Kitchen under cabinet lighting (part I)

As I mentioned before, the IKEA OMLOPP under cabinet lighting series I had planned to use was discontinued. It took me a while to find what I believe is an optimal solution, so I'll explain why I did what I did (and didn't do what I didn't). Let's start with the basic assumptions and requirements.

ASSUMPTIONS

My solution assumes that there is a power outlet inside of the top cabinets controlled by a wall switch. If you don't have one, my approach would not work, unless you get an electrician to add it. It can definitely be done afterwards, but I would recommend doing it during the construction phase. Depending on the number of walls, you may need a couple (or more) outlets. I used two, both controlled by the same switch (you may want to have them controlled by the dedicated switches).

Kitchen under cabinet lighting plan

REQUIREMENTS

1. ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Must be LEDs.
2. SIMPLICITY: I know that there are lots of options available: different colors/hues/temperatures, WiFi automation, smart home integration (Alexa et al), dimming, etc. I wanted to keep it simple: an ON/OFF wall switch and a single color/hue.
3. REPAIRABILITY: At some point, the lights will fail, so I wanted to make them easy to replace, repair, or upgrade.
4. APPEARANCE: They had to look neat: minimal exposed wiring, few holes, light fixtures hidden out of sight.
5. COST: My budget was under $250.

WHY I DID NOT USE IKEA UNDER CABINET LIGHTING

Two reasons. First, after the cheaper IKEA OMLOPP lighing series was discontinued, the only available option (STRÖMLINJE) was prohibitively expensive. It would cost me over $600 for the basic setup. Second, say you are willing to invest over $600 into IKEA lighting. You get it done and then IKEA discontinues the series. What do you do if one of the lights fails? Replace the whole installation? I did not want to run that risk.

WHY I DID NOT USE PHILIPS HUE (OR OTHER SMART LIGHING)

Two reasons. First, a Philips hue setup seems a bit expensive. Second, I saw many reviews from customers complaining about the HUE bridge (or whatever controllers other systems use) failing and other functional issues. And these things are expensive to replace. I checked not only Philips Hue, but the similar devices from other makers, such as FEIT Electric, and others. I just think that all the features that these smart devices offer (changing colors, voice control, automation) are not necessary for the kitchen undercabinet lighting and the extra functionality is not justified by the added complexity. IMHO, a simple wall switch should do.

WHAT I DID USE

After doing a lot of research and posting questions to the electricians forums, I got nowhere (I mean, I got some suggestion, but they were too general). Then I found this article: How to design an LED Light Strip System - A three part blog series [Part 1]. And it all started to make sense. I read the FAQs, but still had a few questions, so I submitted a project request with the outline of my kitchen set up and got a response explaining every single aspect of the job from the parts to the process.

I will cover the implementation in the next post.

P.S. It looks like IKEA introduced a new MITTLED under cabinet light series, so it may be worth considering. I have no idea how good the MITTLED series is or how long it will last before IKEA discontinues it. Also, I don't know how you install the strips under the cabinets that do not match the available strip sizes. For example, I'm not sure if you can install two 15" strips under a 30" cabinet because the instructions suggest that the brackets must be screwed into the side panels, but maybe you can install brackets in the middle of a cabinet, dunno. Then there are other cabinet sizes, like 21", that you cannot cover using the existing strip options. Assuming you can make it work, the MITTLED strips look good and the price is not bad. One more thing: the MITTLED lights are 2700K, so if you don't like warm/yellow lights, look elsewhere.

NEXT: KITCHEN UNDER CABINET LIGHTING (PART II)

PREVIOUS: MY OWN PRIVATE CHERNOBYL

FIRST: INTRODUCTION