apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

yes, what you want is this, it's a beautiful thing, as the transformers are within the light fixtures themselves. But, pull them toward the front of the wall cabinet, not against the back.

Seagull Lighting (lighting manufacturer) sells undercabinet lights which are tiny frosted xenon bulbs in metal holders that "clamp" onto a specially coated wire carrying the current. The wire rests in a small (1/4 inch) plastic track that you cut to the desired length and install on the underside of your cabinets (sticky tape & screws, very easy install).

http://www.seagulllighting.com/Low-Voltage-Linear-Lighting.htm

We bought them because the lighting is practically invisible. And the xenon bulbs are much more energy efficient and cooler than halogen puck lights. And the replacement bulbs are cheaper than equivalent-lumen halogen bulbs, too.

Apparently these lights are popular with museums and retail displays because they don't cast shadows. And you can space the little bulbs as close or far apart as you want.

The only downside is that you have to buy the transformer based on the number of lights you plan to install. But the Seagull distributors can help you figure out what size transformer to buy (100A, 200A, etc).

We installed the transformer below the kitchen sink where it was easy to hide and easy to access later if necessary. The tracks were **so** easy to install. And bulbs clamped on in minutes.

FYI, if you plan to use this lighting system, you will need an electrician to wire in the transformer for you. But you can do the rest.

Tip: If you're planning to run the tracks on either side of the transformer (like we did with lighting left and right of the sink), by code the Ambience wires are not allowed to run behind drywall. So your electrician can run Romex (the black wire) behind the drywall and you can use the Seagull "boxes" to connect the Romex to the Ambience wire. It takes about 5 minutes even without caffeine.

Another idea to hide any wiring that goes from the units into the wall and the lighting itself is to install 2" height trim pieces to the bottoms of the cabinets. This is what was done to our previous place whose cabinets looked like yours. The trim matched the cabinets and looked like an integral part of them because the door bottoms lined up with the join thereby hiding it.

BTW, nyc code is for BX cable (metal spiral type sheathing) behind drywall so you cannot do romex. But your electrician would know that anyway.

BTW, looks like you are doing a great DIY job!

One warning about the Halogen pucks. I tried to do it on the cheap and bought the Hampton Bay pucks from Home Depot. They're very inexpensive, but the bulb life is disappointingly short and the replacement bulbs are almost as expensive as the original lights. This means long-term cost is pretty high. Next time I woudl go with zeon or LED.

Two other suggestions...

1. You probably don't want a light under each cabinet. That's what I thought too, but as I began to experiment I realized by kitchen was going to start looking like the sun!
2. Make sure that the lights you get can be dimmed. You'll realy want them dimmable.

This looks like a perfect opportunity to ask my stupid question -- how do I screw into the (particle-board) bottom of my cabinets? Will screws hold in particle-board?

Thanks for the great tips -

Wendy - I have heard alot about the xenon and I think that is what I am leaning towards now.

Thanks Jamie - it has been an experience but we are getting there.

Adam - do you think that if I used the xenon lights under each cabinet (instead of the halogen that you used) it would still look too bright?

Thanks again everyone I appreciate all the tips

Chickpea, if you go to your local hardware store in the screw section there will be screws there specifically for chip board.

Oh! Great! :) Thanks Ben!!

I've wanted to do this project for a long time, but have been looking for lights that would work without wires. Like batteries.
Has anyone ever seen such a thing, except for those closet touch lights which are too large?

Stacy,

I haven't paid enough attention to the xeons yet to know for sure if they'll be too bright. Buy a half-dozen and tape them with electric tape to the underside of your cabinets as a test before you drill anything out.

By the way, if you mount these lights totally underneath the cabinets and DON'T want to drill into them, then you MIGHT want to install some kind of ledge or something just past the front edge of the underside of the cabinets, so you're not looking at the side of the pucks, or whatever they end up being. Especially since the bottoms of those cabinets look kind of high. And especially if there is anyone in your household that's kind of on the short side, height-wise.

off the subject but i would have primed & painted the walls before installing the cabs. this might help someone else with a similar project.Also
there are xenon fixtures that can be hardwired under the cabs in single or connected units. These are about 1 inch thick.