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optimist999

Recssed lighting for the kitchen?

Optimist999
11 years ago

I'm planning a complete re-do of my 10 X 10 kitchen. A few people who've come in to take a look and make recommendations have talked up recessed lighting.

I'm a little leery. For one thing, it seems like this might be more about what's fashionable. I really lean to track lighting, with the lights directed to the areas that need it (fridge, work area, pantry).

What has your experience been with changing the lighting in your kitchen makeover? Do you think recessed lighting would be adequate? Etc etc. Thanks.

Comments (5)

  • weedyacres
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You might try posting this in the kitchens forum. Lots more traffic there.

  • energy_rater_la
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    first off...I'm biased.
    I can't stand recessed lights.
    Not soon enough, it will become one
    of the things you can determine the date
    of the house by..should I say..hopefully soon!

    if you do venture into that scary kitchen forum
    you are braver than I am.
    even if you don't have a kitchen designer
    (KD in kitchenfourmspeak) pretend you do,
    else they won't talk with you. (just kidding)

    if you do chose recessed lights over track lighting
    know these things.
    (note the first two are my personal bias, the latter
    two, my professional bias)

    1-unlike track lights where you can adjust them to
    shine where you want them, and as your tastes change
    as to highlighting different things in the kitchen,
    recessed lights are fixed.
    hole in the ceiling, immobile can lights.

    2-you have to cut a hole in the ceiling into
    the hot attic. a big hole. in the ceiling.
    into the hot dusty attic where the can will
    be surrounded by whatever type of insulation
    that is on the attic floor.

    3-folks don't seal the holes they cut. if the
    hole is oversized...the trim will cover it.
    that is the general mentality.

    4-there are different types of recessed lights.
    not talking sizes of recessed lights..but that also
    will come into play if you chose that route.
    there are IC lights..insulation contact meaning that
    the insulation can be in contact with the housing
    of the light.
    and there are ICAT insulation contact Air Tight..
    pay attention now..ICAT lights have no holes in the
    housing. This keeps air & insulation in the attic..
    in the attic.
    IC cans allow air to enter the house via these holes.
    as the cans are surrounded by insulation, as the air
    moves through these holes, it picks up insulation
    particles which now have a dedicated pathway into
    your home.

    recessed lights are sold in boxes of 6. cost difference
    between IC rated lights and ICAT rated lights are about
    $15-$20 per box.
    this is cheap. if you install IC cans and want to make
    them air tight, you will pay $15 per insert, per light.
    it is worth it to make the trip to the store yourself
    and purchase ICAT lights. take one out of the box
    and make sure it has no holes in the housing.

    all lights have stickers inside the cans. Cooper lighting
    is the most common brand. Juno, Halo..all cooper lighting.
    their sticker is white with red writing that says AirTight
    but if you read the small print..it continues on to say
    when used with the following trims..
    ICAT however has a white sticker with orange writing.
    this is the light is truly air tight.

    even with the ICAT cans properly installed when the
    hole in the sheetrock is cut, this opening will need
    to be sealed to the housing of the recessed can.
    I use mastic tape, but it can be carefully caulked
    or an air tight trim piece used.

    one recessed light = 1 sq ft of uninsulated attic,
    due to amount of air that moves through the holes
    in the housing & the cut in the sheetrock.
    enough attic air comes through recessed lights
    to add to heating and cooling loads.

    so if you do chose can lights..upgrade to ICAT.
    make sure hole in sheetrock ceiling is sealed
    to housing of can before trim piece is installed.

    or go with track lighting..

    either way use cfl's.

    ok thats my rant.
    share it with everyone
    you know who is thinking about installing
    recessed lights.
    esp if they have cellulose
    insulation. the 'dust' from cellulose is
    fine newspaper treated with borate. circulating
    this 'dust' throughout the house adds to cleaning
    time, and if anyone has allergies will exacerbate
    the problems.

    best of luck

  • renovator8
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This discussion seems to limited to one story houses. Where I live they are pretty rare.

  • la_koala
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you don't want to venture into the Kitchens forum, there's the Lighting forum. The folks who hang out there are very imformative (imho).

    I too was leery of choosing recessed lights for the gut-renovation of my kitchen. Because the whole ceiling was coming out, there wasn't any cutting into an existing ceiling.

    My house dates from the 1880's, and I thought that having recessed lights would make it look too modern. While I did not want to actually recreate an 1880's kitchen, I did want to not have it stick out like a sore thumb in the rest of the house.

    In this case, track lighting would have looked too modern. And we did need some solution for areas that needed task lighting and would not have wall cabinets to which we could put undercab lighting. My DH really liked the idea of recessed lights for the amount of light they'd give to the space, so we did a lot of looking at things in lighting places before deciding.

    We ended up with:
    - One central "classic" looking semi-flush mounted fixture from Schoolhouse Electric. This was to give that decorative period feel, in addition to throwing overall ambient light.

    - Recessed lights around the perimeter, and the pennisula.

    We went with the Cree CR6s, and I do love how unobtrusive they look in the ceiling.

    --Lee

  • virgilcarter
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Have you looked at your kitchen, the different tasks you do there, the things that may be on display and the areas where visibility is important and not-so-important? I'm suggesting that using only one type of lighting is probably not the ideal solution.

    For example, there's overall ambient lighting (for which recessed can lights are fine); there is task lighting for special work needs (a specially located can or surface mounted, adjustable fixure will work); and there is often the need for some pleasant visual "sparkle" (a dropped pendant or two work well for this).

    So much depends on the layout of your space, how you work and how you want the space to appear. Good luck!