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 guess my main take-away, which I don't seem to be communicating very well, was that there was something about the 5" (or are they 4"?) that looked significantly better (and less cheese hole like) than the 6" cans in her home on similar ceilings. They just looked a LOT less obtrusive. I think part of it was the size in our small homes with short ceilings. But, I think part of it was also that the inner area was different. The bulbs were not receded into the cans. Instead, there was some kind of casing that was even with the ceiling and the bulb area was small (maybe 2"?) and even with that line, too. The lighting was not diffuse. It was more sparkley and bright. It was just really interesting, given there were cans on in the adjoining DR that were the 6" we've been considering - and could still use in our adjoining hallway. I'm explaining this HORRIBLY. I should have taken pics. Is anything I am saying making sense? Do you have any idea what lights were in that kitchen?

I will choose LED recessed lights. LED lighting is the most energy-saving way of illumination in the present day, saving up to 90% energy compared to other lighting. This means that about 80-90% of the electrical energy is converted to light, while around 20% energy is lost. On the contrary, traditional lighting such as incandescent light bulbs only operate at 20% energy efficiency. LED light bulbs have extremely long lifespan. They are expected to operate up to 100,000 hours. This means that an LED light bulb could operate continuously for about 11years, which is 3 to 10 times longer than compact fluorescent lamps and 60 times as long as incandescent bulbs. LED lights do not contain any toxic substances. Most fluorescent lights contain a multitude of toxic chemicals like mercury that are dangerous for our health and the environment. LED light bulbs emit less CO2 than traditional incandescent bulbs, and they are 100% recycle, offering you a greener life. LEDs produce little heat or UV rays, while traditional incandescent lights emit a large amount of waste heat. And compact fluorescent lamps are reported to generate a multitude of UV rays, which is a potential risk of getting skin cancer. Because of this benefit of LEDs, LED lights are suitable for objects or materials that are sensitive to heat or UV rays. LED lights operate well under colder and lower outdoor temperature than fluorescent lamps. Therefore, LED lights are extremely suitable for outdoor winter settings. LED lights brighten up instantly as soon as you turn the power on without any seconds. In contrast, fluorescent lights may take several seconds to brighten up. Here is a link that might be useful: My LED recessed lights source here

We put in four Halo 4" recessed LEDs in the bedroom. They flickered with a Leviton Z-wave low voltage dimmer switch. I changed to a Leviton low voltage dimmer switch with a physical slider, and then it worked. The same model of Leviton dimmer works with 3 other pairs of Halo LEDs in the bathroom and closets. In our kitchen, we put in nine Halo 6" LEDs. With a GE Z-wave smart dimmer, it flickered horribly. We changed to a Leviton Z-wave dimmer switch, the same model that flickered in our bedroom, and it worked fine. We only realized it was the same model after we installed it and found that it worked... In our laundry room, we have two Halo 4" LEDs with a Leviton dimmer switch, the same model as in the bedoom. In the laundry room, the lights flicker. There's a separate identical Leviton dimmer switch, bought at the same time, with four identical Halo 4" LEDs that does not flicker. All wiring is new. LED lights and dimmers are a great mystery. My advice is to try changing the dimmer switch. What I've heard is that the Lutron pro series (that you can't buy at a big box store) works perfectly with basically all LED lights.