OH and I are having a difference of opinion of what to put on ceiling of kitches. Currently have a big old fluorescent tube which is sooooo ugly. We both agree it should go but what to have instead
Its a smallish kitchen with poor light anyway so needs to be bright. I want a swish halogen/spotlight style rack. He says it must be economical to run and cheap replacement bulbs.
Extra lighting under units etc is also a no no as he is pretty frugal with electricity (Tight if you like LOL)
Any ideas would be most welcome :)

I have the Halogen spot lights in my kitchen, they are great as you can move the individual lights around to light up different areas.  I do also have lights under units! But that is only because my OH is an electrician!!!  But you can get under unit lights that just plug into a normal socket instead of tracing wires through walls etc:

I also like the halogen lights that sit in your sealing, like spot lights I have those in my hall way as it used to be quiet dark being a narrow space, but it lights up brilliantly.
Sorry I have not been much help but I would go for the Halogen rack, although bulbs are a bit expensive it is worth it!!

My OH reckons that spots etc just cast shadows insrtead of lighting room and he is moaning about cost of halogens. Grrrr

I guess it depends on how they're installed.  My OH is an electrician and we have them in as many rooms as he'll let me!  Unfortunately he's not up for ripping out the old lighting we put in eleven years ago as I'd love to have these in every room rather than light fittings, but each to their own.

How about low voltage spots?  The bulbs last for years at a time and you can have as many / few as necessary for the space.  You can also pick surround colour for the fitting to match the ceiling.

We have inset lights in the ceiling of both the kitchen and the dining room which are on dimmer switches. make setting the mood very easy

Who spends most time in the kitchen BTW ? If it is you then I would suggest it is your decision on the lighting you need to make sure you don't accidently ruin his dinner because you can't see properly ;) :D

Lucy
xx

We have just put halogen spot lights in our bathroom, but you can now buy the energy saving halogen bulbs, yes they may be expensive, £16 for 3 in B&Q but they last a lot longer than normal bulbs

Low energy bulbs are the way to go if you want to be 'green' :) :) Halogen lights are horrifically greedy with electricity :( It is best to have a mix of lights in the kitchen for different areas/uses :) We have a pull-down light over the island eating area, two ceiling lights, about 10 halogen downlights in a pelmet that runs round the top of the wall units and over the sink and strip lights under the wall units. Definitely overkill :D :D But I do work for a lighting company :D :D :D We try to use the halogen downlights as little as possible - but they do give the best light for cooking/washing up :) :)

Daisy

I must admit OH has a real 'thing' for energy saving bulbs so this is another factor in the decision

I'm sure the Government have set a date from phasing out the old fashioned light bulbs in favour of low energy ones, you just won't be able to buy the old style, so I would imagine hallogen lights will be the same.

Maybe halogens are improved since I looked at them for my kitchen but then (10 years ago?) they gave off a lot of heat.  And flourescents could give a funny cast to colours so I didn't want them spoiling the look of food.  So I just have incandescent.  I do wish I'd picked a better shade though.  The darn thing is closed at the bottom and open at the top and it fills up with dead bugs.  And the shade is tricky to take off every time I need to change a bulb.

Watching grand designs last night they used LED bulbs in place of some of the halogens. I believe they are exactly the safe but more econimcal. We have  spots in our kitchen which is small and they are great. You can also get these little stick on lights that are LED and battery powered (they last for years) that you could place under the units for a little more light and they use batteries so OH can still be tight :)