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Kitchen remodel

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Dumprdog

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Remodeling the kitchen with new cabinets and want to put under and over cabinet lighting. Over cabinet strictly for ambiance and under for useful purposes. I am figuring rope or led for the top to give the effect I want and static color change, don't want to be having a party over top of the cabinets.  Underneath, I'm not sure what I would want but it will serve a purpose and be functional, not for aesthetics. Many of the led strips are USB operated and I don't know what to think about those as far as reliability or safety. I plan to run wire to an existing outlet for power to both light systems. Looking for ideas on styles and mounting them. 

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If you're reasonably handy, using LED tape and building you own units is very easy.  This stuff is like $1/ft, and I used 2 rows on a 1" x 1/16" strip of aluminum cut to size for under each cabinet. No light valance molding needed! I think there's now strips that are powerful enough that only one is needed. I install an outlet inside the row of cabs, plug in a 12v supply, and use bell or thermostat wire to wire them up, soldering it on and using jumpers to power both strips.  For rentals like in the pic I've decided the power consumption is so low that they should just go on with the room lights, so the outlets are wired to the overhead light switch. I see no reason you couldn't use the same stuff to wash the ceiling from the top of the cabs.

 

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21 mins ago, gellfex said:

they should just go on with the room lights, so the outlets are wired to the overhead light switch.

I would prefer they worked independently of the overheads. And want them to be remotely turned on/off. Do the led's put out usable light for working or only ornamental? The under cabinet lights need to put out enough light to work by. Over cabinet is strictly ambiance 

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Just now, Dumprdog said:

I would prefer they worked independently of the overheads. And want them to be remotely turned on/off. Do the led's put out usable light for working or only ornamental? The under cabinet lights need to put out enough light to work by. Over cabinet is strictly ambiance 

Obviously you can switch them however you like, there's even versions where you can change the light color! And as you can see in the pic there's plenty of work light, I have these in my own kitchen too. I hate recess ceiling can lights, I like to put a light/fan unit in as room lighting and undercab as work light. I had to rewire my kitchen for them all to go on because my wife would never turn on the undercab and sink pendant light and just cook in the dark! 

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Too funny, but in my house I'm the chief cook. My wife is a nurse practitioner and after I retired I assumed the role, that way I make what I want. I don't think I want the under cabinet lights on unless I'm working there. I'll need to give it some thought. We just began this project and are going with custom cabinets, I could save myself work and have the builder install them prior to installation. Probably not, I am semi handy and don't mind doing by the work, I just need to get a visual in my mind of what I want to have done. Any ideas I can get will help the proces.

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The way it's wired in my kitchen now is the main light switch powers the switches for the sink pendant and undercabs. So they can be turned off while the fan light is on, but can't be on while it is off. They only take like 20w, it's not a big deal to have them on with the main lighting.

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9 hours ago, Dumprdog said:

Too funny, but in my house I'm the chief cook. My wife is a nurse practitioner and after I retired I assumed the role, that way I make what I want. I don't think I want the under cabinet lights on unless I'm working there. I'll need to give it some thought. We just began this project and are going with custom cabinets, I could save myself work and have the builder install them prior to installation. Probably not, I am semi handy and don't mind doing by the work, I just need to get a visual in my mind of what I want to have done. Any ideas I can get will help the proces.

My wife does all the cooking in my house. She uses our under cabinet lighting all the time. 

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1 hour ago, gray gables said:

My wife does all the cooking in my house. She uses our under cabinet lighting all the time. 

What type of lights are installed under the cabinets?  Are they hard wired to a separate light switch or connected with overhead lights, or does the fixture have an on/off switch?

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I have low voltage led light under cabinet and they are great. I dropped a low voltage line from every light to the crawl space under the house  into a large junction box where the transformer lives. A dedicated switch in the backsplash control 110v to the transformer. 

Prior to the led’s I had little halogens and they were on a dimmer switch which was nice for night time. The led lights I have now do not dim. It is full on or off. You may want to think about that as I do think that there are dimmable led’s available these days. 

 

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1 hour ago, Kml said:

I have low voltage led light under cabinet and they are great. I dropped a low voltage line from every light to the crawl space under the house  into a large junction box where the transformer lives. A dedicated switch in the backsplash control 110v to the transformer. 

Prior to the led’s I had little halogens and they were on a dimmer switch which was nice for night time. The led lights I have now do not dim. It is full on or off. You may want to think about that as I do think that there are dimmable led’s available these days. 

 

Like the idea of dimmable led's. The thought of full blast all the time does not interest me, having the option of dimming them makes great sense to me but I worry about the the brightness of leds under cabinet being conducive to providing enough light to work by. I don't think I would go through the trouble you have in hooking them up, these are just lights; the easier I make it the easier it will be to fix if something goes wrong. Nice thought though. I'm not as young or spry as I once was and the crawl space is something I do my best to avoid unless absolutely necessary.

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On 7/1/2020 at 9:04 PM, Dumprdog said:

I would prefer they worked independently of the overheads. And want them to be remotely turned on/off. Do the led's put out usable light for working or only ornamental? The under cabinet lights need to put out enough light to work by. Over cabinet is strictly ambiance 

when i did my kitchen over many moons ago, the lighting choices were limited, went with 1 st generation led strip 110 volt , with a dimmer switch, Highly recommend keeping whatever you choose on a separate switch.  

 That dimmable under counterlightning is perfect for the 2am snack , when not ummm, fully clothed.

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