Newer LED lamps do not require active cooling. None of the MR16 LED lights available in HD use fans.

lightguy, thank you. I actually went back to read old posts on and around this topic, and in doing so saw that you do go to bat for the MR16s. Something else I thought interesting is the possibility of switching the bulbs for LED lamps down the road, when they become available. I'd be keen to do that. Something else you posted somewhere also caught my eye: you were responding, if I recall, to a poster concerned with buzzing LED lights. You said you had not encountered that, and it suggested that there was something funky going on at the wiring end of things, rather than owing to the luminiere. I think this is what I am worried about in making the decision to use MR16s, against the advice of my contractor (who is not the electrician) who would have me use the line-voltage GU10 lamps because he says the MR16s will buzz and blow out. I'm wondering if the wiring has been done in some kind of way that would make this more likely, hence his push-back. And, of course, if we go against his advice and all this comes to pass, we've no recourse but to do it over ...

Cree light - 1 watt 120 lumens http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1302 Here is a link that might be useful: CREE LED - 1 watt

Mdod, you may be referring to my post. What wattage are the MR16s in your cabinet? The Philips 10 watt AmbientLED MR16s at Home Depot, which are rated at 435 lumens, are a fine replacement for 50 watt halogens - at least in my application. (Wall washers. I now have six of them, with two lower priority ones to go.) Their color temp is a bit 'whiter' than the halogens and they don't dim as low. Philips actually offers both warmer and cooler color temps under their EnduraLED line. But they need to be purchased from a lighting store. It is interesting to me that the AmbientLED 3000k MR16 is rated at 435 lumens, while the seemingly identical (both have the little built-in fans) EnduraLED 3000k is rated at 485 lumens. Guess they must do some 'binning', and sell the lower bin ones to Home Depot under the AmbientLED name. There are a number of other LED MR16s around. Most draw in the neighborhood of 3-4 watts, but have much lower light output (130-200 lumens). Cost wise, they are all in the $20-35 range. The above 10 watt Philips is $25.