Kitchen Cabinet Lighting

[Mike Turner]

Gents...
I am in the midst of building and installing new cabinets in my kitchen...
My question is lighting.... In addition to ceiling pot lighting, I am planning to install under cabinet puck lights to light my working counter surface.... I have one run (52") of (12" wide) upper cabinets 30" above the work surface of (25" wide/deep)by approx. 60" long....The upper cabinets will be in line with the back side of the working counter....(ie. there will be approx. 13" of work surface in front of the upper cabinets....
My question is this... should the puck lights be installed closer to the front of the upper cabinets (rather than in the center). Also, how many pucks would you suggest for that 52" run... My thought is three... (ie. approx. 16" apart.
Next question: I have a couple of other runs of other upper cabinets, approx. 18" above counter surface, but only need the pucks for ambient lighting... what spacing would you suggest?? These runs will be 36" and 72"
Last question: I have heard/read that for this application xenon (sp.)lights are preferable to halogen lights... xenon throwing less heat that the halogen.... also can you put a xenon light into a halogen recepticle?
Lots of questions... Any input will be greatly appreciated...
Thanks in advance...
Mike

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[Jamie Buxton]

should the puck lights be installed closer to the front of the upper cabinets (rather than in the center).

Yes, you want light in the middle of the counter, not to the rear.

Also, how many pucks would you suggest for that 52" run... My thought is three... (ie. approx. 16" apart.

That works. Me, I find "regular" 20W pucks run real hot. I'd relamp with 10W bulbs, and space the pucks closer together. Or use something like the Seagull Ambiance linear lighting stuff. (http://www.seagulllighting.com/Low-Voltage-Linear-Lighting.htm)

also can you put a xenon light into a halogen recepticle?

Yes -- presuming they're the same shape and voltage, and the xenon bulb has no higher a wattage than the halogen.

[Jim Becker]

I went with low-voltage mini-tracks with Xenon bulbs for this application. They are very unobtrusive and withing the transformer's electrical limitations, you can add/subtract lights to increase/decrease light levels as needed. They also generate a lot less heat. The initial investment is probably a little more than typical "puck" lights from the mass-marketers, but I personally think the end result is better, both short and long term.

[Jim O'Dell]

At our previous house I installed the halogen puck lights as a retrofit. LOML really REALLY liked the task lighting aspect. But I will find an alternative to the puck lights this next go round. The heat has no where to go. I even re-lamped them with the zenon bulbs, but still a lot of heat. It melted some of the plastic pucks and discolored several of the glass lenses over time. I'm thinking of designing in a longer (taller?) bottom lip to the upper cabs to help hide a T5 fixture. Of course, by the time I get my shop up and running and have the money to buy wood for cabinets, all this lighting stuff will have changed a couple times! Jim.

[Roland Chung]

Jim-

Could you post a link for the mini xenon track lights? I've held off installing my own undercabinet lighting because I wasn't sure which brand to get. Your positive experience works for me.

RC

[Ken Garlock]

What Jim said.:)

We have Xenon under cabinet fixtures from Kichler Lighting. Most lighting stores have them as Kichler is a major player in the lighting market. Go to the Kichler website (http://www.kichler.com/kichlercatalog.jsp), and select "cabinet lighting" and "utility."

[Jamie Buxton]

Jim-

Could you post a link for the mini xenon track lights? I've held off installing my own undercabinet lighting because I wasn't sure which brand to get. Your positive experience works for me.

RC

I believe Jim Becker and I are talking about the same thing. See my above link to the manufactuter's page. The best online source is http://www.rinutonedistr.com/sealowlinear.html.

[Jim Becker]

I used WAC's Linear system. The lamp is shown at http://store.yahoo.com/ylighting/linsysmod110.html and other components should be able to be seen at the same site. Y-Lighting was a good vendor; my local electrical supply also carries their products and the only reason I didn't buy these particular parts from them was that they didn't stock them at the time. (They did have the other WAC low-voltage products I used throughout my kitchen project)