Recessed lighting throughout main floor?

[Anonymous]

Our house is dark and the contractor suggested replacing the traditional light fixtures with recessed lighting throughout the main floor (foyer, living room, kitchen, and family room—and leaving the existing chandelier in the dining room). He said it will provide more light and a cleaner look. If we go this route, everything will be on a dimmer.

Anyone done this? Any regrets?

When I say the house is dark, it’s really dark. We are canopied by trees and our existing lighting really doesn’t accomplish much.

[Anonymous]

I added it to our living room and family room. I’m very happy with it now. You do have to pay attention to the “warmth” rating of the lights.

Initially our living room was done with 3000k and it was way too white. It looked like a doctor’s office. I hated it. Had another contractor come in and he changed them out to 2700k and it was so much better. We had him do the family room as well.

[Anonymous]

It’s fine, but you still want to use lamps at different levels. It never looks good when a room is lit only by recessed cans. Put all your lamps on smart bulbs or smart outlets so you can use one switch to turn them on and off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s fine, but you still want to use lamps at different levels. It never looks good when a room is lit only by recessed cans. Put all your lamps on smart bulbs or smart outlets so you can use one switch to turn them on and off.

Does this require an electrician or can we diy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I added it to our living room and family room. I’m very happy with it now. You do have to pay attention to the “warmth” rating of the lights.

Initially our living room was done with 3000k and it was way too white. It looked like a doctor’s office. I hated it. Had another contractor come in and he changed them out to 2700k and it was so much better. We had him do the family room as well.

Agree with the warmth rating. I put 4000k lights in family room and kitchen (open floor plan) since the kitchen does not have any windows or natural light and we needed the lights on in the daytime. I hate it at night. It looks so clinical. Spent too much so I guess we are stuck with it for a few years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our house is dark and the contractor suggested replacing the traditional light fixtures with recessed lighting throughout the main floor (foyer, living room, kitchen, and family room—and leaving the existing chandelier in the dining room). He said it will provide more light and a cleaner look. If we go this route, everything will be on a dimmer.

Anyone done this? Any regrets?

When I say the house is dark, it’s really dark. We are canopied by trees and our existing lighting really doesn’t accomplish much.

Don't. It is a lot of work and hard to undo if you do it and don't like it. Looks dated also.

Stick to adding natural light like a couple skylights, and some extra lamps or high wattage bulbs.

[Anonymous]

Experiment with color temperature before buying a pile of light bulbs. We like having daylight GE Refresh (5000K) in the kitchen and mudroom, but we use GE Reveal light bulbs in some other rooms. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

I hate recessed lighting. We got rid of ours when we renovated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s fine, but you still want to use lamps at different levels. It never looks good when a room is lit only by recessed cans. Put all your lamps on smart bulbs or smart outlets so you can use one switch to turn them on and off.

Does this require an electrician or can we diy?

Plugging in lamps? Yes


If you have to ask if you need an electrician, then you probably lack the skill set in both electrical skills and drywall skills to do this on your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I added it to our living room and family room. I’m very happy with it now. You do have to pay attention to the “warmth” rating of the lights.

Initially our living room was done with 3000k and it was way too white. It looked like a doctor’s office. I hated it. Had another contractor come in and he changed them out to 2700k and it was so much better. We had him do the family room as well.

Agree with the warmth rating. I put 4000k lights in family room and kitchen (open floor plan) since the kitchen does not have any windows or natural light and we needed the lights on in the daytime. I hate it at night. It looks so clinical. Spent too much so I guess we are stuck with it for a few years

Are the LEDs part of the recessed fixture or a separate bulb that can be changed out? They have smart bulbs that are capable of changing warmth rating. I have lights that can be tuned to super white during the day ( to match natural light) and then dimmed to a very orange yellow late at night. There are various brand but I have used Phillips and been happy with the range of white and ability to change it with the day. I think they even have a “sunset” program that automatically shifts towards warm the later it gets…almost like the night mode for your phone but for your house!

[Anonymous]

We love it. It was so dark before that I felt like we were in a cave. Now we have dimmer switches and task lighting overhead. You can see your cards during a game. You can see your hobbies. We also have lamps and sconce lights for other activities like watching a movie or reading.

[Anonymous]

Try replacing the light with Energetic LED flush mount from Costco. This will save you money.

[Anonymous]

We are doing the modern recessed lighting that doesn’t actually have bulbs. You can select the brightness level (contractor suggested the 3,200 setting rather than 4 or 5k).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I added it to our living room and family room. I’m very happy with it now. You do have to pay attention to the “warmth” rating of the lights.

Initially our living room was done with 3000k and it was way too white. It looked like a doctor’s office. I hated it. Had another contractor come in and he changed them out to 2700k and it was so much better. We had him do the family room as well.

The difference between 3000k and 2700k is negligible. I’m surprised you saw that much of a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I added it to our living room and family room. I’m very happy with it now. You do have to pay attention to the “warmth” rating of the lights.

Initially our living room was done with 3000k and it was way too white. It looked like a doctor’s office. I hated it. Had another contractor come in and he changed them out to 2700k and it was so much better. We had him do the family room as well.

Agree with the warmth rating. I put 4000k lights in family room and kitchen (open floor plan) since the kitchen does not have any windows or natural light and we needed the lights on in the daytime. I hate it at night. It looks so clinical. Spent too much so I guess we are stuck with it for a few years

Are they recessed lights? It’s super easy to swap them out - and only costs like $10-12 per unit.