We put in the regular Cree LR6 LEDs in our new kitchen and love them! Our kitchen isn't considered small, and we used 6--plenty of light (and I have dark cabinets and granite). I don't need to use the pendant lights over island or the kitchen sink light when the main LED cans are on.

We also have Cree LR6C (but not the 1000). We put 9 cans in our 11.5 x 11.5 foot kitchen, no other overhead lighting (but we have under cabinet lights).

We LOVE them. The 9 cans are more than we need (we put 9 cans in before we had decided to go with the Cree LEDs). When I was researching them, most people seemed to agree that they put off at least the equivalent of a 75 watt light bulb. They are really bright. Also, reading on the internet, everyone seemed to be really happy with them. Before we put the Cree LEDs in, we had 75 watt halogen PAR bulbs. We hated those (the light was harsh, it was hard to look at the ceiling, but worst of all, they cast shadows). The Cree light is much more diffuse, but also brighter.

Are you putting in the 1000s because you think you need more light because you will only have 4 cans? Do you know how bright of a bulb you will put in the pendants?

Good luck with your decision. I think you will be happy with the Cree's if you decide to go with them.

I was just thinking that its better to have more light available than not. I figure we can always dim them. What light temperature did you get 2700 or 3500? Also, where did you locate the lights relative to the counter edge? My brother put them 36" from the wall (32" between lights) and said he gets no shadows. The electrician suggested putting them almost directly over the counter edge - half the light falls on the counter top and half on the floor. We will have LED under cabinet lights.

I have Cree LR6 but not the 1000.

Love them. I went with the 2700. Was told that was better for kitchens. The cooler color can make food (and skin ;) look less appealing.

We put 6 "CREE LED cans throughout the house. I absolutely love them. They are really very bright. Make sure you get the color spectrum that you prefer as there are, I believe, two different spectrums. As far as dimming them goes, unless the technology is much enhanced in the past two years, I wouldn't count on using the dimmer much - the light is just odd when they are dimmed. Instead, I would recommend breaking them up to different switches so you can "dim" the light by switching someoff if the dimmer function isn't quite what you want. In our 12ish by 14ish kitchen I have: 2 over the sink - rarely ever used, 7 in the kitchen, 4 between the kitchen and great room and another 8 in the family room/great room (may be about 24 x14ish). With all the lights on you could land a jet. Seriously, it is a lot of light, but it is easy to adjust since I have 4 zones. I could have done without the light over the sink, but I was tired of a dark kitchen, (had fluorescent tubes before with one incandescent over the sink - DARK). In the kid's rooms we have 4 CreeLEDs- very bright - I wish I had them on two different switches so you could turn on only two at a time. The dimmer function bothers both kids. There can be a slight flickering if the light switch is not set exactly. Love our Crees - expensive, but in two years haven't changed a bulb and have good energy savings. Also, try posting on the lighting forum as they have a ton of good information to share. Also, think carefully where you want your switches. I think I would use the over sink Crees if the switch were handy.

We have CREE LED six-inch cans in our kitchen-- four of them on a wall switch and one over the kitchen sink on its own switch. We did not get the ones that are made for higher ceilings (I believe this is the 1000) as we have an 8-foot ceiling. I was dubious of the lighting store advice on this and worried they wouldn't be bright enough, but they are plenty for our small kitchen (we also have a light on a ceiling fan). The 2700 color is great although note that it does change the appearance of paint colors somewhat-- I really like the quality of the light. These lights are one of my favorite parts of our almost-finished kitchen and I can't wait to not change the bulbs for many, many years.

FYI
Lutron has just come out with a dimmer specially for CFL and LED lights. Check their web site. I purchased one at H.D.

We put 4 Cree LR6 lights in the kitchen, one in each corner of the 16 x 18 space. They are about a foot out from the soffits that circle the room and they are on one dimmable switch. They give off enough light to light the space very well. I also have five smaller 4" cans with Sylvania LED bulbs in them - one over the sink, two above the island, one above the bookshelf, and one above the desk. My builder put the two island lights and the bookshelf light on one switch, the desk light on one switch, and the sink light on its own switch near the sink. The Sylvainas were $60 each and are fully dimmable. We do notice flicker when the Crees are dimmed. When all lights are on, you can signal ET through the new skylight! The Sylvanias are their Ultra LED PAR20 36 degree floods with a color of 3000K CRI 85. Each gives 350 lumens with 8 watts and has a 50,000 hour lifespan. They are standard edison-base bulbs (regular screw-in).

We dim ours all the time - no flickering. I think the flickering is due to a dimmer that is not compatible with the lights, but I don't know what makes them compatible. Our electrician put a special dimmer (I think it was for higher wattage, but that could be totally wrong), but that was when we were using the 75 watt halogen bulbs. When we switched to the LEDs the dimmer still worked great.

We also got the 2700 deg bulbs. Ours are installed above the edge of the countertops, except over the sink and the peninsula. Just above the edge of the countertops is the location that we were told by everyone that we asked (at the 2 lighting stores, by the electrician, etc) and is what I read here.

Here is a picture of when we were in the middle of changing the halogen bulbs out and replacing them with the LEDs. The one on the left over the window is LED, the right one over the window is halogen. Notice the more diffuse light without defined edges and the color difference. There are two other lights in the photo: the one closest to the front is LED (this one is over the peninsula) and the one in front of the cabinet is halogen. Also, see the sharp shadow for the handle on the cabinet: the shadow is still there with the LED lights, but it's softer.

Just a note about why our lights aren't centered over the window. It's because we raised the ceiling in the kitchen when we remodeled and there is plumbing for two bathrooms up there, along with heating ducts, etc - we were rather limited in where we could put cans.

{{!gwi}}