Kitchen under cabinet lights

[R.C.Anderson]

In the middle of a new kitchen build, and I was planning on some LED strips for under the cabinets to give a bit more light on the work surface & reduce shadows (and probably also on the plinths, as I like the look).

Problem is, I can't seem to find any info online regarding what sort of brightness I should be looking for, or what lights would be good for this use (most seem to be for ambient lighting etc), and with options that would range from ~£30 to several £100s, I'm a little overwhelmed with options.

Has anyone done similar, and got recommendations?
Requirements:

• I'm not too fussed about RGB (may consider dependant on receiver positioning, cost difference etc), but might be good for the plinth lights.
• Dimmable option would be nice, so plinth lights can be tuned.
• They'll need to be OK to go round 90deg corners (either with a cut & corner join, or bent direct)
• Strings can be split & joined (I don't mind a bit of DIY if required), so gaps (such as around fridge/freezer) can be bridged.
• Will need to turn on in the last condition after turned off at mains, rather defaulting to "mode 1" etc (will be controlled from main light switch)
• Doesn't need to be smart controlled.
• Needs to be bright enough for task lighting on full brightness

 

[the-evaluator]

When we did our kitchen/diner about 5 years ago we ended up going for Hafele 833.73.123 strips. They're not dimmable or RGB as we didn't want that. They're nice and bright against our sparkly black quartz worktops.

They can be cut every 5 cm and then joined using interconnect pieces so they'll go around 90 degree corners just fine.

The drivers (3 in total) are on top of the cupboards and they're switched using 2 way switching so we can turn them on/off eitehr from the dining room or kitchen.

We're still very happy with them and I'd have no issues recommending them to someone.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

TBH they look much the same as a load of other, generic strips, but at least it gives me an idea on brightness.

They're quoted at ~420Lm/m, so I guess that's the rough mark I'm looking for.

 

[the-evaluator]

Re-reading my post, it reads that we specifically went for those lights. It wasn't like that, we told the kitchen designers what we wanted and that's what got delivered.

 

[ash_scotland88]

We have the screwfix LED tubes for undercover lighting. Plenty bright enough for us.

 

[pp111]

I have done this in a few kitchens. 3W per meter is fine. What I did was connect them in to the ceiling light so they come on at the same time as the main kitchen lights. That works really well. Even in daylight it removes the shadows from under the cabinets. 12v lighting transformers plug directly in to the kitchen lighting so its really simple. No additional switches. If you completely DIY then it's a little fiddly to cut the lights to the right length and wire them all in but I highly recommend it, the end result is amazing.

 

[Semple]

I've used hue strips for our under counter lights, they're surprisingly bright on white, and obviously come with the added smart functionality.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

I got all my kitchen lighting from here https://www.hiline-lighting.co.uk/, at the time (4 years ago) there weren't many places doing decent/bright RGBW strips suitable for a kitchen environment, also Hue weren't offering RGBW, only RGB.

Since then I've replaced the controllers with a couple of Gledopto which has made them full Hue compatible.

Give Hiline a look they have plenty of bright white strips which would fit your requirement.

 

[jpaul]

If I were goimg to get additional under cupboard lighting, my requirement would be ~4200K daylight'ish, or, at least, changeable white frequency.
currently use 4200K in bathroom+kitchen gu14 spots, cooking under natural light's more pleasant.

 

[Donnie Fisher]

I've tried various RGB efforts and quite frankly they are a waste of time if you're really wanting to 'see' by the light. Great for colour effect, but not great for general light as the RGB's dont give off a nice event white spectrum I've found.

After various iterations have these things fitted . . . LED tubes like mentioned before. Available in various lengths which just plug either directly together in a line or round corners via a short connector cable. Very simple, very effective and are certainly bright enough to light our kitchen softly all round when on, but also decent for something directly under the light. As an example, I used them as the light for digging out a skelf in my hand.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/KBUCLED9WW.html

( You may need sone google-fu to find the various lengths and colours, but I have the 3k ones)

Admittedly, I dont think they are dimmable, but a side benefit is that they connect directly into 240V with no external transformer.

 

[simo182]

I got all my kitchen lighting from here https://www.hiline-lighting.co.uk/, at the time (4 years ago) there weren't many places doing decent/bright RGBW strips suitable for a kitchen environment, also Hue weren't offering RGBW, only RGB.

Since then I've replaced the controllers with a couple of Gledopto which has made them full Hue compatible.

Give Hiline a look they have plenty of bright white strips which would fit your requirement.

When you say controllers, are you talking about the drivers? Probably different terminology for the same thing but hue compatibility with my existing lights would be very appealing! Assuming that means you can set timers, scenes, connect to motion sensors etc

 

[GSXRMovistar]

When you say controllers, are you talking about the drivers? Probably different terminology for the same thing but hue compatibility with my existing lights would be very appealing! Assuming that means you can set timers, scenes, connect to motion sensors etc

So the 'Driver' is the power transformer that takes your 10~220V AC in and converts it to say a 24V DC output to power the lights. In some instances you can connect a driver directly to a bulb/strip but I'n most cases you would then go through a controller giving you the ability to dim, manage colours or access remotely.

So the controllers I added just make the lights appear within Hue no different to any other Hue buib so as you say I can use timers, scenes, motion sensors or just ask Alexa to turn things on/off.

 

[simo182]

So the 'Driver' is the power transformer that takes your 10~220V AC in and converts it to say a 24V DC output to power the lights. In some instances you can connect a driver directly to a bulb/strip but I'n most cases you would then go through a controller giving you the ability to dim, manage colours or access remotely.

So the controllers I added just make the lights appear within Hue no different to any other Hue buib so as you say I can use timers, scenes, motion sensors or just ask Alexa to turn things on/off.

Great thanks for clearing that up, really useful!!

 

[brendy]

I went with the led 'rope' from Hartington Heath, they offer a multitude of types from diffused rope lighting to more common led strips.
https://hartingtonheath.com/?s=Strip&post_type=product

The stuff I bought was in 1,2,5 and a 20m length to go under cabinets and the ceiling bulkhead. Its ip rated, dinmmable and can be gotten in 12v and 240v depending on needs.
Most products can be cut at 1m sections or preordered to length and I was surprised how (relatively) inexpensive it was. I went for warm white under cabinets and pure white in the bulkhead tp contrast with the warm white spots and also bought a rgb strip to go behind the tv on the wall. I spent quite a while searching god silent dimmers as a lot squeal when not running full load. The Varilight Vpro dimmers work great and are programmable for leading/trailing edge setups.

 

[jpaul]

The Varilight Vpro dimmers work great and are programmable for leading/trailing edge setups.

agree these are best manual ones,, but still no hybrid button+wireless(smarthings/scenes... etc) option from varipro?
hartingtonheath has one I hadn't seen before - maybe no good, if it won't work via a standard hub

They don't say what their white light is - with 6500K in a kitchen, you can't see gas burners, and its pretty harsh.

 

[brendy]

agree these are best manual ones,, but still no hybrid button+wireless(smarthings/scenes... etc) option from varipro?
hartingtonheath has one I hadn't seen before - maybe no good, if it won't work via a standard hub

They don't say what their white light is - with 6500K in a kitchen, you can't see gas burners, and its pretty harsh.

I didn't go just as far to need smart ability. The new hearing system we get in will but didnt see the point with lights as we only leave the hall cabinet lamp on when out.
Regarding the burners, I'd sooner use ceiling spots for cookong and under cabinet for ambience.

 

[jpaul]

Regarding the burners, I'd sooner use ceiling spots for cookong and under cabinet for ambience.

the point is, I always check white light type - if you inadvertently buy/use 6500K lights in a kitchen, you'll find it difficult to see gas flames,
it's like warm colour lights also 'messing' with food colour.