I don't have any advice about the glare (sorry!), but I *LOVE* your floor! :)

I saw in Home Depot this week smaller CFC's. They had 60W but about 1.5" shorter. For the glare, check out a different color Temp. You can buy what is mostly a standard which is about 5100k and is bright white or cool white 3500k which look like a standard incandescent bulb when lit. I suspect you have the standard 5100k, we had them and swapped them out for the 3500k.

boxiebabe-thanks for the compliment. We love the floor. In person, it looks just like tumbled marble, without all the upkeep.

larry-thank you for the cfl tip. I'll be sure to check out HD this weekend. The shorter bulbs you saw-were they the recessed shaped bulbs? This glare is driving me nuts, lol.

If you can't find reflector CFL's that are shorter than the ones you have, you may be able to use smaller ordinary CFL's (the one's that look like a small spiral) if you change the trim on your recessed fixtures to one that has a frosted glass lens. That way there wouldn't be the unsightly gap around the lamp when you look up into the fixture (you'd just see the frosted lens when looking up). Most manufacturers of recessed fixtures offer a variety of different trim options. The type of trim containing a lens would typically be used when a recessed fixture is used over a bathtub or in a shower, but they could work equally well in your kitchen ceiling. Changing the trim on a recessed fixture is simple.

I had an electrician who specializes in lighting talk me into replacing all the trims of my cans with alzak, and he swapped out all my CFLs for GE Edison halogens. The difference was amazing. During the day I have difficulty telling if I accidentally left the lights on, because glare from the bulbs is completely gone.

Sorry that's not a very environmentally sensitive answer! In the summer I'll probably put the CFLs back in, then swap them out again when the weather cools off.

Building on a past comment on this thread, check out MaxLite brand reflector bulbs. They have a color temperature around 2,700 degrees K so they have a soft white light. As my incandescent reflectors burn out, I'm using the MaxLite's and have had no problem with glare.

The ones at HD were small spirals however they also have ones that look like bulbs. Round and encased and heavy frosted, also shorter than the standard ones..

I would try to adjust the cans. I know when my cans were put up the electrician didn't adjust them fully at first, so some bulbs stuck down below the edge of can, others did not. I found out when I looked more closely that the cans are adjustable. Get a flashlight and a step stool and remove one bulb. Look and feel up inside the can light with the bulb out, and try to find a screw or wing nut or something like that inside of the can. If you find one, try loosening it up and you should be able to slide the part the bulbs fit into so that they go higher into the ceiling or lower. Position where you want it then return the bulb. I will show you as best I can what mine looks like:

Sorry for the blurry photo, but I found that for some reason I apparently lack the ability to stand up on a step stool, look at the ceiling and hold a camera still enough to take a good photo. Believe me, I tried several. Anyway, the nut I am referring to is inside the box and I hope you can see it well enough to find yours. Just loosen it up, position the light receptacle where you want it, then hand tighten it again and replace the bulb.

Sue

sue_ct,
What a helpful person you are ..... hope jess111 comes back to see your post.

I tried the CFL floodlights last year, but they went back to Lowe's. Too much glare and a horrible bluish tint to my kitchen. I have CFL bulbs in every lamp in the house, but until they do a better job on the floodlights I will stick with the incandescent bulbs.

Well, thank you napagirl. I hope she does, too. Mapletex, I don't what you purchased for flood lights, but I don't mind mine at all. Of coarse, it might also depend on your kitchen. I have dark cabinets. If you have white cabinets you might notice any differences more. Everyones tolerance and likes and dislikes are a little different, also. Not a big deal, though. My cans take either. Just use what you like.

Sue

wow, sue you are a genius. Now, to wait till tomorrow till I can turn off the lights so that I can attempt to remove the trim from the can without electrocuting myself. My trim is kind of conical shaped, so I can't see what the socket is attached to. The trip seems to be attached to the socket itself. From the little bit of the can I can see, it seems to be a Halo H5T if that means anything. Moving up the socket an inch or 2 may make all the difference in the world. I hope the socket adjusts. Can't seem to find that info by just googling the can model. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

My lights are a different brand, I think they are Juno. I hoped most worked the same way. I did do a search on your lights. Most of the trims available for them do say they have dual position socket supports and the diagram seems to indicate one position makes the bulb sit up higher in the can. So, making sure yours are set so that the bulb sits as high as possible in the can might be all you need to do. You can purchase new trims for yours and some might make the bulbs sit up higher in the can. Try the link below and click on the spec sheets for some of the different ones. If they were installed recently, and you told your electrician you wanted to use the CFLs he might have installed the wrong trims. If they are lights that were already there and you just wanted to change the bulbs, that might be where the problem is. If changing the position of the trims you have now doesn't do it, you could try replacing one of the trims with one that might allow the bulb to sit even higher up. You might have to talk to a lighting store or electrician who is familiar with your lights, though, to see if that would do it and make sure you get the correct one. I will keep my fingers crossed, because it would certainly be preferable to just change the position of the ones you have now. But at least if that doesn't do it, the new trims might be a solution much cheaper than new lights or higher electric bills. :) Let us know how you make out.

The High Coilex baffle trim looks especially promising.
Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Halo H5T