I can't imagine not liking LED's. We like ours so much that we are changing out the CFL's and incandescent bulbs in the most used places in the house. Our kitchen recessed lights are Sylvania 3000K 6''. We also have the Philips eW profile UCL's (3000K) and the Cree bulbs (2700K) in the pendant lights and the light over the table.

http://www.colorkinetics.com/ls/essentialwhite/ewprofilep/

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Cree-9-5-Watt-60W-A19-Warm-White-2700K-LED-Light-Bulb-1-Pack-BA19-08027OMF-12DE26-1U100/203991774

Here is a link that might be useful: Sylvania LED

Love ours - I challenge you to tell the difference between an incandescent can and a 2700K can - we went with 3000K as we did want a whiter light - I can dim them using a standard Lutron dimmer(rated for LED) as well.
No going back here - I never made friends with CFL bulbs.

I just dropped some serious cash to replace all 20 of the can lights in my remodel to the Cree recessed lights with built in trim from Home Depot. I've been slowly replacing them in the house from room to room and must say I don't notice when going from a room with incandescent to a room with LEDs. This is the ultimate complement in my mind. Now when dimmed a bit, the color difference becomes more apparent, but in my mind, it's time to make this change. My kids will never know the color hue of a dimmed incandescent, like dialing a rotary phone.

I **love** the LED recessed lights in my kitchen. I replaced all of my incandescent cans (I'm in CA and need to meet Title 24). I'm so happy LEDs are now an alternative to florescent recessed.

The light from the LEDs is so much better than the incandescent. I need good light in my kitchen.

Bonnie

I started switching out my ceiling can bulbs after an energy audit. I'm using Utilitech Par 38 3000K bulbs from Lowe's. The light is brighter than incandescent bulbs and it's a good color -- I have no loss of light quality.

But even though they are dimmable bulbs, these LEDs don't work with incandescent dimmers so I can only replace 3 out of every 4. But replacing all the dimmers in the house and buying the way more expensive LEDs for every can is not cost efficient at all. The workaround is much more economical and practical. I also feel, at this juncture, the bulb technology is in transition. So while I may do the full retrofit (switches and bulbs) eventually, I don't feel now is the optimal time. New construction is another matter, of course.

Plus not all LED bulbs are compatible with all dimmers. My story with details is linked below.

If anyone is doing it, be sure to check your state energy incentives as there are small rebates for switches that turn off automatically in some states.

Here is a link that might be useful: Making Sense of LED Light Bulbs

Oh, this is good info. Thank you all so much!

I did a full replacement - can and all. Replacing just the bulbs in California does not meet code. So I just paid the big bucks and did it. At least the holes were already cut!

And luckily, my dimmer does work with these LEDs, down to about 5% light. It used to take the lights down completely, but I can live with the 5% when I dim the lights (which is not too often).

Bonnie

I have the dimmable Eco Smart made by Cree for Home Depot. Love them. My GC, who had suggested CFL's, loved my LED's so much he thanked me for showing them to him and said he was going to use them in his own basement remodel.

i do not like mine and if i were to do it again i would only do the min to meet title 24 in CA. they are too bright, had to replace bulbs as it felt like a nuclear light show. i use only the undercab light and one pendant light, rarely use the LED recessed lighting. for a vintage house do not like the look. oh well, lesson learned!

We have CREE recessed lights with 2700K bulbs. Love them. However, it is true they do not dim well. We have 3 switches in our kitchen...each one turns on 1/3 of the recessed lights. It allows for plenty of variation in the level of light. One set of the led lights are on a dimmer but the range of "dimming" is not very good.

We have a 4th switch for our pendant light. We use our pendant light for low level lighting in the kitchen...it has a regular incandescent bulb on a dimmer.

Our can lights are Cooper. (See above)
In the GW world, most use the Cree
We went with cooper for 3 reasons
1. I made an error putting in 5 inch cans as I thought I would use bulbs which fit the 5 inch best - but decided I wanted the trim kits as the light is less harsh than bulbs- I hated our old bulbs as well
2. The Cree trim kit only fits the 4 and 6 inch cans- but the Cooper fits a 5 or 6 inch can.
3. I did not use a box store but a lighting store. They were very helpful and I could see different options in action. I felt their time was worth a few extra dollars. The carried the Cooper brand plus many bulb types.

This was early in the renovation process and I was just discovering GW

The cooper only came in the 3000k - but DH preferred the whiter light.
They dim nicely- down to 5% but it does look brighter than 5%
Maybe my eyes are getting older(I am sure this is not true) but love having lots of light options in the kitchen (also gave UCL and a lighted cabinet)

I have most of the cans on one dimmer with the over sink on a second dimmer.
I do have decorative lights in the center (on a dimmer also) which are standard incandescent bulbs for now.

My former boss didn't like them the first time she saw them but by the second time - she thought they were great- I adjusted the dimming ahead of time so when I turned them on - it was not a full blast experience.

Most will like them but some won't - see if you have a lighting center in the area.

Just spend time making your decision. LEDs are expensive so you want to be happy with your choice.

Let us know what you do :-)

Cryptic and typos from iPhone

'Nuff said above. WE went with the Ecosmart brand at HD 6" CREE bulb/trim kit, standard Halo 6" housing (easy enough, but you have to pull the bracket holding the Edison base out), Lutron dimmers. Since our kitchen is white cabs and very bright, we went with the softer 2700K color. DW was, well, let's say skeptical. But now would never go back. Price competitive, cold, long life, easy install...

We replaced all 26 recessed lights in our home mid-February. Love 'em. We looked at the Cree 2700 and Sylvania 3000, and Lowe's Utilitech 2700. Ultimately went with the Utilitech. Would have gone with Sylvania as they were a bit whiter, but chose Utilitech because they were $10 to $15 cheaper per light.

P.S. - for Marylanders Potomac Edison currently has a $30 per LED light rebate program (although I'm still waiting on that check!).

Here is a link that might be useful: Lowes Utilitech LED

We've had ours since June and we love them! We put them throughout our new build so I have 25 or 30. I think they are the same ones A2gemini used from Cooper Lighting. They were called All-Pro RL7 LED Retrofits and could fit in 5" or 6" housings. Our lighting specialist showed me what halogen, incandescent, and LED lights would look like. The LED were not as warm as the halogen, but they were similar to the incandescents (if I remember correctly - that was a year ago). My brother liked them so much he used them in his remodel.

Our electrician installed one so I could see if I liked it before installing the rest. You could certainly do that. For me, the only thing not to like is the initial cost.

We have replaced all the recessed lights in our home with them, starting with just one to test it, then a room -- that tells you we are very happy with them. They are the Cree EcoSmart from HD. We live between two stores. One sells them for about $60 and the other sells them for half that. The last batch I bought were on special for $25.

As we find LED bulbs that are more reasonably priced and work for fixtures, we are switching those out. I've found that some are too large to fit within the harps of lamps or just don't work where the bulb is exposed -- like the lanterns by my front door where we went with Halogen that we were able to drop down to 25 watts. I won't use florescent bulbs, but we like LEDs and halogen for color, lack of flickering, etc. If you happen to find them too bright, they are dimmable.