davidr - you are correct in that new cans will have a tighter light distribution than the old squares. The reason for the switch is that one of the old squares flickers and spits - so that there is a wiring or fitting problem there. Accordingly I have removed the bulb on that one unit. I thought that if I am going to replace one unit that I might as well replace all of them at the same time or it might not look good. In addition an electrician told me that the old square lights are "dangerous" as they dont have thermal cut-offs and are thus fire hazards....

Light sources have a spectrum. In some cases it is narrow, and in others wider. The sun, for example, emits through the entire visual spectral band, as well as UV and IR. tungsten and tungsten halogen are hot emitters with various spectral bands generally characterized by their apparent color temperature. The sun's spectrum is close to that of a 6000K (degrees kelvin) black body, whereas tungsten lights may be 2700K and tungsten halogens up to 3300K. The latter color temperatures are considered lower than the sun color temperatures, but are called warmer. Arc lamps that are spectrally broad may fall into the same color temperature range as the sun, but depending on line structure from the gasses used and the pressure that they are running at, may appear redder or bluer than the sun. Note that as these thermal sources are turned down with a dimmer, they become redder (warmer color) even though they are getting colder, physically. Now, getting to light emitting diodes, there are two types that I'm aware of being used for illumination (excluding variants). One type emits mainly at a single color, but because they are not true laser sources, this color band may be somewhat wide. Combinations of these sources may be used to try to match the tristimulus diagram of human eye response and look like a black body emitter at some color temperature. High color temperatures are considered colder because they have more blue; lower temperatures are considered warmer because they have more red. Note that this is referring to color temperature, and not LED physical temperature. The Cree LR4s had a scheme for re-balancing the color temperature as the LEDs aged. As I recall they were available in two different color temperatures for different applications. A clothing store, for example, might want a higher (colder) color temperature for interior illumination, whereas a kitchen might prefer something warmer (lower color temperature). (No one should be embarrassed if confused by this contradictory nomenclature.) Cree provided me a (proprietary) spectral chart that showed that their color spectrum was broad, but not particularly close to matching a black body spectral diagram. To avoid any post construction complaints I bought a single lamp and tested it against my soapstone and granite to ensure that the green highlights in each were being properly illuminated to provide a pleasing color balance when illuminated with the warmer LR4 option. The second type of LED source uses a deep blue or UV LED (or array of LEDs) to illuminate a phosphor or a combination of phosphors intended to emit a particular "whitish" color temperature. These phosphors tend to look yellow when viewed with the lamp off. By choosing the phosphor chemistry, and possibly over coating with filters, different color temperature sources are created. The goal is to know what color temperature one wants before specifying the particular lights to be used. If you want a tungsten halogen color temperature, specify 3200K - 3300K. For regular tungsten, 2700K - 2800K is good. Higher values toward 4000K will be bluer and more blue sky matching. As an aside, LG was able to cut the cost of organic LED (OLED) TVs by using all white (phosphor) blue-emitting OLEDs with red/green*/blue filters rather than the more difficult to manufacture sets of red/green/blue single color LEDs. kas *maybe yellow, I'm to lazy to go look

Thank you both for the sample photos! I suppose one upside of recessed lighting would be it would highlight the beautiful plaster crown molding in the room. I was at the home today, and the ceilings are 8' 3". The light fixture in my pictures above is 24 in long, I'm hoping it can be flush mounted thereby eliminating the length of the chain. As Jan noted, there should be no head - banging in the room. :) To Jan and others, if I do find an appropriate light for the ceiling in the family room, would I want to mimic the original ceiling medallion above the dining room light? Below I have attached a photo of the dining room light, I'm thinking a medallion in the family room would be too matchy-matchy or out of place. I have also attached other angles of the family room in question, and as I've noted in a different post, I plan on going very brown with the floors in this room. Thank you everyone!

Patricia, LED canless recessed lights perform the same function as canned lights, but because they are LED and don't generate heat, insulation isn't an issue, they are thin. They are not rope lights and are not vanity lights, they are used for general lighting same as canned lights but are much thinner, don't have to be attached in attic, the LED and trim come with a small junction box, can be used new construction or remodels.