This is a re-posting of my issue that I had posted in the Lighting forum, but looking at the forum, it seems that it has had almost no action in days, and I have an electrician hopefully coming back next week. I'm wondering if anyone here has run into this issue, or has any feedback-

Posted by jess111 (My Page) on

Thu, Feb 21, 08 at 21:53

Hi all! I'm a lurker in several forums, but this is my first post on GW!

I'm remodeling my kitchen and have new cabinets in. Here's my situation-Cabinets are set up U-shaped, in a room thats about 11x11 around the wall perimeter. Several years ago, we had the soffit removed and the ceiling replaced, so at that time 4 recessed canisters (using R30 bulbs-not sure of diameters) were installed. Now, because my kitchen layout changed, adding deeper & taller cabinets in areas, 3 of those 4 lights fall very very close to the cabinets and cabinet crown. The edge of the trim for these 3 lights falls within an inch or 2 horizontally, and about 4 or 5 inches vertically from the cabinets. I am worried about the heat or light from the lights damaging the cabinets, though it really hasn't seemed to hurt the overall state of lighting in the kitchen. There is a bit of shadow beneath a couple of cabinets now, mostly in the corners and to the sides of the cooktop, which lays at the center of the back wall and in the middle of 2 corner cabinets where 2 of the lights are close.

I see many more lights recommended here than what I have, but the 4 cans seem to light the floor area adequately I think. I also have 2 smaller recessed above the sink area, and am adding undercabinet xenon lights all around. I am also swapping out the incandescents for CFL bulbs, for energy efficiency and to reduce the heat of the lights on the cabinets. I really really am hesitant to be patching more areas of ceiling, and saw the eyeball recessed trims. I was thinking that if I swap out the trim kits as well and use the eyeball kits, I could shield the light from shining directly on the cabinets. Would this be an acceptable solution? Should I really worry about damage from the icandescents or CFLs on medium/darker maple cabinets? I should add that these lights are on ALL evening, as the kitchen, breakfast area, and family room are all one big, adjoined room where we spend the majority of our time.

I would love some advice or feedback to keep me from destroying my ceiling. Thanks!