Cheap Under Counter Lights

[enzo1]

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[Halm]

Originally Posted by look 171

Four Light Undercabinet by Kichler Lighting : 12214WH : StylesofLighting.com

Let try again

I am pretty sure that these are what I installed. Quality product. But like I said above, too much heat when on high. We have had to rearrange the shelving to move food or food related products higher in the cabinet to get away from the heat. Low light / mood mode they are fine.

[1990C4S]

Some people must have missed the 'Cheap' part of my question.

Or maybe I have to say 'super-cheap'. It's all relative...

I am looking into 5050 LED strips. They seem decent.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Halm

I am pretty sure that these are what I installed. Quality product. But like I said above, too much heat when on high. We have had to rearrange the shelving to move food or food related products higher in the cabinet to get away from the heat. Low light / mood mode they are fine.

Most people I know usually put heavier dishes in the lower shelves of the upper cabinets for easy access so usually the slight heat isn't an issue.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Some people must have missed the 'Cheap' part of my question.

Or maybe I have to say 'super-cheap'. It's all relative...

I am looking into 5050 LED strips. They seem decent.

Well, you pay cheap, you get cheap. Its an electrical component after all, do you really cheap? IN the long run, the hassle to change and repair under counter lighting is a PITA. A few hundred vs a few bucks over a hundred is worth it IMO. I never do cheap, because we have to responsible for them in the any years to come. Not just one.

[schwarz633]

I used 1/2" diameter clear incandescent rope lighting. For the countertop lighting, I stapled clear plastic U-channel to the underside of the cabinets (2 pieces, 1 front & 1 back) and the rope is a friction fit in the U-channel. The upper cabinets don't have a soffit, so there's a 24" space between the cabinet tops and the ceiling. My wife has various decorative crap up there, so I also put the U-channel and rope lighting on the inside of the crown moulding that's around the top of the cabinets.

The switches control outlets that are in the wall just above the upper cabinets. The lower rope lighting cords pass through the inside of the upper cabinets and everything just plugs into the outlets.

Every couple of years I replace all of the ropes, but they're very inexpensive. It's a very low profile system and gives very even natural incandescent light to the countertop and decorative crap areas.

[1990C4S]

Does the rope light actually do anything as far as task lighting? Or it's just for appearance?

[schwarz633]

I would say adequate, certainly better when you turn it on than when it's off. It would be easy enough to buy a length of it and test it out. It's probably plentiful and on sale right now as well. Or maybe they're pushing LED rope now, I don't know. I ended up buying a spool of the incandescent rope for replacing the original "Christmas" rope that I had installed originally.