Yes, I mentioned UCL. I can add those questions here too, if you want them. ;) GC mentioned tape. Another contractor I've had doing some other stuff mentioned pucks. I've become enamored with the Environmental Lights ultra thin system. I have emailed them questions. It's been a couple days, I'll probably call them today. Today, the electrician is prepping for outlets for the UCL in three spots where these wall cabinets will be: --next to fridge --each of the cabinets flanking the range I haven't zero'd in on a system yet, but that seems okay. I am unsure if I'll want lights over the washer and dryer. In the past, that's been a clutter catching area. Of course I'm hoping that it won't be now with better storage, but...we'll see. I think, at least with the EL system I think I understand pretty well. I can run all the lighting on that wall with one power supply and have the wire connectors connecting the different strips, and I don't really need the second outlet on that wall. But if I go with something different, I might need it just for that second wall cabinet by the range OR I might need it for the W/D area. (The wall behind the W/D is masonry, no way I'm having an outlet added there.) A question I've got re: the EL system is if I can have those three outlets on one switch, and have two or three power supplies plugged into them as needed. I think that is fine. The bigger question that I don't think I like the answer to is about dimming. And I think my mindset at this point is to not worry about dimming for the UCL. They make this stuff to be UCL, I'm going to assume it's a good brightness for it's intended purpose. I've never had UCL, so I have no frame of reference. Once I figured out the pieces that I think I need from EL, the price was a bit more than I was thinking of. However, there's the benefit that I understand it. :) I think. I'm open to other, less expensive, good systems. But I need to understand them. As always, thoughts/suggestions welcomed.

First, about the can trim. The "clear" trim (silvery) and "haze" trim (dull golden) are designed to reflect the most light while not producing much glare. The black baffle trim reflects the least glare. Personally, I dislike the look of all three of these. I prefer white baffle trim. I would rather put up with a little glare when they are on and have them disappear better into the ceiling when they are off. Secondly, the size issue. I chose 5" cans for my 8' kitchen ceiling because I think that size is the best tradeoff. The 4" cans don't spread their light very wide, so you need more of them, getting the "swiss cheese" look. The 6" cans are less attractive to me due to their large size. If you want fluorescent, you can buy a special 5" can made to hold the pin-base type of fluorescent bulb. That's what I did because I live in California, and a certain percentage of fluorescent lighting is required here as an energy-saving measure. As rjr220 said, fluorescents can't be dimmed, although I did manage to find some bulbs with acceptably an acceptably warm color, so I don't hate them. I haven't seen fluorescent floodlights made to fit in a 5" can, but they might exist. What I did over the sink is the 5" can with a PAR 30 50 Watt bulb on a dimmer, which is what I really prefer. These put out plenty of light, much more than the fluorescents do. In older parts of my house I have 6" cans that I put fluorescent bulbs in. They put out decent light, but I think the 5" size looks MUCH better. Juno is considered a better brand than Halo. It is supposed to be a bit better constructed, and has many more trim options. I have 5" Juno in the kitchen, and 6" Halo in my office. What I dislike about the Halo is that when you look up at them, you can see around the lightbulb into the guts of the can light. The Junos are not like that. The newest option with is energy saving are the LED cans, which Juno makes in 5" and 6". I don't know much about them because they have only become available recently. I think they are more expensive. You might want to check the lighting forum, also. Good luck with your renovation.

I deferred that decision to my electrician. The one near the stove was tricky because it isn’t centered with it. We debated it a bit, but I finally decided symmetry was the better option, plus the hood will have a light in the fan above the stove top. There are formulas you can find online to calculate light cone, etc, but it’s too easy to over analyze it. I think ours are roughly 5ft apart. He didn’t want to overlap with the pendants or sink light. It’s not an exact science. If you’re getting pushback from electrician, maybe find others for different estimates and input. Are you doing a can or regular fixture over sink? Thanks! It was a leap of faith, and a bit of a long story. But mostly here in MN we have many months of grey and white outside, so I needed color. I love the dark rich navy and English greens, but the kitchen faces north to a wooded lot and is also dark. Plus I was set on having soapstone. So it was either this or colonial blue, lol. We did add a great window too, but improving the electric was really key. We did all this last fall, so the real test will be in a week or so when the leaves finish popping out. PS, these are my favorite websites for lights. I am still shopping for “something just right” over the sink. My pendants are white cement with an embossed design on the underside. I’m in love with them. Hood is going back up next week after the backsplash goes up, and back rooms are getting tiled. I finally found a convincing bluestone in porcelain. Www.tudoandco.com Www.shadesoflight.com And of course Wayfair and their other sites. (Houzz prices are too high 😉)

The difference between 6” and 4” is roughly about 200 lumens - 6” are typically around 900 lumens and 4” around 700. So between the three cans it’s a 600 lumens difference which amounts to roughly one 50W light bulb. I don’t think that’s a huge difference personally. We have a windowless bathroom a touch bigger than yours (9x8) and we’re doing five 4” cans, two over the shower (it’s long and narrow - 70” long) and three in the room plus two LED sconces. Right now we have four 6” retrofits and it’s pretty bright.