We have "regular" cans and put CFLs in them - My husband is the one who's impatient and can't wait for them to turn on. As he does most of the cooking - we placed regular bulbs in a few strategic spots (over the sink and over the main prep area) so that we have instant light while the CFLs warm up. It worked for us.

I have tons of recessed lights in my 25 year old home and we were spending a fortune (and a lot of time) constantly replacing the bulbs. We have since switched to the CFLs which do last longer, but they are slow to come on and do not give enough light to suit me. Not to mention that proper disposal of the bulbs is an issue.

I just started looking into LED recessed lights for my remodel. I think they have bulbs that will fit in standard fixtures. I know they're pricey, but if they save electricity, last a long time, and provide immediate and adequate light, I won't mind spending the extra money up front. They are also dimmable, which I don't think the CFLS are.

Check out the lighting forum for more discussion on your options.

What a great thread. I could have written it myself! I hope you (we) get some good input!

numberjunkie is right. we were told at the electrical store where we got our 5" Juno cans, trim, etc. that dimmers can be used with halogen or incandescent, but not fluorescent.

There are dimmable CFLs, but they are difficult to find.

Cans utilizing an edison base (screw in base) give a degree offlexibility with the type of bulb that can be used.

Most dimmable fluorescent cans are rather pricey and make LED lighting look really affordable.

Cree LED lamps are highly recommended. The next generation which should be available mid of this year- CR6 will be even more affordable ~ $50 per light compared to ~ $80 - $120 for the LR6.

Is this for the kitchen's ceiling, then u should be able to use full size FL rather than CFL?

If for under the cabs, there's another thread (probly a few) about this same subject.

There are fast-start, starter-less FL and they are quick enough for me, and more reliable too.

Pros of FL of course is uniform lighting, energy efficient and low heat vs lumen output. And yes not dim-able. BUT you can always install two sets of lower wattage bulbs and have separate switch for both?

" My understanding is that once we install a fluorescent housing, that's the only kind of bulb we will be able to use in that can? If so, this would prevent us from switching to something else if we end up not liking the fluorescents in the cans. If you put up 5" "regular" cans, can you put fluorescent bulbs in those? "

Yes and no. Yes, they will fit, but the built-in ballasts overheat and cause the screw-in CFL's to fail quickly. Before I had this explained to me, I spent a *fortune* on replacing CFL bulbs in my last house with 44 (yep) recessed lights. In my case, they rarely lasted a year.

The higher quality CFL's do not take as long to warm up. You may want to try a few to see if you are okay with their characteristics. If not, T12, T5 or LED fixtures may be a better choice for you.

"they take too long to come on."

There are "instant on" and dimmable CFL's readily available in medium base.

"I like the 5" cans My understanding is that once we install a fluorescent housing, that's the only kind of bulb we will be able to use in that can?"

The fixtures you are referring to are mandatory in permitted projecrs in CA.
Use the standard cans.

"If you put up 5" "regular" cans, can you put fluorescent bulbs in those?"

Yes.

When we renovated our kitchen in autumn 2008, I inquired at the biggest lighting store in town about CFLs in recessed cans. They said NO, none were available that would provide good "flood" lighting, and we were best to go with halogens, which we did. Well, that was then.... A year later we were able to get CFLs designed for recessed lighting, and we are most pleased with them. In the year we had the halogens, we had to replace several of them, so we don't mind paying a bit extra for CFLs. We use CFLs throughout our house, and have the instant-on type. The slow warm-up ones are relegated to lighting closets, the crawl space, and task lighting for my sewing machines. All our bulbs screw into common sockets, the kind in which we used to use incandescents.

Thanks for all the comments. They were very helpful, and I've since done some more researching and looking around. LED is very intriguing but so pricey right now. I do look forward to seeing how that technology develops, though, and expect to see more options and lower prices evolve over the next few years. If we were going to go with FL and stick with those forever, I would put in the 5" cans since I think they look better. However, right now it looks like LED fixtures can only be used with 6" cans, so to give us flexibility to convert to LED later, we'd need to put in 6" cans unless we wanted to take the gamble that they will come out with 5" LED fixtures at some point. I'm actually thinking now about going back just with a center 3-light flushmount fixture for my general room lighting and relying on UCL and task lighting over my peninsula to give me what I need functionally. I had thought perhaps pendants over the peninsula but now I'm wondering about just doing 3 LED cans in that location. I could swing the $$ for 3 LED cans right now, but 12 gives me heartburn! Plus, I could get the dimmer function with the LEDs over the peninsula which would be nice. My mom has this set-up (central light fixture, with 3 cans over her bar area on a dimmer) and it works great for her. She uses her dimmer all the time depending on what she is doing. I'm still looking at the options, though, and I appreciate everyone's input!

I have 6" cans and use regular CF bulbs in them. Although they do take a few moments to warm up, I really love them. I moved in the house 16 months ago and replaced only one bulb so far. Even if I have to replace them every year, I still feel that the electrical savings offsets the cost of the bulb.

If you do use CF bulbs, mske sure you do not have a dimmer on the circuit or you would have a fire. If the light fixture is dimmed and you attempt to use the bulb, you can cause the ballast to overheat (because it is not getting enough electricity to work properly) and catch on fire.

There are smaller LEDs eg - LR4 lamps

The CR6 lamps are going to be available around the middle of the year for approx USD50. You'd be able to fit them into standard edison base (screw in) 6" cans.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cree LR4