When using recessed lights, there is more to the mix than the watt equivalency of the incandescent to the CFL's. You will notice that your fixtures more often than not use a reflector type lamp. When a lamp is enclosed in a recessed fixture, you need a reflector type lamp to gather the light that is emitted from the filament and direct it out of the fixture. Even a high wattage CFL may not give you the results you need because you can not direct the light out of the can without a proper reflector. There are recessed fixtures that offer the correct "trim" to be used with CFL's. You will either need that type of trim or use a CFL floodlight lamp. The CFL floodlight is actually a spiral CFL in a reflector flood envelope, this directs the light out of the can.
Don't ever use standard incancescent lamps in a cans without a trim that is reflectorized. Because the standard lamp does not have a reflector, it can not direct the light out of the can so a lot of it is wasted and the heat generated is not relfected out either so the internal thermal cutout in the can will make the light cycle on and off with temperature.
Be sure to use floods as opposed to spots lights. They will throw a bigger lighted circle at the floor 9 feet away than a spotlight will.
Whenever you use a recessed fixture, can or troffer, you lose the benefit of your ceiling acting as a diffuser to even out the light in the room. Your ceiling will be "darker" than it would be with surface mounted fixtures with a wrap-around difusser. This is why a good lighting design is important from the get-go, so you won't be disappointed with the result and end up trying to add more fixtures to get the light you need with out making it look like an afterthought.
