Hi Steve, here are some photos of the light we don't like because it's not bright enough. I decided not to resize the photos, in case you need to see them big?? Sorry for blowing up the screen!

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you have!





lit, from below


with weird digital noise


With the cover:

What’s your question?

It’s not hard to replace... if you are comfortable working with household wiring.

I would replace it with a fixture that uses regular bulbs. Then you can put in LED bulbs of whatever brightness and color temp you want.

Yes, we want to change it. It’s not bright enough, and this is in the kitchen so we want it nice and bright.

I would be happy to be able to use regular lights, but in another thread, Steve said he could tell how to change it without rewiring.

You want to replace the fixture. To rewire a fixture is something completely different.

See those two keyhole shaped slots with the screw in them? Those two screws are what hold the fixture to the electrical box in the ceiling.

Steve and pj are the go to guys for detailed instructions like checking to be sure all power is off in the box you’re working on.. but basically this is what needs to be done...

Turn off power switch. Loosen the two screws. Twist the fixture slightly so the screw heads can come out of that larger round part of the slot. Hold the fixture and drop it down a little. There will be wires coming from the fixture that are attached to the wires in the electric box in the ceiling. Untwist the wire nuts and separate the fixture wires from the wires in the box.


You can buy any fixture you want. I think pj is right. If you like that style fixture, they are easy to find in a home improvement store. Just buy the one with regular screw in sockets and use LED bulbs. You can get warm white, soft white, or daylight. You could get a two or three bulb model if you want more light.

The fixture you have up there now is probably like a $25 light, I’m guessing. A replacement with sockets would be similarly priced.

Another possibility is to install under cabinet lights to illuminate your work surface. I have those and never use the overhead lights in the kitchen. Several options you could go with there.

WTG, so your explanation is not requiring right??

Re this:

quote:

install under cabinet lights

Where does the electricity come from? I don’t think we have a lot of outlets. I’ll check tmrw, and maybe take some more photos.

I think part of the reason is that the cabinets are dark and the countertops are sort of dark...

I like the idea of under cabinet lights but I wonder if it would solve the problem, I want the whole room to be bright.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
I would replace it with a fixture that uses regular bulbs. Then you can put in LED bulbs of whatever brightness and color temp you want.

Good luck finding one of those. They've been obsolete for quite some time.

Overhead lights are called general lighting. Under cabs are task lights.

For me, overhead lights don’t work well in a kitchen. My body blocks the light when I stand at the counter working. Under cabinet lights give me lots of light exactly where I need it.

My under cabs are hardwired and there’s a switch next to an outlet. We had them done when we remodeled our kitchen.

You can get the same kinds of fixtures with plugs, but that takes up outlets and looks not as nice. Some fixtures are linkable, where you just have a special plug that connects one fixture to another, and you only have one plug to stick in the receptacle. There are Rechargeable batterY LED Lights but I have no idea how long the lights stay on.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
I would replace it with a fixture that uses regular bulbs. Then you can put in LED bulbs of whatever brightness and color temp you want.

Good luck finding one of those. They've been obsolete for quite some time.

Really? Is that recent? Menards still had tons of them like a year ago...

Edit: https://www.menards.com/main/l...292833010215&ipos=18

..and that’s for two pack of fixtures...

But I see that the vast majority are LED.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:

Turn off power switch. Loosen the two screws. Twist the fixture slightly so the screw heads can come out of that larger round part of the slot. Hold the fixture and drop it down a little. There will be wires coming from the fixture that are attached to the wires in the electric box in the ceiling. Untwist the wire nuts and separate the fixture wires from the wires in the box.

Good advice with one change. Some houses are wired such that turning off the switch does not cut power to the fixture. Best you shut off the circuit breaker. If in doubt, shut off the main or invest in a little tester.

Find a new light you like and change it out. I'd look for a fixture of 40 watts LED or greater. If it is too bright you can put it on a dimmer.

3500K is the standard residential color temperature, but a 4000K will seem "brighter". Some like a 5000K temperature "daylight" color but it makes food look terrible.

quote:

Another possibility is to install under cabinet lights to illuminate your work surface. I have those and never use the overhead lights in the kitchen. Several options you could go with there.

That gets complicated. Best to start with the ceiling fixture.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Really? Is that recent? Menards still had tons of them like a year ago...

I know the incandescent downlights are difficult to find. I suppose home centers still have fixtures but they are not popular. 150 watt equivalent LED lamps are hard to find in a size that will physically fit in those fixtures.

And the ones with the integral LEDs are usually much more even as far as light distribution.

I have no experience with smart bulbs but if you can get a fixture with sockets that gives you some options, too, that wouldn’t require installing a dimmer, right?

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Really? Is that recent? Menards still had tons of them like a year ago...

I know the incandescent downlights are difficult to find. I suppose home centers still have fixtures but they are not popular. 150 watt equivalent LED lamps are hard to find in a size that will physically fit in those fixtures.

And the ones with the integral LEDs are usually much more even as far as light distribution.

Gotcha.

I have to admit, I positively hate overhead lighting and basically never use it. Basement is the exception. We replaced the old fluorescent fixtures with those LED flat panels from Home Depot. Lots of light but it’s very commercial-looking.

Sorry to derail the thread...carry on!

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
I have no experience with smart bulbs but if you can get a fixture with sockets that gives you some options, too, that wouldn’t require installing a dimmer, right?

True. The problem will be finding one of 150 watt incandescent equivalence or higher. They may exist but I haven't seen one.

And dimmers are very easy to install.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Really? Is that recent? Menards still had tons of them like a year ago...

I know the incandescent downlights are difficult to find. I suppose home centers still have fixtures but they are not popular. 150 watt equivalent LED lamps are hard to find in a size that will physically fit in those fixtures.

And the ones with the integral LEDs are usually much more even as far as light distribution.

Gotcha.

I have to admit, I positively hate overhead lighting and basically never use it. Basement is the exception. We replaced the old fluorescent fixtures with those LED flat panels from Home Depot. Lots of light but it’s very commercial-looking.

Sorry to derail the thread...carry on!

Not at all.

The kitchen with the 300 watt fixture in the center was the standard through the 1960's but the basic problem was never addressed. You end up working in your own shadow. Luminous ceilings fixed that problem but no one wants those any more.

The modern replacement is recessed downlights, installed over the front edge of the countertops. Problem mostly solved, and under counter lights work even better.

Ok, now that I'm not trying to read this on my phone...

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:

Turn off power switch. Loosen the two screws. Twist the fixture slightly so the screw heads can come out of that larger round part of the slot. Hold the fixture and drop it down a little. There will be wires coming from the fixture that are attached to the wires in the electric box in the ceiling. Untwist the wire nuts and separate the fixture wires from the wires in the box.

So, that sounds like rewiring to me (but what do I know). How much skill/knowledge of wires is needed to do this?

quote:

Good advice with one change. Some houses are wired such that turning off the switch does not cut power to the fixture. Best you shut off the circuit breaker. If in doubt, shut off the main or invest in a little tester.

We will shut off the circuit breaker in the main box just to be safe.

quote:

Find a new light you like and change it out. I'd look for a fixture of 40 watts LED or greater. If it is too bright you can put it on a dimmer.

So one of the things that really bug me is there's no way to get info about the fixture that's there without taking it apart. I'm worried that this is already considered a "bright" light and we'll end up with the same thing...

Also, 40 watts sounds not very bright to me, but is it brighter bc it's LED?

quote:

3500K is the standard residential color temperature, but a 4000K will seem "brighter". Some like a 5000K temperature "daylight" color but it makes food look terrible.

This is tricky, I don't know the numbers of the light I like (temperature or overall brightness)... I only know I don't like it right now. :P

Anyway, thank you both for helping me with this!!