David, the law should have been written to encourage the purchase of the most efficient lighting, (IE they get the credit for now many watts the lights save, instead of the bassakwards law they wrote where you add up the watts of the non-incandescent lights you bought and gets a "Credit for that"----so that encourages people to buy those non-incandescants (at the highest wattage), so they can use an incandescent (as computed by our idiots)! If you live in Calif, there is NO WAY, you can miss all the windmills out here, and there are credits (US & Calif), I believe for purchasing Solar Power. Let me give you another example of why I call these "So Called Thinkers", idiots. My wife works for a huge company, with TONS of computers. Just about all the computers are still using Cathode Ray Tube Monitors (There not nearly as efficient as LCD Monitors). There is NO incentive for companies to update monitors (Government wise--Especially CAlif Govt). In fact , you are penalized if you update the monitor, first the sales tax, but worse than that is a law our "Idjusts" passed---The so called "Monitor Recycling Fee". If you are a business, in Calif, You have to "Guesstimate" the number of monitors you will buy in the calendar year. Then you pay a Fee based upon your number (of course they Keep an Eye on ya). This law was passed when (due to the Terminator), no new taxes would be passed in Calif---or at least it would be difficult "Political wise" So the Legislature came up with all kinds of "Fees", this being one of them. They kept coming up with new fees until the "Hammer Fell". Monitor's that are recycled, make money for the recycler so it had nothing to do with the disposal costs of old monitors! One of the many reasons the State is Broke, is because we duplicate so much of what the Fed Govt is already doing, and I for one, don't Appreciate Our Idiots "Granstanding" and passing laws that have the opposite effect of maximizing Energy Savings!!! Gary

I have better lighting now with the LED recessed. In the adjacent room, the 55 watt 2D surface mount fluorescent fixture was replaced as the space was enlarged and replaced with 5 LR6 lamps (10.5 watts). The space is now better lit than before and the power consumption is less especially since the lights are slightly dimmed. The light output is 2700k which is just like a traditional incandescent light. The 6" cans and lamps are cheaper than the 4" cans + LR4. The Cree xR6 ( where x == L :: x == C) do not require any trim ring. The CR6 is dimmable to ~5%. You should be able to look at the lights at Home Depot (CR6) or Lamps Plus. There may be flickering if the dimmer is not matched to the load. ie - the load is too small to be dimmed. For instance the Leviton Vizia RF+ has a min load of 40W which makes it unusable with just 1 or 2 LR6 lamps (total load for 2 - 21 watts). Lutron dimmers seem to be better than Leviton.

If the fixtures you're considering use the A19 standard bulb type, the deciding factors would come down to build quality, design and style. The brand name does play a part in the pricing. A track system is convenient way to ensure that the lights all line up, but the style and cost may not make sense. I think getting the correct style that suits your family is just as important as raw light output.

What is the voltage at the orange connector? It looks like the type I have on several LED strips, which are low voltage - either 12 or 24. If you can find an LED pendant (WAC and others make them) with the same voltage, you can do what you propose. My guess is that there is a low voltage power supply buried somewhere in the fixture, which is connected to the 120 volt line.