Try a halogen bulb. Those are very bright - and hot, but not likely to scorch you at 12'. LED's are much better, but I don't know if there's one bright enough at that distance.

the 60W equivalent LED's that I used to replace my incandescents are at least 50 percent brighter than the old incandescents. I used to have the lights at full on level but now are always at half on level on the same dimmer for the same brightness. So try that first. The CREE led recessed inserts area bout $25 each at HD and the 2700 ones have a great warm color.

TF, hadn't thought of halogen. Even though they will be brighter, would the heat in the ceiling be dangerous? Could it catch the insulation in the attic on fire?

Scrappy, is there more to using the LEDs than just screwing them into the socket? Is it going to require replacement of the fixture? When I look online, there seems to be both a replacement fixture and just a light bulb.

I assume the bulb you're using is in a housing. I have halogens on tracks and in ceiling cans. All the heat goes down and I like that they are dimmable. They are definitely not energy efficient and I don't leave them on when not needed. All my LED bulbs have a different socket, sort of push in and twist. If you replace with LED, they are not all dimmable.

I have a recessed lite in my kitchen and when I work at the sink it I block the light. It should have been out another foot. My builder did a great job with the lighting in the kitchen except for that one. I have recessed and under cabinets lights, plus the overhead light. Very nice.

Pictures please! We have a few dozen Cree LED cans (feels like) in multiple zones and DH turns them up and then I turn them down or off. Big windows, we're on a circle with two other houses, but I definitely feel both the fishbowl and operating room effect. How about sconces and/or directional lights? 12' - lucky!!

Ok. ob2b. I straightened up the kitchen just so I could take a picture for you. All of the lights except the can over the sink are off.
{{!gwi}}

LEDs in every fixture in our house here. You can fun then. You can screw them in to a regular fixture. I was able to get 3 1680 lumen bulbs into my new dining room fixture. It is BRIGHT when not dimmed. Err have an LED flood over the kitchen sink. Love it. Of course, err are lucky. The bulbs are cheaper in MA.

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This post was edited by bbstx on Fri, Oct 24, 14 at 11:14

There are lots of lighting fixtures that aren't pendants - chandeliers, for example.

That is a gorgeous chandelier, E. I was using "pendant" as shorthand for any fixture that hangs down. I prefer to keep the line of sight free from interruption.

Bbstx - and this morning you have a tidy kitchen! I'm eyeing the upper wall area to the left of your sink for something. Maybe like this?

Thanks. ob2b. That is one sleek light fixture! I like it! If I can't get a brighter bulb, I may have to resort to something like that! I can't remember if I put an outlet above those cabinets or not. There is one above the cabinets on the other side of the room, so I may have put one up there too.

I have ceilings that vault from 10 to 14 feet in my family room -- level at 10 ft in the kitchen and elsewhere. In the family room, we changed the floods in the cans (near the top - so 13+ feet and angled) a couple of times trying to get more light and brighter white. What finally did it for us was the Cree LED kits (bulb and trim ring combined). We have used them throughout the house. They are much cooler than the incandescent and cooler still than the halogen. I hadn't realized how much heat the older bulbs added to the room until I felt how much cooler it was with the LEDs. I think the color temp is 2700 -- no blue but not yellow either. Just clean white.

How about a strip of LEDs at the top of the backsplash just below the bar overhang?

A walk sconce then.

Treb, excellent idea.

Love that sconce, E.

I think I'm going to try different bulbs before I call in an electrician for wiring new fixtures. lascatx, LEDs confuse me (although I have them in the hall sconces - but that was just a matter of screwing in a bulb). Why did you use the kit instead of just a bulb?

i have that long chandelier. in my dining room. kitchen has benson pendants from rh.

Was at Wally Mart today and picked up an LED flood light. The package said it was 65 watt equivalent and 650 lumens. From the charts I can find (after I got home, of course), 650 lumens is closer to a 50 watt bulb. It was insufficient. Mostly the light was bluer but it was no brighter. It is in the car to be returned. Guess a trip to HD is in my future.

I was thinking along the same lines as Treb. Environmental Lights makes these very high brightness LED bars that are only 0.5" thick. Depending on the thickness of the overhang of ur bar top on the sink side, it should fit under. You will need space to hide the wires and the driver-maybe under the sink if you are not bothered with drilling a hole in the counter top or from ur upper cabinet. These wires are really flat and thin so you should be able to hide them along the end of the backsplash.

Here is a link that might be useful: EL Light bars

bbstx, the cree LED's that I posted about come with the bulb and the trim together. You take the trim out of the recessed can, screw the bulb directly into the socket, pull out the metal strips that hold the unit in place, and plop it in. To remove it you just twist conterclockwise and down it comes. After the first one it takes less than a minute per change. my biggest challenge was my height since it was hard for me even on a chair but my contractor left a high drywall step in our kitchen so I happily used that for replacing the bulbs. Easy peasy. You really need to try these, the y are a great incandescent light color and very bright. You can always return them if it doesn't work out for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: cree dimmable LED

The LED linked above is the same or very similar to the one I have (EcoSmart is the other name using Cree bulbs) . We bought the kit because we found that our trim rings were plastic and as we removed them to paint, they were cracking and crumbling. They were just old, thin plastic and brittle from all the heat. When we installed them, we liked the neat, finished look since you don't have that dark valley between the bulb and the trim.

Thanks for the explanation. I cannot get to my fixture easily. My ceilings are 12 feet and we do not have a sufficient ladder to reach. If work has to be done higher than 7-8 feet, we hire someone to come do it.

I bought an LED flood light at HD this afternoon. It is 1600 lumens. I have BRIGHTNESS!!! As in, don't look at the light, it will blind you!!!

The only problem is it is 5000k, which means it is very very blue. The guy who helped me said HD has a 90 return policy for any reason. I'm going to see if I can live with it. I only use that light for a few minutes from time to time. It is on a separate switch and doesn't come on with the other kitchen lights. If the blueness drives me nuts, I'll take it back.

If I had thought ahead while we were building, LED bars or tape under the overhang would have been perfect. They may still work, but I'll have to think about where to drill a hole to get the wires to the driver. I don't want to drill a hole in my granite. I had the bathroom wired to put LED lights in the toe-kick area to use as a night light. Another deferred project!

The least expensive first step might be to replace the existing flood lamp with a spot focused lamp and see how that works.
Beyond that, Treb;s suggestion may be best.

Willtv, I too thought about a spot rather than a flood. I live in the boonies. I was amazed at how few choices I had in PAR 30 bulbs. I guess if I can't get happy with something HD has to offer, I'll start looking online.

Unless you are going to change the color of all your lights you might want to get the 2700k instead. For a while I had fluorescents, incandescents,and LED's in 3 adjacent rooms (each room had the same type). It did not bother me but my sister and son who are into photography commented on the different lighting colors constantly. I have finally changed everything to the 2700k LED's so everyone is happy. It does add harmony to the house to have all the same lighting color throughout. IMO the 5000k is really bcold but it is definitely a truer daylight color.