lighting question

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

I have a friend that is adding a room to her home and she asked me about pot lights. We have 2 in our family room (house is 30+years old) but we never use them, they are hot.

Her contractor asked her if she wanted pot lights/cans in the ceiling and she has no idea, if any of you have these type of lights, do you like them and do you use them every time you want light in the room? Or is it better to just have floor lamps and table lamps? Thanks!

DREAMON · ‎03-09-2010

We have had homes with and without.

The only place we always did turn them on daily was in a large Play Room that was specifically used for our kids. We had no lamps in there and the ceiling lights worked out great.

I personally wouldn't like them in a Family Room. I would just use them in a Play Room, Basement, or office but that's JMO.

Marsha2003 · ‎03-12-2010

They have newer versions that are fluorescent or LED. Both are cooler than traditional incandescent and use less power. I like them when I'm cleaning or if I'm doing crafts, puzzles or games that require a brighter level of light than I can achieve with lamps.

GCR18 · ‎07-03-2013

I have them in my current house. I guess it depends on how much light you want in the room. The room will be brighter/lighter with can lights. I have to use mine because they are in spots there are no other lights. I don't have them in my family (great) room. I think it would be too light, plus I have 10 ft ceilings.

Golfgal · ‎10-21-2011

Yes, definitely. Do "wall washers" on a dimmer switch.

Snowpuppy · ‎03-09-2010

I had them in the living room of one condo I owned. One set of 3 above the fireplace and one set of 2 above a seating area.

The living room had vaulted ceilings and I thought they added a nice ambiance to the room with dimmer switches but weren't very practical for reading, etc.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

My kitchen has 6 pot lights. They were hot but my DH has replaced the bulbs with LEDs - now they are cool and much brighter white light.I believe the bulbs were rather expensive though.We live in a duplex so our kitchen is on the inside wall and has no windows so we really appreciate the nice amount of light from them.

Big Sister · ‎05-15-2010

I had them put into my kitchen ceiling several years ago, and I have them on dimmer switches so I can control the amount of light at different times. I like them in my kitchen.

I should add that I have a lot of them in my kitchen ceiling, so I had the electrician segregate them into three separate switches and I don't have to have them all on at one time.

brii · ‎06-20-2010

I have pot lights in my kitchen and family room. They are on dimmer switches. I like them for ambiance more than actual light.

mousiegirl · ‎03-09-2010

I have them in the kitchen (the cans over the sink area are on a different switch so I don't have to have a full room lit if I don't want to), laundry room, and rec room, and will probably have them installed in the master bedroom. The only lighting in this room is from the two nightstands, and that is not enough. I once went to DD's grade school with my pants on backward due to the poor lighting. I know, I should have gone into a room with better light, lol, but didn't realize the lighting was a big problem until this happened. In fact, I want cans in the entry hall, bedroom hall, and living room (on dimmers).

Note: You be the judge of how many you actually need in a room. My contractor told me he planned to install seventeen in the rec room which would have cost a small fortune, unbelievable! We managed for years with four, so I added two more and there is plenty of light.