Retrofit options for kitchen recessed cans

9 years ago

We are remodeling our kitchen and want to hopefully improve the lighting by:

1) replacing incandescent bulbs in two 6" recessed cans over a ~40" x 80" peninsula with Cree CR6 Edison base retrofit kits. I don't have my notes with me but I think the ceiling is at 7ft over the peninsula (on a standard height base cabinet). Pretty sure we're going with 3500k, but not sure if the 625 lumen option will be bright enough or if we should bump up to the 800 lumen option.

2) replacing 65w incandescent floods (~5") in four eyeballs over open area in middle of kitchen b/w range and sink and adjacent to peninsula. The eyeballs are in a recessed rectangle (that used to hold fluorescent tubes) at I think the ceiling is 8 ft above the floor. Thinking of going with Cree LE6C retrofits - 3500k, and only lumen option is 500. Concerned they may end up being less bright than the 65w floods, which would not be good as our kitchen only has one window and thus is kind of dark. If the retrofits will be less bright, then would it be better to just replace the floods with Cree LED bulbs? But I think the bulbs only come in 2700k (too yellow for us) or 5000k (too blue for us). Hopefully the LE6C will be ok given the other lights in the room.

3) adding under cabinet LED strip fixtures (as there are currently no undercab lights). Leaning toward Juno Pro LED in 3000k to roughly match the can lights, and in white color to match the white paint. The lip on the cabinet bases is ~9/16". The light is 1" high. Will it be ok that the lights will jut down a bit past the lip? Hoping the white on white will make it ok. Have 3 locations for install including left and right of range (also has hood with 2 LED lights) on one end of kitchen; and left of sink on opposite end of kitchen. Left of stove can fit 30" light (600 lumens) but think 22" light will be fine (450 lumens). Right of stove can fit 22" but think 14" (300 lumens) will be fine. Left of sink can fit 30" but again think 22" will be fine. The lights will not have dimmers, so we don't want to go too bright and have no way to reduce the brightness other than turning them off.

Thanks for your thoughts!

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Comments (4)

David
9 years ago
625 lumens is more than adequate since the number quoted is the actual light output from the can for lights such as the CR6.

The traditional recessed light uses a bulb enclosed within a can. The net result is that a significant amount of light does not exit the can. An 800 lumen 60W bulb in a recessed can has an effective output of ~ 500 lumens or less.

UCL - traditional strips are 1 - 1.5" in height. Modern trends prefer hidden UCL strips.

Having dimmable UCL would be an important detail.

There is more info on the following 2 links
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lighting/msg1223052432349.html?9

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lighting/msg010127153310.html
foodiefrog
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks David. It's good to know you think the 625L option would be fine for the 2 cans over the peninsula. How about the 4 eyeballs in the middle of the room? Those 65W incandescent floods stick out as eyeballs and I would think that none or little of their light gets trapped by the cans. Will going to 500L LEDs (Cree LE6C) end up being less bright than the current 65W floods? Or do you think the more whiteness of the 3500K Crees plus the way LEDs output light will make them brighter than, or at least comparable to, the current 2700K floods?
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David
9 years ago
The LE6 lamps will have a more diffuse output than the existing spot lights (BR30 or PAR38?)

A higher color temp will give the illusion that there is more light.

It probably is better to have the main lighting in the approximate same color range - 2700k - 3000k
mattpete
9 years ago
"The traditional recessed light uses a bulb enclosed within a can. The net result is that a significant amount of light does not exit the can. An 800 lumen 60W bulb in a recessed can has an effective output of ~ 500 lumens or less."

Not true.

A recessed fixture, properly lamped, will send an majority of it's light out of the fixture. What I mean by 'proper' is using an R/Br30/40 or Par30/38 and NOT an A19 lamp. This can be confirmed by checking any of the IES data from brands such as Lightolier, Halo, etc.

I tried out a Cr6 from Home Depot, and sure enough, the CR6 (600 lumens) put out noticeably less light than my 5-inch Lightolier lamped with a Phlillips Airlflux Br30 Led bulb (730 lumens, IIRC).

Likewise, my Phillips/Ligholier CorePro dowlights (integerated trim, like the CREE CR6) seem to put out the same amount of light in my basement as Feit/Utiltech BR40s of the same rated lumens.

Personally, I wouldn't waste my time with lights with integrated trim (they are sooo 2012). Just grab a Led BR30/40 or PAR lamp and be happy.