We recently had recessed lights installed in our kitchen and living room. We chose the gimbal style of trim since the ceiling is vaulted and eyeballs looks dated, IMO. Initially I was shocked by the lack of light they provided. The light was a yellowish hue, as if they were on a dimmer. I took out one of the bulbs and noticed they were 130V. What?? The US electrical system is 120V, so why 130V? I did a bit of reading and discovered this class of bulbs was introduced for power savings and longer life. The major downside is that you trade a little power savings for a lot less brightness. I found an article stating that 130V results in a 14% power savings but provides 25% less light! If we didn't need the extra light and were ok with the color it wouldn't be a problem, but we do. My electrician claimed ignorance. I ordered 120V bulbs from the same manufacturer (PAR30 Sylvania Capyslite). As expected the 120V lights were much brighter and white, not yellowish. These are only 50W, not 75W, since our ceiling could only support a shallow can which is only rated for a max of 50W. The 75W Halogens at 130V might be bright enough. The Halogens are still not as nice as the CFL R30s in the rest of the house in terms of light dispersion and brightness. The halogens have a glare to them that stings your eye a bit, whereas the CFLs produce a soft white, evenly distributed light. Of course the downside to CFLs is they take a while to reach full brightness. I haven't tried any incandescent R30s but will probably put a few in the hallway and other areas that don't stay on long enough to merit a CFL.
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