how to wire for undercabinet lights

[ahreno]

I've been googling for a while and not finding much useful information, everythign I find seems to be for adding in undercabinet lighting to a finished kitchen.

I have my walls totally open and would like to add two sets of undercabinet lighting, one for each side of the room (galley kitchen layout).

I'd like each set controlled by it's own switch (one switch by sink and other switch by stove).

Each side of the room has a "gap" in the cabinets so wiring will have to be in wall. (One gap is the sink and the other gap is the stove)

Could someone explain to me how and where to run the wiring? I obviously will run 14/2 to each switch, but from there should i run 14/2 to a junction box on each side which will be behind the cabinets and then run 14/2 to each section of undercabinet that will be controlled by that switch and just leave the wire sticking out of the wall at the height of the bottom of the cabinet for my rough inspection?

would love any help!

 

[personalt]

Is there enough coverage at the bottom to hide the transformer? The last one I did had a decent size transformer so I put it up above the cabinet. I came from the swtich into a junction box that I mounted to the top of a cabinet(and put a cover on). For the prewire I just ran 14-2 from the swtich to above the cabinet.

I then ran low voltage wire from the transformer and came out just under the cabinet. When the cabinet was installed I drilled the back of the bottom lip and then cut a small hole in the drywall just under this hole and then fished it through. But I could have came in the back cabinet too...

See how many lights your transformer supports.. if you need more then one transformer then you need to run more 14-2 from one side of gap to the other, otherwise you can run low voltage from one side to the other..

 

[ahreno]

The cabinets aren't built... they will be built by me and my carpenter and won't be fancy at all... I could probably build them a bit longer to hide the transformer. I don't have the lights picked out either yet. I assume i'd have to run the low voltage before drywall goes up... would you say the first thing i should do is pick out which lights i'm going to use?

 

[PaulD]

Are you intent on LV lights? Why not use 110V lighting so they can be dimmed? I had 110v Xenon lights installed under the cabinets in my new house so I could dim them. No external transformer to deal with. Xenon also comes in a LV version which has the transformer inside the light fixture so that would also take care of the transformer issues if you want to go the LV route. However, the LV approach does nto allow dimming from the wall switch.

 

[ahreno]

Are you intent on LV lights? Why not use 110V lighting so they can be dimmed? I had 110v Xenon lights installed under the cabinets in my new house so I could dim them. No external transformer to deal with. Xenon also comes in a LV version which has the transformer inside the light fixture so that would also take care of the transformer issues if you want to go the LV route. However, the LV approach does nto allow dimming from the wall switch.

I'm definately not sold on LV... 110 would be fine. do you have a pic or link to what you bought? I doubt i will have the need to dim them but I guess you never know...

 

[electron]

Keep in mind that those Xenons tend to get hot, and bulbs are expensive to replace. There are some companies with some really nice LED based products now, which are extremely bright, so I would take a look at those as well.

 

[briankelly63]

Undercabinet track lighting..... should be mounted toward front bottom of cabinet shielded by a front moulding... you can adjust the number and spacing of bulbs... check out:

Juno Lighting


its low voltage, small electronic transformers, cheap bulbs (malibu landscape bulbs), low voltage wiring can be run and hidden more easily...

 

[dutchyn]

There are some companies with some really nice LED based products now, which are extremely bright, so I would take a look at those as well.

We're strongly considering the wares of environmentallighting.com. They have some nice linear (non-switching) dimmable power supplys, and natural/soft light LEDs. Any others have experience with them?

Chris D,

 

[icellama21]

If you are going to use 110V flourescent or other hard-wire, then leave a 14/2 wire dangling out of the wall right at the bottom edge of your cabinets(or an inch higher and notch the bottom), depends on construction. These take a piece of romex directly.

Most other 110V lighting systems rely on a "plug", makes them more remodel friendly. The above will work for these too, but you'll have to install an outlet under the cabinet, make sure it is protected, etc. For these consider putting the outlet in the cabinet above and running the interconnect wires(to chain the fixtures together) along the bottom of the cabinets.

If LV, you need a place for a transformer. Above the cabinets works well, then run the LV wire.

 

[PaulD]

I'm definately not sold on LV... 110 would be fine. do you have a pic or link to what you bought? I doubt i will have the need to dim them but I guess you never know...

I used 110V version of the lights found at lumentask.com However, they also sell LV versions as well as LED style.
They do get warm but not as hot as Halogen. I have not found heat to be a problem. I picked up a few spare bulbs and I did not consider them overly expensive. They have a very long life.
These units dim very nicely and my wife really likes how she can have the over or under cabinet lights dimmed down for background or accent lightning.

 

[Photon]

We have xenon fixtures under our cabinets in our two year old house. Wall switches provide power to the fixtures, and each fixture has its own off-low-high switch. I like this switch arrangement because of the flexibility it offers. When we set a TV under a corner cabinet, it was simple to power off that light fixture. This techology runs rather hot, and we found we better not store the chocolate chips on the bottom shelf or it turns into a chocolate lump. If I was starting over, I'd be looking carefully at LED lighting.

 

[Lershac]

http://www.seagulllighting.com/Linear-Lighting.htm

I used these, low voltage and dimmable. Track based so you put up the track and then position the lights in any place and number along the track you want. Kinda pricey, but the finished product looks great! The transformers get pretty warm, especially when dimmed, so I put them in a custom cabinet that has some invisible venting to help with that.

 

[electron]

Hi Chuck, welcome to CT! I really like the system you mentioned, can you share how much your setup cost? I was hoping to find an LED based solution like this, but looks like I'll have to wait a little longer for that.

 

[Lershac]

Hi Chuck, welcome to CT! I really like the system you mentioned, can you share how much your setup cost? I was hoping to find an LED based solution like this, but looks like I'll have to wait a little longer for that.

Hey. Sorry to take so long to reply, I think I spent around $7-800 for everything. But I also lit alot of area, I have all glass cabinets on the upper instead of a furr-down (sp?) to display my wifes depression glass.

Some pics of the kitchen for finished product look in real life. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009...mp;l=b6a8e63461

 

[judge_l]

Awsome kitchen! I have a favor to ask though, please hide all the pictures so that my wife doesn't see them and get any ideas