I hate my halogen cans!!!!!!! I don't like the color of the light or how hot they get or the shadows they cast etc. I like a bright kitchen and these lights are not bright enough for me. They feel more like accent lighting. They were so expensive that I'm feeling too guilty to replace them yet but as soon as I get over the sticker shock of this remodel, I'm putting in incandesents.

Hated the halogen bulbs our electrician put in our cans when we'd had them installed 10 years ago for the same reasons cheril mentioned; shadows were awful, and they were hot (esp in the bathroom--we felt like it was an interrogation room/seat for the day or two we used them). Had the guy swap them out for incandescent bulbs asap, and haven't used anything else since then.

HALOGEN! I love them! - Cheri127 and I seem to be uncharacteristically on opposite sides of 2 issues lately :-) I'm surprised at her comments, as I find them brightest and cleanest, and have read comments from others here that agree...And that's why they're now in range hoods, ovens, etc. Maybe the wattage and style of bulb between what she's experienced and what we have? We have 75 watt 'flood' lights in ours. (there are also 'spot' lights in the same style bulbs)

When we first put recessed cans in our last house, the man at the lighting store asked me why in the world I was looking at incandescent or flourescent floods for them when halogen was so much better. So I took home a bulb of each kind and installed them. It was midday and reasonably bright daylight, although the room I put them in faced north and didn't get direct sunlight. I walked under each with a book open in front of me. The fluorescent and incandescent actually changed the color of the page and didn't add any light, while the halogen left the book page nicely white and brightened it considerably...like augmented natural light. The lighting man had explained something about the direction of the lighting source in each of the different kinds of bulbs, and, but I can't remember the specifics.

I guess they can be hot up close, but it's not like they change the temperature of the room or anything. In our last house we had them over the island and in 3 of our major rooms (dining, living, rec room). We loved them so much they are throughout our main floor and those fixtures that aren't made for halogen bulbs have Halogena bulbs. I feel we get more and better lighting for the wattage, so don't need higher watt bulbs, and they dim nicely.

Thanks folks!

I got both at the store and tried them out. While we liked the halogen light quality, the bulb protruded a LOT more than the others (because the setting for the PAR bulb is lower for some reason- we're guessing its a heat issue.) However, the GE Reveal incandesents had a similar light quality so that's what we're going to use. It looks like it's fairly easy to change later if we decide to. I appreciate your input!

Hahahahaha, Rhome! Tell me about your halogen bulbs. I think one of the problems with mine are that they are not recessed (their directional...my BIG mistake...don't know what I was thinking) and they are low voltage and they are 60W. What's the difference between flood and spot? Is it the size? If so, it may be the fixtures that I dislike more than the bulbs. I had a white kitchen with ten 6" 100W incandesent lights. It was bright! I didn't research lighting at all which was a costly mistake on my part. Could you please tell me what style fixture you used? Thanks. (Sorry about the hijack, Stacey).

Cheri, No difference in size, but spot lights are somehow shielded or the reflector part is shaped differently inside the bulb, I think, so that the beam is tighter/not so broad and general as with the floods. Spots are meant for focused task lighting or for spotlighting a painting without lighting a whole wall or room. I would guess (only a guess) that may be where some bad shadowing came from. We used 6" recessed cans made for remodeling in our last house, and the same type of fixture, but made for new construction, in this house.

Stacey, with ours there was a way to release the socket so it wasn't held so far down and the bulbs could recess further...or actually, no, the halogens we used were flatter than the fluorescents or incandescents we tried and we had to release the socket part to drop them down a little further. We used just a very basic trim ring and wanted everything flush with the ceiling.

Cheri, That could also be part of the flood vs spot, shadows vs no shadows issue... Many of the trim rings keep the bulb way up inside, which would change the light distribution...

I don't have very good photos, but here are the best I could find. In one the light appears to hang down below the ring, but it doesn't. That's just the way the light glow appeared in the photo. DH has the camera out fishing, so I can't take any better ones today.

Here's a very old one showing r.cans in the dining room with the lights off:

Ok, I have to retract what I said about halogens. Rhome, your lights look great. I think my problem is that I have spot lights, not flood lights. They do look just like the kind of lights you would use to light up a painting or something (anyone have lots of artwork they need to highlight...have lights...will sell cheap!). Arghhhhhhh! Good thing I have a wonderful, understanding DH who will just shake his head and smile when I have them replaced.