LED can lights in kitchen?

[bubbs147]

Has anyone put these in? We bought them yesterday, but aren't sure. We have a decent sized kitchen, so we got 4-6" cans. Worried about there being enough light, it being too "white" light. Any thoughts?

[libbygrl109]

My parents recently had their old can lights switched out for the new LEDs. I couldn't tell the difference between the two, other than the new ones don't throw off as much heat as the previous ones did.

[johnohfs]

Be warned, the LED "bulbs" are very, very expensive. They are supposed to last long enough to pay for themselves, but they can cost between $20-$60 per bulb!

[magdala9]

Our can lights will take both regular and LED bulbs. We are replacing the bulbs with LED as the regular burn out. LED bulbs cost more, last longer, are fully dimmable and provide less heat. Not thrilled with the first item; but really like the rest

[moonlight]

I don't know about for a kitchen but we got these at work and I don't like them. The old lights were normal can lights on a dimmer and they were so much warmer, and you could actually dim them. The LEDs are more like a spotlight, and while the dimmer changes the brightness slightly, the dimmest it goes is not very dim at all. And the light itself is colder, but this is coming from a staunch hater of anything CFL or fluorescent. Incandescent all the way, LOL.

[bubbs147]

I'm definitely worried about them feeling too fluorescent. They are bright white at the store, looking at them. The thought about them not giving off heat is exciting (in Florida) but I don't want it to seem too white.

[sarahbear]

We have them in our kitchen and living room. DH installed himself and we love them. He did research on the brand because I was also concerned with them looking too broght or flourescent. No issues at all. Now that I think of it, he also did them in the bathrooms too.

[moonlight]

Jun 18, 2012 19:08:02 GMT -5 @domerjen said:

are led lights
'instant on
' or do they need to warm up like cfl?

In my experience they are instant.

[FoxInFiji]

LED conversion kits are the way to go (they have the Edison type A base just like a regular light bulb). That way you aren't married to LEDs only when something cheaper/better comes along.

LEDs however are NOT fully dimmable. Yes you can get some that dim but the range is smaller than a CFL or incandescent light. LEDs are instant on and if you get ones in the 2700K range they will have the same warm color of an incandescent. Note though this color range is only accurate at full capacity. When you dim LEDs the color will change slightly. The price for many of them is however very step and most studies show that you don't get a ROI for +20 years compared to a CFL of the same effective wattage. For now we're going with a round of CFLs in our new light fixtures which we plan to replace with LEDs when they burn out. The price of LEDs then should be much cheaper, the dimmabilty higher, and the color range more consistent in a few years. They just aren't there yet.

[sillygoosegirl]

We have LED lights in our kitchen (in the existing fixtures), and we LOVE the quality of the light they put off. We got the bright white ones (5000K?), but they also make yellow ones for those who like the incandescent look. I don't plan on ever buying anything else again. (Hopefully our existing supply of CFLs will last until we can afford all LEDs.)

I'm not sure what the point of installing special cans to go with the LED lights would be...

[aurora]

When I checked them out at Home Depot last week there were a variety of sizes and colors. I bought just one to replace a bulb that had burned out, and I do agree with the others that it doesn't get as dim as the halogen bulb previously installed in that can. However, since this is my kitchen these were the cans we kept brightest most of the time, anyway, so the achievable dimness is acceptable in my case.