Cabinet Lighting | RS Components (2024)

FAQs

How many Undercabinet lights do I need? ›

Buy enough pucks to allow for one light for every 8 to 12 inches of cabinet space.

Under cabinet lighting is ideal for entertaining to provide a soft and inviting glow, or for accuracy when cooking and reading. Before you go ahead, it's worth having a look at some of the best ways to install mains powered under cabinet lights, so you can properly plan your dream kitchen.

The lumen output you are looking for should be between 400 - 1,000 lumen/ft.

Improperly set, or loose wires. If using a connector, the wire strand may not be making contact with the connection. Try stripping the wire sheath further back, or resetting the connection.

Multiply width of room x length of room x 1.5 = amount of total minimum wattage needed (assuming an eight foot ceiling). Divide by 60 to get the number of 60-watt equivalent bulbs required. Then, add up the wattage in each bulb in each fixture to figure out how many light fixtures are needed.

As a handy rule of thumb, a sitting room or bedroom will generally require around 10-20 lumens per square foot, while a bathroom or kitchen will need a stronger level of lighting, at around 70-80 lumens per square foot. To work out the lumens you need, simply multiply the square footage of the room by this figure.

Self-adhesive, battery-powered puck lights offer the easiest installation. Peel the protective paper away from the adhesive backing and press into place.

When installing low voltage under cabinet lights, you will have to take some special measures. You'll need a transformer to convert your home's voltage supply to a much Page 11 11 lower number, and if you plan to use any accessories, like dimmers, they'll need to be compatible with your lighting system.

For kitchen applications, we strongly recommend a color temperature between 3000K and 4000K. Why? Well, lights below 3000K will cast a very yellowish-orange hue, which can make color perception a bit difficult if you are using the area for food prep, so we don't recommend any lighting below 3000K.

Fluorescent fixtures are a classic type of under cabinet lighting and remain a popular choice. They are a good middle-of-the-road option if you do not need anything too fancy but still want all of the great lighting benefits.

Should you put warm or white light under cabinets? ›

If your kitchen is designed with cooler colors—grays, blues, greens, or white—you'll want cooler lighting. It should also be noted that color temperature and brightness is not the same thing. You can have very bright, very warm lights, or very cool, very dim lights, or vice versa.

If your countertop is reflective, install the LED tape lighting on the inside back of the cabinet lip frame with the LEDs facing towards your backsplash. This method helps eliminate unwanted light reflections and bright spots reflecting off your countertop.

LED cabinet lights, like most other LED lights, have a rated life of around 30,000 hours, though many will last far longer.

Mounting & installation

Strip lighting or puck lights should be mounted to the underside of the upper wall cabinets toward the front. Because the wall cabinets are generally half the depth of the countertop, mounting the lights in the middle, or worse, at the back of the wall cabinets will reduce the lit area below.

For maximum light output, mount the LED tape towards the front of the cabinet with LEDs facing down. To focus light on the work surface and also light your backsplash, position the tape light an inch or two back from the front of the cabinet. This mounting position works best with dull or matte finished surfaces.

Q: How Many Lights Do I Need for A 10x10 Kitchen? A: According to our specialist, it is suggested that a room is ideally installed with 1 light for every 4-5 square feet of space in the room. Therefore, for a 10×10 room, a good light solution should be installed with 10-12 led recessed ceiling lights.