Have you taken a look at phantomlighting.com? They don't use MR16, but the ideas are interesting.

Here is a link that might be useful: phantom lighting

Thanks for the suggestion. It may come in handy for another project but I'm wanting to stay with the existing fixtures.

Most MR16 LEDs currently do not outperform the halogen equivalents (especially > 20W). That is expected to change with time.

Other vendors include Polar-ray, amazon, ...

If you are still intent on replacing the current halogen lights,
look for the MR-16 LEDs which come closest (in output lumens) to the current halogen lights.

Thanks David. I got swamped with the holidays and end of year at work and haven't had time to check back. If the LEDs aren't up to snuff yet, I'll stick with halogen for now. I just ran out of bulbs so I figured I'd check into LEDs again. We built it four years ago when LEDs were just becoming popular so I've been planning to convert when they got better (and cheaper).

I also put in micro fluorescents on the side with the intent of switching to LED strip lighting in the future. We also redid our kitchen two years ago and I've been holding off on the cabinet and cove lighting. I left the fluorescents up top and never hooked anything up under the cabinets. Would you recommend waiting longer on those too? When the stuff "supposedly" lasts 20 years, I don't want to spend the money on it until the tech is there.

The latest LED emitters from CREE have a much higher output. It shouldn't be too long before MR-16 lamps start appearing with them.

On the other hand, good led replacements for micro fluorescents are ready today. If you have everything wired up for 120V AC, you would be looking for direct wire solutions like the Philips eW Profile. There is a running discussion on UCL.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lighting/msg1223052432349.html?8

On a related note, the Philips L prize winner is slated for commercial availability in Jan 2012.

Thanks for the information and the link to the UCL thread. I was reading that a couple of weeks ago and it sounded like there were good options now. That's why I thought I'd swap the MR16s. LOL...My husband does not like changing things out and I've got no problem with taking my time to get what I want. I had my old laminate countertops on top of my new kitchen cabinets (with exposed edges because they were not the same layout) for almost a year before I finally a granite that I liked and I had plain compact fluorescent bulbs in my kitchen cans until we got the Cree LR-6 from Home Depot 4-5 mos ago.

While I've got you here, do you have any particular suggestions for cove lighting for above the cabinets? My kitchen is about 12x14 and I only have 2 pendant lights over the island cooktop, one over the sink and 4 recessed cans so I'd like to get more than just a glow above the cabinets.

Marcia

Mdod, you may be referring to my post. What wattage are the MR16s in your cabinet?

The Philips 10 watt AmbientLED MR16s at Home Depot, which are rated at 435 lumens, are a fine replacement for 50 watt halogens - at least in my application. (Wall washers. I now have six of them, with two lower priority ones to go.) Their color temp is a bit 'whiter' than the halogens and they don't dim as low. Philips actually offers both warmer and cooler color temps under their EnduraLED line. But they need to be purchased from a lighting store.

It is interesting to me that the AmbientLED 3000k MR16 is rated at 435 lumens, while the seemingly identical (both have the little built-in fans) EnduraLED 3000k is rated at 485 lumens. Guess they must do some 'binning', and sell the lower bin ones to Home Depot under the AmbientLED name.

There are a number of other LED MR16s around. Most draw in the neighborhood of 3-4 watts, but have much lower light output (130-200 lumens). Cost wise, they are all in the $20-35 range. The above 10 watt Philips is $25.

wws944,
Thanks. I'll check out those bulbs. I have to check on the display case but I've got some track lights with MR16 halogens bulbs too (these are all for my business)and I know they are 50W. I took a quick look at Lowes a little before I posted my question and all I saw were in the 3-4 watt range.

Also, before I spend a chunk of change on these, I can use an MR16 LED bulb in any MR 16 socket, right?

The ones with straight pins on the back are 12 volts (max). The ones with little knobs on the ends of the pins are the GU10 variation and run at 120v.

As far as physical fitment, I guess it depends on your fixture. The 10 watt Philips MR16s were slightly tricky to install in my gimbaled downlight trim. If you look at the bulbs closely, the front is indented a bit and extends outward more than a normal MR16. So I had to remove the UV filter glass (it isn't needed with LED) and insert the bulb. The front of the bulb protrudes a bit out of the hole where the glass used to be. Then I rotated the bulb so that the pins were 'cross ways', tipped the back of the bulb upwards a bit, and the connector slid right on. Once you get the hang of it, it just takes a few seconds to install.

Other LED MR16s don't have the extra protrusion out the front, so may fit in some fixtures better.

Hm...I just looked up the Endura bulb and it only has a CRI of 80. I'm glad I remembered to check that. That won't work for displays. I noticed the strip lights at Environmental lights were only 65! Darn. I thought the LEDs were supposed to have good CRIs but I guess it depends a lot on the bulb. The Cree LR6 are around 90.

Marcia,

If you want cove lighting that provides quite a bit of illumination, use either T8 fluorescent tubes or the Philips eW PowerCore Cove LED bars (for example eW Cove MX, ew Cove QLX or even the eW graze).

The Philips website has quite a bit of information, including the distances for proper light mixing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Philips ColorKinetics

Davidtay,
Thanks for all your help. Happy New Year!

You're welcomed.

Happy New Year to you too.

2012 will be an interesting year for lighting with the commencement of the incandescent bulb phase out (i.e. no more 60W incandescents at the super markets) and more LED choices become available.

I'm fine with waiting but I thought I heard a blurb on the news that Congress passed legislation to block it right before the end of the year. Was that just a proposal that didn't pass?

There was a move to repeal the legislation which ended up becoming an effort to defang the enforcement.

The impact would be minimal due to the efforts coming at the last hour.

Lighting manufacturers have been shifting production resources to higher efficiency lighting for a number of years now.

Even without the energy efficiency laws, it's become more difficult to purchase incandescent bulbs (not just in the USA).

Along with the steady increase in utility bills and economic difficulties worldwide, most consumers have been making the switch to more efficient lighting anyway.