Wattage alone isn't very meaningful; without knowing ceiling heights, room sizes and the type of bulbs used, it's tough to say much.

Davidr may see this and say, quite rightly, that recessed lights are not a great way to fill a space with light; they are better suited to putting concentrated light on particular surfaces.

It's very unlikely that the dimmers have anything to do with this.

A lighting designer typically uses different types of lighting fixtures in a space to achieve the desired illumination level. You may have plenty of light but it may be directed to the wrong places. An example is a room with reading levels of light over the seating area using recessed fixtures but no washing of the walls creating a "cave" effect. Though the meter says the lighting is OK at the couch people see the room as dark because the walls are dark. Recessed fixtures are often overused. They should not usually be the only source of light in a room. Over a seating area they often create dramatic shadowing on the people seated and we donÂt look very good displayed that way. Eyebrows can create shadows and large bags under the eyes. Table lamps at the seating area are often used to fill in and light peopleÂs faces from a horizontal direction to reduce shadows. Table lamps also direct light at the walls as do pendants and chandeliers. To sum up: in a typical bedroom you may have to put in four 65 watt recessed fixtures to replace a single 120 watt pendant in the center to make the room feel right even though a meter under a single recessed fixture will say itÂs plenty of light.

Clearly I am no lighting scientist. LOL. Thanks for your thoughts. I was hoping someone could look up in their room, check the wattage of their floods in the cans and tell me, "mine are bright at 75W". There are pendants in the kitchen in addition to the cans but there are no other lights in the basement area. However, there likely will be a lamp or two. I did not want an overhead fixture over the kitchen table as it interfers with the view outside. We also have undercounter lighting and a lighted tall cabinet but I don't really count that as anything more than task lighting.

Not sure where to go from here. May be stuck...

Perhaps if you provide the info Jon mentioned someone might be able to offer some advice. Include the brand and model of recessed fixture used including the trim. There may be other trims and lamps more suitable.