The one thing that no one has mentioned is that the best lighting is always in layers. I would never have just can lights in my bedroom. Can lights / down lights are usually used for general lighting, not task lighting. Bedside lamps or wall sconces are an additional layer that provide low levels of light for reading at night or when low level lighting is needed. The other thing to remember is most of the time when you are in your bedroom, your eyes are closed. No one ever wants to walk into a dimly lit bedroom, think ceiling fan/ light combo with "soft white" incandescent lamps. You also don't want to be blinded either. However, dimming the amount of light is usually much easier and cheaper than trying to add additional light fixtures. I wouldn't rule out using can lights in my bedroom, but I also wouldn't want it as my only source of light in the bedroom. I also don't agree with Renovator8's comment about the trim size for cans. A 6" can is the most commonly sized down light. Most builders use them because they are common and therefore cheap. They can designed for most common household lamps including both PAR, R style, and "A" style lamps. "A" style lamps are the pear shaped incandescent lamps that most people refer to as bulbs or lamps for their home. An "A" lamp does a great shop of spreading light, but not at delivering it. Most of the light is usually lost within the fixture. Many builders use PAR or R style lamps because due to the way the lamps are shaped, most of the light is delivered to the work space and has a decent spread. If a lamp or bulb is seen from below the ceiling plane, then two things are going on. One - the can light is cheap and not deep enough. Or two (more likely) - someone is using a lamp that is not designed for this fixture. This can be a compact fluorescent "Par" style lamp or a larger wattage R or PAR lamp. Either way, the fixture is not being used as intended. Most manufacturers of down lights have a wattage label inside the housing, but there should also be a sticker on the trim indicating the correct style of lamps to use. Whether or not someone pays attention to it is another matter. I'll get off my soapbox now. FYI - I'm a manufacturer's rep of over 100 different commercial and residential lighting lines. All I do every day is sell light fixtures and look at different lamps.

I'm not into trends, so we pretty much do around our place as we really want it. This year I put 21 Lithonia LED recessed throughout the dining/kitchen/living/hall. Wife wanted the chandelier eliminated in the foyer, and installed a 5" recessed there. The dining room is set up with a ceiling fan/light, 4-5" recessed on a dimmer, then 2-3" recessed on another dimmer. The living room we added a ceiling fan/light, and 4-5" recessed lights on a dimmer. We're very happy with the outcome. I must say, when I was determining where to place the lights, the ceiling looked like a grid. I shot drywall screws into the ceiling, & ran twine from end to end. Two of the lights we ended up adding was in the hallway after I put a 5" recessed light there. We added 2-3" recessed at each closet. In the enclosed space, the recessed just don't light up like a globe does. Next is the bathroom. I can run all 21 lights, & still be under the watts used for our 4 bulb vanity light. Makes it seem all worthwhile.

JDS, Thanks for your comment above. What was the purpose of lighting over the bed with those low voltage 3" recessed lights? Was it for ambient lighting (e.g. indirect wall washers) or task lighting (reading)? Did you use two over bedrooms that would have Queen/King bed's in them, and one for single beds? As per bathroom mirrors, we were planning on having two line voltage sconces on either side of the mirror and two medium beam low voltage lights set over the mirror (to cross light) . I believe with the four light sources crossing I have read that shadows would be minimal. Perhaps a frosted bulb in the recessed lights would also help. Virgil, Thanks for your advice too. We won't forget the dimmers, and will aim to light with pairs of recessed lights. Thanks for the pointers on positioning of recessed lights too. It seems, that there is no one set spot to position recessed lights -- too many variables. OP: What I would not want is the direct light from a recessed down light shinning over anywhere that someone would sit or lie down. I have read that being under a recessed light can age a person. What you want from recessed lights is indirect lighing such as wall washers, or in some cases task lighting (say over a desk) but not a light over your head. For task lighting near the bed, we are going to use narrow beam, flexible reading lights (hardwired) on each side of the bed. LED reading light would be the best as it is cool to the touch, We will aim for a narrow beam light that can be controlled on each side of the bed. It think having some can lights in the perimeter of your room, together with a centre light would be ideal. In addition, I would plan for task reading light near the bed. Finally, you might consider recessing LED floor washers into the walls leading to the MBath (or in the Mbath) to serve as a soft night light. Be sure to position these floor washers carefully, so you will not look directly into them while lying down. Carol

Along with doing custom audio/video, we also do a lot of remote controlled lighting projects which require us to swap out fixtures from time to time. We have electricians on staff and may be able to offer some solutions. Typically Non-IC housings are designed to handle higher wattage bulbs and cannot come in contact with insulation. However, they can be installed in an insulated ceiling as long as the insulation does not come in direct contact with the housing - this distance is typically 3" between the housing and insulation. With standard batting type insulation this is easily accomplished, with blown-in insulation - a little more effort is required. If you choose to keep the cans in place, you can retrofit them with LED recessed trims. These are sealed units (LED light & trim are molded together) that will fit flush to the housing - and along with a weather-proof gasket, will prevent drafts coming in from the attic/ceiling. The cost range for a 6" Halo Light is approx. $29 ea. Home Depot has CE contractor packs (5"-6") trims for $34 a four (4) pack. The 65W LED equivalent draws about 8 Watts. The low wattage will not generate much heat if in fact the insulation does come into direct contact with the housing - coupled with the fact that recessed cans are equipped with a thermal cut-off switch - so if the temp gets to hot, they will shut down. Insulation in general is also fire-retardant so there is protection there as well. A second option is to remove the lights/cans altogether and use Lithonia Wafer LED lights. They are LED recessed lights that do not require any type of housing and are easily retrofitted into the same size opening. It is a sealed unit that can be used in any IC, Non-IC or wet location. A little more costly at approx. $35 ea. We have been using these lights for quite some time with great feed-back. If you're staying in your home for long while it's worth the investment. Your house is not that old, so I'm wondering how the wrong cans got installed in the first place? As always, our disclaimer - check with your local municipality for your specific code requirements. Good luck Frank P - Square Peg A/V LED Retrofit below (tail screws into existing bulb socket)... Lithonia Wafer LED below (direct replacement)...