I know that the 72 watt halogen will probably produce similar light but less heat that its equivalent 100 watt incandescent, but I am just not sure how it compares to a 75 watt incandescent. If the fixture calls for a 75 watt maximum incandescent, does that mean I have to use the 53 watt halogen that is equivalent to a 75 watt incandescent, or can I go ahead and use a 72 watt halogen (equivalent 100 watt incandescent)? When the manufacturer specifies maximum wattage, I assume it is to control amount of heat generated. The fixture is not installed yet so I can't test directly with a thermometer. If I can get enough light by using the higher wattage halogen, I might be able to get along with two fixtures in the vanity area (other lighting in the room is some distance from the vanity). If I can't get enough light in that area from just these two fixtures, then I need to ask the electrician to put in a can or some other light in the ceiling. I'd rather avoid that if possible. The electrician is coming this week, so I have to try to figure this out without being able to do any direct testing before he arrives.

The fixture looks similar whether LED or Halogen, at bright dimmer settings. Halogen has a better range of dimming. If you want to go down to barely a glow the LED is not going to do that. The normal transformer is small and goes in the junction box of each fixture. The J box must be large enough to hold this transformer, typically a 4-0 deep box is required and many make this up with a 4-0 plus extension box. The transformer is an electronic low voltage type and will require an interface with the dimmer you chose. Another option is to use a remote mounted magnetic low voltage lighting transformer that will be compatible with the dimmer you have without an interface. Tech Lighting is not UL listed and has had some quality issues. Bruck is a higher quality alternate if you can find something similar. Bruck is UL listed. UL is more costly and more difficult to get than just ETL listing. The better quality companies seem to all have both ETL and UL, not just ETL. UL is more strict and has provided a way to receive feedback from the industry on products with issues. Unless you already have Crestron lighting control in your home you should consider the Lutron Grafik Eye QS instead. It's a freshly updated product and looks nicer than the Crestron. It is also ready to work with Radio Ra2 or Lutron HomeWorks QS, QS shading, has a time clock built in etc.

In addition to an appropriate color temperature - 3000K will be closer to most halogen than 2600K - I suspect that what you're looking for is high CRI (color rendering index). Low CRI is what makes colors look flat or wrong in some kinds of low-cost and older fluorescent and LED lights. Incandescent has a perfect CRI of 100. On the other hand, a sodium vapor light might have a CRI of 20. Some old linear fluorescents were as low as 50-60 CRI, but most linears today are at least 76-78, and the good ones are in the 82-86 range. Most CFs also run around 82-86 CRI. Good (read: pricey) LED run anywhere from 80 to 90 CRI. Cheap ones can be much lower, however. Others here (Davidtay, are you listening?) are more familiar with LED UCLs than I am, but of the little I've seen of them, my impression has been that the light quality varies quite a bit. Since some of the low end LED manufacturers fudge on incandescent wattage equivalence, I'd tend to be a bit skeptical about their claims for CRI - if they even make any. You won't get 100 CRI in LEDs regardless, but whether what you CAN get will satisfy you is really a matter of your own taste. I know, it costs more to go to a local lighting store, but at least there you can see what the light actually looks like. And with some stores you can return it if you find it isn't to your taste (be sure to inquire before laying down your cash). Again, I'm speaking more from theory than from experience. I wouldn't have written at all, but for the fact that no one else was responding. Maybe this will prompt someone else to comment.

lblue - we will actually be adding a light rail - but even without it, we can barely see the lights. They are "curved", so at the thickest height, they are about 3/4", but toward the front and back, they slope down to about 1/4" or a little over. The light is 3000K - and I can say that they are definitely NOT a bright white. It's a nice soft color, but bright enough for tasks. If you have an HD near you, I'd recommend picking one up, bring it home, hold it under your cabinets and plug it into a nearby outlet. They are linkable, so if you are handy, you can hardwire several onto one circuit (DH wired ours onto one circuit associated with a single light switch - but each also has a small off/on rocker in case you would ever want to operate them independently, or not link them to a wall switch at all).