LED under cabinet lighting. self sticking stips

[John Gregory]

Any advice on using LED strips under the upper cabinets? Preferred brand? design or install "got ya" Best place to buy?

Thanks
John

[Adam Herman]

i am very happy with the ikea stuff we used. it is an aluminum channel with a diffuser on it. I plugged in the transfromer behind the built in microwave and hid the wires in the cabinet. mounted the switch through a hole in the bottom of the cabinet. a few colors/ lengths to choose from.

[Paul F Franklin]

I've used the system Lee Valley sells and am happy with the results....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

In our kitchen remodel last year, during the meeting with the contractor, electrical subcontractor and the cabinet maker, we discussed under the cabinet LED lighting. During the rough-in, boxes were placed in the wall behind where the upper cabinets were to be placed, a switch box mounted on a wall and all wired. When the cabinets were installed, they cut holes in the cabinet backs to expose the boxes which had outlets in them. The transformers for the LED lighting was placed in the cabinets, plugged into the outlets and a hole drilled in the bottom of that bank of cabinets and the LED tapes run along the bottom of the cabinets. They can't be seen unless you look for them and they work well!

[Bradley Gray]

check out outwater.com. huge selection of LED lighting

[Phillip Mitchell]

I'm interested in response as well. I have just installed under cab LED lighting (dimmer switch and 12v power supply) in my home kitchen remodel and really don't like the color/tone of the advertised "soft white" light from the LED strip that I bought from Amazon. It looks a whole lot more blue-ish than soft white. I'm looking for a more whitish, yellow (soft) color if possible from my LED strips. Anybody got any tried and true brands of LED strip lighting for the tone I'm looking for?

[Nick Nelson]

Kichler makes a good product, but not the cheapest.

[Eric D Matson]

ledwholesalers on amazon have reasonably priced decent quality products. They are linkable. I have had these installed for a couple years now with no fade, burnout, or problems. I have used the self adhesive flexible led strips prior to these. I found the leds would get hot and the adhesion would let go of the led side and droop down. Without being attached to the cabinet, there was no way to dissipate heat. On top of my cabinets, I used metal tape under the led strips and so far have been holding up ok. That has probably been 6 months. I can find the info on the power supply I bought if you would want.

https://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesalers-Linkable-Profile-Aluminum-1986WW/dp/B006JKEJS4/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1472823311&sr=8-24&keywords=ledwholesalers+strip+led

[Curt Harms]

We bought 16' rolls of strip LEDs from Amazon, may have been these. (https://www.amazon.com/HitLights-LED-Light-Strip-Installation/dp/B005GL5UG2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472822229&sr=8-1&keywords=led+roll+lights+3000k)We find the 3000k color very close to pure white. I expected some yellowish tint like an incandescent but nope, not to our eyes. I didn't care for just sticking them to the cabinet, figured if we had to replace them it'd be difficult so I ripped some 1/4" oak strips, put a spit coat of shellac on the strip to make them smooth then stuck the LEDs to the strip. 2 short screws hold the strip to the cabinet. Bought a 12 volt power supply similar to this. (https://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesalers-Waterpoof-Suppply-Transformer-3207/dp/B0034GUEY4/ref=zg_bs_5486425011_1) Used 18-20 ga. wire and small bullet connectors. There is some soldering required, the strips use copper pads to attach power leads. For over-the-sink lighting we have a couple puck lights like this. (https://www.amazon.com/Brightest-Cabinet-Lighting-Halogen-Replacement/dp/B00LMSB3AK/ref=sr_1_8?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1472822762&sr=1-8&keywords=led+puck+lights+under+cabinet) We like the strips because they produce a nice even light and if you want brighter either use a strip with more LEDs/ft. or use two strips side by side.

We did this project a few years ago before there were so many fixture, LED and power/dimming choices.

[rudy de haas]

I installed three sets of LED lights in our new bathroom:

1 - the cabinets have strip lights down the side. To make these cabinets I bought kits from Ikea, threw out everything except the mirrors, glass shelves, and the lights, and made the rest. The demo lights in the store were "daylight", the delivered ones "warm white" (i.e. yellow). Ikea has promised to swap them for white as soon as they get them in.. (3+ months now, and still waiting)

2 - the ones in the shower and above a set of built in shelves are "daylight" and very nice. They came as 30" and 12" strips respectively. Two concerns:

2.1 the clips for holding them aren't very strong - and, of course, are wider than the lights. I ended up using a few dabs of PL400 instead to avoid having to widen the channel they're in.

2.2 all three sets came with 120V/Ac to 12V/DC converters. These have to be accessible and be placed somewhere with air flow since they seem likely to over heat and eventually fail. Thus my ikea ones are on top of the cabinets (but out of sight); the other two behind removable wall panels with no insulation around them.

[Jim Becker]

I used the product from Lee Valley in our kitchen when I did a refresh last summer and really like the product. I've had no issue with the tape staying "stuck"...since this was a refresh of a kitchen space that's been in use since 2003 when I originally installed the cabinets, I chose to install some thin 1/4" thick "new" wood strips to mount the tape to to absolutely insure there was no issue with grease and grim "lurking", despite a thorough cleaning. It's not visible and nothing has even thought about coming lose in over a year so far.

[John Gregory]

check out outwater.com. huge selection of LED lighting

We have been looking at outwater. so huge it is confusing :)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Another benefit of the under-the-cabinet/countertop LED lighting is the minimal amount of electricity used. IIRC, when he installed them, the electrician said the total wattage for the entire under the cabinet LED strips (3 total) was 3 watts. In the evening, often those LED strips are the only thing we have on in the kitchen.

[keith micinski]

I actually like a solution that the box stores carry. They are color changing LEDs that are controlled by a remote. A kit comes with 4 feet and each transformer drives up to 8 feet. Usually what I do is just take the countertop outlet and run a new line up into the upper cabinet and plug the transformer for each unit I need in there.
http://m.lowes.com/pd/SYLVANIA-LED-Color-Changing-Flex-Light/3662054

[Jim Becker]

Keith, Lee Valley also sells the multi-color versions.

[Curt Harms]

Another benefit of the under-the-cabinet/countertop LED lighting is the minimal amount of electricity used. IIRC, when he installed them, the electrician said the total wattage for the entire under the cabinet LED strips (3 total) was 3 watts. In the evening, often those LED strips are the only thing we have on in the kitchen.

You're certainly right about minimal electricity usage. The strips I mentioned above replaced Xenon puck lights. The puck lights drew around 3 amps and would make the cabinet bottom warm enough to melt SWMBO's chocolate. Horrors!! :p. I checked the 120 volt draw of the LED setup with a borg stocked clamp-on ammeter. The number was low enough that I don't think I'd trust it.

[Jim Becker]

You're certainly right about minimal electricity usage. The strips I mentioned above replaced Xenon puck lights. The puck lights drew around 3 amps and would make the cabinet bottom warm enough to melt SWMBO's chocolate. Horrors!! :p. I checked the 120 volt draw of the LED setup with a borg stocked clamp-on ammeter. The number was low enough that I don't think I'd trust it.
Sounds like my own experience exactly...those old Xenon lamps were hot, hot, HOT!