Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
joshing

Undercabinet lighting- Do now or later?

marvelousmarvin
10 years ago

With the trending backlash against overhead florescent lighting, it doesn't seem like kitchens are getting enough light.

The spotlight from recessed lighting can only give you so much light in a kitchen, and so undercabinet lighting is becoming more and more important.

It seems like LED will become what everybody eventually uses for undercabinet lighting as LED prices continue to drop, but I still find LED prices too high right now.

Right now, I don't have any existing undercabinet lighting that the LED would replace. That was never really a problem before with all the light that the overhead flourscent lighting gave off. But, its not like I really need undercabinet lighting right away because I also get a lot of natural light.

My question is whether or not I should continue to wait a few more years for LED prices to continue to drop and then finally install LED undercabinet lighting?

Or, should get LED undercabinet lighting now, especially since I haven't installed my tile backsplash yet? Once I put in the backsplash, will that affect the difficulty or expense of putting in undercabinet lighting?

This post was edited by marvelousmarvin on Fri, Feb 7, 14 at 0:22

Comments (11)

  • andreak100
    10 years ago

    If you can fit it into the budget, I would do it now and reap the benefits of having that task lighting. If you don't have the budget to get the lights, maybe you could have the wiring put in place for when you are ready.

    I would imagine that you will have your Sparky in to do other things while doing your kitchen - some have a minimum fee that they charge for coming out...so, your savings in not getting it done with the rest of the kitchen may be offset anyway by him needing to come back.

    Truth is, I don't find it all that expensive. Our UC lighting came out to about $500 - but it's because we went dimmable. I would have easily shaved off another $100-150 if I would have gone standard.

    Also, really, how long do you want to wait? How much is "enough" for the prices to drop? I've been watching the prices of the Ecosmart 4" LEDs for over a year now from when we originally decided that we were going to use those for our can lighting and in that time they dropped exactly $0.00. Same with the UC lighting that I was planning on using.

    Back years ago when I sold computers, I'd have people who would come in and give me the same, "I'll buy when prices come down." In the meantime, they were without the enjoyment of that product, which is a real shame. If you are waiting, I would ask myself - how much with it cost me to get what I want now, how much do I *reasonably* expect the cost to go down in a year (or whatever)...divide that cost by the number of months (let's say you expect it to drop $60 in a year) and you come up with your "cost of enjoyment"...so $5 per month to have what you want and not have to call someone back later to do it and disrupt your life.

  • _sophiewheeler
    10 years ago

    Now. It's harder to do later if you don't get the logistics worked out before the backsplash goes in. You may need an extra outlet for the transformer. Or you may want to do the outlet in or under the cabinet. It's not something easily or cheaply done later after the finishing touches.

  • ianace
    10 years ago

    I just bought mine on Saturday I spent $750, but I did the toe kick and under cabinet lighting. The dimmable transformers 3 @$130 a piece were the most expensive part? The strips were 12.95 a piece. Do it now, you will be glad you did!

    Good luck.

  • zaphod42
    10 years ago

    We're doing LED undercabinet and had the electrician price as an upgrade so we could see the difference. Upgrade from regular undercabinet to LED for four 'locations' or strips was under $300. If you're already doing undercabinet lighting the upgrade is well worth it. If you haven't figured for any undercabinet in the budget, that's different.

  • schicksal
    10 years ago

    If it's going to run off a switch, absolutely now while things are apart.

    FWIW we ended up with about 15 4" Cree LEDs as overhead lighting in our ongoing kitchen rebuild. They only cost about $37ish when bought in a 16 pack, and I'm sure the energy savings from having them will more than make up for the price difference between what they cost now vs. a year from now.

  • Evan
    10 years ago

    LED strip lighting can be quite affordable. I'm using Armacost lighting, and the total cost for both under and over cabinet lighting is about $200. Granted we have a small kitchen, though. The electrician charged $50 to put an outlet hidden above the cabinets controlled by a switch (not included in the $200). The tape lights are super easy to put in yourself. I'm sure an electrician wouldn't charge much if you want to have it done.

  • marvelousmarvin
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Its a good thing I asked this question because I didn't think it would be a hassle to retro fit LED undercabinet lighting.

    After all, it seems like most people retrofit that LED lighting. Although, maybe, it would be easier for them since they already had some form of undercabinet lighting like fluorescence in place that they were replacing.

    But, its not just the cost of LED that makes me a bit reluctant to install them right now. I'm also concerned about the light the LED gives off.

    When I looked into LED lights a year or two ago, I didn't like the light color- I thought it was a bit too cold. I figured with time, that color would improve and warm up but I don't know if it's reached that point yet.

    If LED light is going to be cold, then why anybody replace their undercabinet fluorescence with LED? It seems like the coldness of the light is the main complaint about fluorescence, yet I don't see any improvement in that area with LED.

    What's the advantage of picking LED for undercabinet lighting vs fluorescence for undercabinet lighting?

  • ianace
    10 years ago

    The first LED lights were cool white. They look blue to me and I would not have chosen them. Now, they make them in warm white which looks more like the incandescent light from a light bulb. You can also get them in multi color with a controller to change to whatever color you like. Just make sure you get the warm white and you will be happy.

  • robo (z6a)
    10 years ago

    Here are some things I didn't understand about led lighting BEFORE the electrician finished and wish I did, costly mistake. This is my strictly amateur hour understanding of how it works:

    1) it's better to run special, thin low voltage wiring in the walls to your light runs instead of regular white romex. But it needs to be specially rated to go in the wall.

    2) in some low voltage lighting systems you control the whole thing without a wall switch e.g. remote control, control box near transformer. If you want a wall switch, one way you can do it is to run regular high voltage to a special dimmer (lutron dimmer) and then run the high voltage to a transformer which steps down your house high voltage voltage to low voltage, then run low voltage wire out of the transformer to your lights. You can direct wire the transformer or get one that plugs into an outlet. Outlet is cheaper and easier to find lights for in my experience if you have one hiding somewhere.

    3) usually to retrofit, you find an outlet hiding somewhere you don't mind stashing the transformer (the biggest part) and run the wiring and lights, both of which can be very unobtrusive, off that. For example the outlet above your fan cab.

    4) had I been thinking, I would have put a switched outlet above my cabs for this purpose (see: costly mistake). The outlet has to be accessible, you can't wall it over with crown or anything.

    5) it's worth looking at the kits from places online to familiarize yourself with the parts and what is required to help visualize what you will need for your setup.

    6) if you end up going with one of the guys online they will do up a little picture based on a kitchen layout you send them to help you with installation.

    7) you can run the wires in the wall if rated for that, in the backsplash, above the cabs, or drill little holes and run them right in the cabs. Different people prefer different ways depending on their setups.

    8) they come in warm and cool color temperatures. Warm is around 3000k, neutral is around 4000k and cool is 5000k and above. 2700k is theoretically candlelight and 6000k is morgue. Apparently the rated color temperatures can be quite variable in real life.

    9) it turns out outlets in cabinets, which my whole plan A was based on, aren't to code everywhere :(

  • andreak100
    10 years ago

    You'll want to look for "warm white" ones - in the area of 2700 to 3000K so that they don't appear cold. They've been out for a while, you just need to know that's what you're looking for.

    One thing that you will find is that when (if) you dim LEDs, they don't take on the extreme yellowish hue that incandescents do, they instead remain truer to the original color temperature, so that may still seem "cold" to you when you are used to the extreme yellow incandescent dimming. But, it's not that they are becoming a colder color, just that they aren't increasing warmth as much as a incandescent.

    Some of the advantages of LEDs vs fluorescent to me is a longer light bulb life, not having to deal with the mercury issue of getting rid of the flourescent, and they burn slightly cooler than fluorescents. Typically, they are more easily concealed because they are smaller and most come in a greater number of lengths (depending on exactly what you get).

  • jackfre
    10 years ago

    I have a bazillion 4 and 6" LED cans in the ceiling of the new kitchen. We went with fluorescent under cabinet lights and are very happy with them.

    I would suggest you do it now!