Under cabinet Light Suggestions

jamiedolan · 03-31-2009, 02:05 PM

HI,

We are considering under cabinet lights in some areas of our new kitchen. We are designing cabinets right now, and trying to decide how much room we would need to leave for under cabinets lights. I have looked at several under cabinet fixtures that are around 1" pr 1-1/4". Couple questions:

1. Are there any under cabinet fixtures that are shallower than 1"?

2. How much depth under the cabinet do you find that you need to basically hide the lights? i.e. with 1" lights, is 1/4" of trim on the front of the cabinets enough to make the lights look fairly hidden from view?

I've never had under cabinet lights before and am just trying to get a feeling here for what will look right.

Thanks

Jamie

Tiger Electrica · 03-31-2009, 03:21 PM

If you don't want to see the lights the solution is to have a carpenter add trim to the top cabinets. Even then, you'll see the lights sitting at a nearby table.

www.TigerElectrical.com

rustic · 03-31-2009, 04:08 PM

i am doing seagull ambiance lighting under my cabinets. i think the total profile is about 3/4''.

the site i got them from is littmanbros.com. they are not as easy to install like the fixtures are tho.

Bob Mariani · 03-31-2009, 04:57 PM

I installed Xeon lights in my new cabinets that are recessed into 3/4" MDF. No protrusion except 3/16" cover plate. Very nice. these are less than 9/16" deep

Scuba_Dave · 03-31-2009, 06:29 PM

I installed LED hockey puck lights to replace halogens
Three lights, nice crisp white color - 4w total power for all 3
I'm going to add 2-3 more when we redo the kitchen
Then add another 2-3 on the other side

vsheetz · 03-31-2009, 07:42 PM

If you don't install a light rail to hide them behind, you'll want to recess them into the bottom of the cabinet (if you have a separate cabinet bottom from the floor of the cabinet.

Halogens run way hot (don't ask how I know...), I would suggest to get low voltage LED units.

clintb · 04-01-2009, 12:44 PM

I installed some LED puck lights available at Lowes. Utilitech is the brand, and they're three pucks with two LED's in each puck. I can't seem to find the listing on their site right now.

I just got them installed and absolutely love the color rendition. They don't put off the sickly blue so typical of LED lights. It was speculated, on candlepowerforums.com, that the LED is a very good unit from Nichia. I have to agree; the color is very much a soft white, much like an incandescent bulb. Very thin profile, use an RCA jack for power connection to the wall wart / transformer (use an RCA extension cable for more length).

edit:
Found them on Lowe's site.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...il=&lpage=none

skipjack · 04-01-2009, 12:59 PM

It's expensive... and probably not practical... but I still think it's cool stuff:

http://www.lighttape.com/