If the drywall is still not up, you have the option of putting in low voltage LED lighting (24V or 12V).

Take a look at http://www.environmentallights.com

We just got done installing our environmental lights LED strips, they are awesome!

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scottdim that looks GREAT and exactly what I'm looking for. I don't get all the pieces I have to buy though. It all looks so 'greek' Can you help list exactly what pieces you bought and ball park on cost?

I'm also looking at LED undercabinet lights, and like the looks of these ones (although I'm sure I'll run into problems shipping to Canada, sigh). Are they bright enough? Warm enough light?

They are bright enough. I've also installed strips from environmentallights. There are options available for warm soft or neutral white light.

I've had a good experience with the company.

tkme4ard, The total cost for 102 inches of total light bars and all the necessary accessories to go with it was around $500-600. Ill have to pull the invoice to see all the different pieces. It is true, theres a lot of different things you need to buy to make these work.

Light bars, Power Driver, power cords, connector cords (if needed) and a few other various connectors. Please click on my link I have attached as it has a PDF of the instruction manual which goes into detail on everything you need.

Willis, they are very bright and get the job done for sure. We have the Natural white color which is a more pure white. They also sell these in soft white which would probably suit you better if you are looking for a warmer light. See this link for all the various options.

http://www.environmentallights.com/categories/1306_2402_3417/under-cabinet-light-bars

Here is a link that might be useful: Environmental Lights Undercabinet LED light bar manual

Someone has also suggested elementalled. I called then and they were very helpful telling me exactly what I needed -- I need about 150 inches, and it seems that the cost was less than what was quoted above.

Here is a link that might be useful: another LED source

Here's a sample pic

Scottdim, The lighting looks very nice. What are the lengths of the cabinet and light strip/strips in the above photo?

@footwedge the total cabinet length is 77 inches, i purchased 2 24 inch light bars and one 12 inch bar for a total of 60 inches for under this set of cabinets. As you can see in the pics, you can attach the bars end to end with the included connectors. It puts out more than enough light, we are definitely pleased with them.

The costs were slightly high for our lighting because we had to purchase 2 power supplies and the related parts and accessories to go with them. With a little better planning we probably could have got it done with one and would have run the low voltage lines ahead of time (we had 120v lines run so had to work with that).

The parts necessary to power the lights in the picture above include

1-35 Watt 24 VDC Waterproof Power Supply (LPV-35-24

1-Female Mini Power Supply Plug and 20" Cord
(FemaleMiniPlug) - connects power supply to low voltage plug

1-PowerPlug Luminaire Disconnect (Disconnect 102) - attaches the top 2, if you don't get this you can use standard twist on wire connectors, but this makes it cleaner.

1-Under Cabinet Light Inline Switch (6 feet long)
(RAUCIS72) - plugs into the female mini power supply plug and has an on off switch. I think there are other options here but we wanted to have the ability to control this bar of lights separately

1-LED Dimmable Under Cabinet Light 12 inch Neutral White
(NW12)
2-ED Dimmable Under Cabinet Light 24 inch Neutral White
(NW24)

Hope that helps.

I have purchased LED light bars from environmental lighting but have recently found a seller in Taiwan selling what appears to be the identical products for a lot less. I am in the process of building a 3000+ SF custom house with a rather large kitchen and required about 18 feet of under cabinet lighting. Using the dealer from Taiwan saved me quite a bit. I am in no way benefiting from recommending this guy, only a very satisfied customer. I honestly cannot tell the difference between his LED light bars and the ones from Environmental Lighting. Don't get me wrong, EL is a wonderful company and has alway provided excellent service. Here is the ebay listing for the Taiwan dealer:
http://cgi.ebay.com/11-8-Dimmable-Linkable-LED-Cabinet-Light-Warm-White_W0QQitemZ320430104741QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9b1f60a5 His website is: http://www.photonier.com/pdt_view.asp?sn=63 and he will sell outside of ebay. Right now he is only selling the 12" and 6" bars which are what I bought and they are really easy to link together to form whatever length you need. I did need to get a few extra connecting wires but bought them from Environmental Lighting and the connectors fit just fine (like I said before, these light bars seem to be identical except for prices). Hope this helps. BTW, I am very, very satisfied with the great light output of the Taiwan LED light bars. I used the warm white version which is not quite as bright as the bright white ones but still plenty bright. Also, I lucked out and paid no import duties for these light bars. I also ordered transformers and dimmers from this same dealer which work great.

Norida;

Thanks for the above information. I've been emailing with this supplier and asked him outright -- he says that they are the same exact product as environmental lighting . . .
Still conversing with him regarding what I need and the price.
Just in case, how much would import duties be?

I was not able to determine the import duty rates from Taiwan but figured even if I had to pay them, the lights would still be less expensive than buying from US dealers. Like I said, I lucked out and did not get charged for any duties. My total bill for my lights, transformers, cables, dimmers came to just under $450.

It seems that noralighting also has the same light strip too. It would be advisable to shop around. The actual production costs are low.

I have some more info from a company that makes under-cabinet LED lighting. From looking at some of these posts and seeing some of the pricing, I know they are better looking, probably better priced, and all 12 V.
Feel free to email me and I will send you a PDF. Skp28@aol.com

I just wanted to say that I am now researching my last detail - UCL and I love this thread! Thank you all very much. This is wonderful information.

For those who are looking at the lumens / watt output

Claimed 86 lumens / watt
http://lighting.greentorch.com/exit/p/GT-L-STRIP.html

David

Here is a link that might be useful: greentorch

OMG-- I have No Clue about any of this. Our cabinet guy said run 120 hardwire...our builder said low voltage...get there this morning and Builder had Electrician to run 120 line but not like the cabinet guy said. He only ran one line to somehow hook up to the 2 cabinets on one side of the exhaust hood. One on the other side. And on the other wall one coming out there???? This would be for the glass upper cabinets. I think he did the same for the lower undercabinet lighting.
I saw you recommend EW profile powercore / talea-hp / maxlite.... But I have No clue how to compare or what I am even looking at. Can anyone tell me--at this point what is a good product--gives the best type of lighting that is pleasing to look at?????

I thought He was going to wait until I had time to discuss it with the Lighting company I meet with tomorrow????
This building a home-- is So darn Stressful! HELP

The eW profile power core is a nicely thought out solution for 120V AC (direct wire).