I'd go with cans, not track lighting. But then I have dogs and I always avoid anything the might attract dog hair! I also like the clean look.

We put cans/pot lights in our kitchen ceiling 13 years ago, and I only just redid the kitchen this summer. All I had to do was add one more pot light!

I had track lighting many years ago in the library of a house we lived in at that time. It had a 32 ft long wall of bookcases, and this was excellent for lighting the books. I think it's better used in that way than in lighting a kitchen.

We also installed under cabinet lighting 13 years ago. It made a HUGE difference! Again, I was able to re-use them with this remodel. A couple of bulbs burned out when they were unwired, but other than that, no problem at all.

For that amount, I'd go with cans as well. You can put LED's in regular cans, so that's not an issue.

That's approximately $185 per light. Agree with the above. We just finished our kitchen and the price for installing cans (including the LED bulbs) was less than what you have been quoted.

Agree with cans assuming you can have this done for a similar price - it will look a lot better than tract lighting. Also holes are pretty easy to patch up - I wouldn't worry about what you are going to do in a remodel in 10-15 years. That's a long ways away.

Sherri1058: how much did you pay per light and how many lights did you install? What region are you in? I'm in an expensive region (SF Bay Area) so everything costs a fortune.

I should also mention I live in a very industrial loft. Think diamond plate steel staircase, reclaimed wood everything, steel framed island. So I am not concerned as much about looks because track lighting is fairly common in spaces like mine.

Why don't you ask the contractor how much it would be for recessed lights? That way you have an actual apple/apples comparison.

Then I'd do hip industrial lighting.

rjknsf,

I personally prefer Monorail lighting. What are you looking to place in your space? I like the adjust-ability factor based on the season.

I think I was quoted $200/can light in the bay area by one contractor. Memory could be off though... We only ended up doing 2 of them plus 2 schoolhouse lights. If you like the look of the tract lighting go for it though.

I'm the contrarian here - hate can lights. We also live in an industrial loft and had track lighting when we moved in. Now we have some pendants plus under-cabinet lights. No cans. Anyway, can you even do cans (we wouldn't have been permitted to because the ceiling is concrete)

Thanks everyone. We will stick with the track lighting plan. The look works for us and it won't draw much attention. The monorail systems, while nice, are very difficult to install and very expensive from my research. The recessed cans are the most common but it isn't going to provide a solution that meets all of our unique needs. We plan to use three of the lights to highlight furniture that is currently unlit and gets lost in the shuffle. We have no plan to ever sell the place so resell value isn't a big concern and we can change the lighting in the future if we want to. We also have a number of interesting lamps that provide cool industrial spice including wall sconces from a battleship, a large caliber projectile from the Vietnam war, an old green stop light, and some other antique lights.

Sjhockeyfan: we can do cans in the kitchen area because it is beneath the lofted area. We actually have two poorly placed CFL cans at the moment that we will be filling in. Can't stand those things but it is mostly because it is CFL. I can't wait to have proper lighting!!

Rjknsf,

Can I ask why you think monorails are difficult to install? I have installed several of them in friends homes without a problem. They are a snap to fit in place. I located the transformers remotely, placed the track (one was a curved monorail and the other was the two line monorails), and hung the fixtures. The electrician came in and wired the transformer and the switch. It look less than 3hours to install a 30ft track with 16 different heads.

You can get retrofit led lights to fit in the CFL cans. Before scratching those cans you might check it out we have done this to some of ours. Find the retrofit can bulbs on eBay for great prices.