a non-parallel angle relative to a housing surface closest to the support plate by selecting a degree of bend in a heat pipe of the one or more heat pipe and wherein heat is conducted from the thermally conductive base plate to an exterior surface of the luminaire housing.