Kitchen under cabinet lighting

m4rmite · 17 Apr 2018 at 21:49

OK, i read the SPEC ME threads and think..lazy so and so's.

Having looked around the tinterweb until i'm blue in the face i need help- out comes the humble pie.

Recently fitted a new kitchen and just sorting the finishing touches.
I am now on the hunt for under wall cabinet lighting - preferably led strips.

I can find the lighting per se but as i need to span a gap from the left set of wall cabinets to the right (separated by the extractor hood) i can't seem to find the connecting wiring that i could use.

Any guru's that have gone through this experience of know of a site that sells the bots i need, the connecting wiring would go behind the splashback that effectively connects the wall cabinets.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regy53 · 17 Apr 2018 at 22:01

What lighting have you found

Pho · 17 Apr 2018 at 22:02

If you go down the smart lights route e.g., Philips Hue you can cut and join with CAT6 cable.

This explains everything you need to know, with diagrams: https://www.reddit.com/r/Hue/comments/3pj9dp/successfully_split_and_extended_the_hue_light/

m4rmite · 17 Apr 2018 at 22:06

Regy53 said:
What lighting have you found

This kind of lighting but not limited to it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/WenTop-Wat..._1_7?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1523999121&sr=1-7

Regy53 · 17 Apr 2018 at 22:13

m4rmite said:
This kind of lighting but not limited to it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/WenTop-Wat..._1_7?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1523999121&sr=1-7

I have that it’s ok now the best bust you just want to search for led two pin

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0...QL65&keywords=led+strip+connector+2+pin&psc=1

eBay may be best for the connectors we also did the same cut and went round the back of the cooker

-Ad- · 18 Apr 2018 at 07:51

The strip in the link above isn't good enough for under cabinet lighting (W/m too low). Then there's the silly colour temperature, are you building a morgue/lab?

You want 10W/m or 14W/m for undercabinet lighting and aim for a high CRI like 80/90. Cheap LED strips like those will look terrible with an awful sharp white/purple light and colour rendition (CRI) will probably be terrible (which they don't list) so any food under that will look way off what it should. For a kitchen grab some IP65 strip and put it in an aluminium profile with frosted diffuser.

Have a look on Hi-Line lighting for some good quality kits. I've been running these for years and they look fantastic compared to the cheap crap out there. CRI80+, 4000 or 3000k light temp, waterproof, 3yr warranty.

https://www.hiline-lighting.co.uk/g...te-led-strip-smd2835-cri80-5060440711794.html
https://www.hiline-lighting.co.uk/g...d-strip-smd2835-144w-cri80-5060440711190.html

PSUs etc: THe cheaper IP20 and IP40 ones do a sterling job.
https://www.hiline-lighting.co.uk/gb/83-non-dimmable

glitch · 18 Apr 2018 at 13:46

Absolutely do not skimp on the led strips, or anything else for that matter. -AD- is spot-on with talking about high CRI and suchlike. High output, high CRI strips in a quality mount with a decent diffuser is where you want to be.

I'm going for dimmable in my kitchen and while more expensive than the lesser options, the quality difference is night and day.

paintguy · 18 Apr 2018 at 14:20

m4rmite said:
I can find the lighting per se but as i need to span a gap from the left set of wall cabinets to the right (separated by the extractor hood) i can't seem to find the connecting wiring that i could use.

In my current kitchen I couldn't find a connector long enough to bridge a gap so ended up cutting and splicing one to make it longer. It runs a few metres from one side of the kitchen right to the other.

For my new kitchen that'll get fitted over the next few weeks I'm pretty set on Ikea Omlopp. Reasonably priced, modular and infinitely expandable, can have separate power supplies in different parts of the room linked to the same dimmable remote. Seems like a typical Ikea no nonsense solution.

Street · 18 Apr 2018 at 21:59

Pho said:
If you go down the smart lights route e.g., Philips Hue you can cut and join with CAT6 cable.

This explains everything you need to know, with diagrams: https://www.reddit.com/r/Hue/comments/3pj9dp/successfully_split_and_extended_the_hue_light/

This is definitely the way forward. The Hue strips are great, I've got several around the house. Cutting them and resoldering them is fairly straightforward too.

Buffman · 18 Apr 2018 at 22:14

paintguy said:
In my current kitchen I couldn't find a connector long enough to bridge a gap so ended up cutting and splicing one to make it longer. It runs a few metres from one side of the kitchen right to the other.

For my new kitchen that'll get fitted over the next few weeks I'm pretty set on Ikea Omlopp. Reasonably priced, modular and infinitely expandable, can have separate power supplies in different parts of the room linked to the same dimmable remote. Seems like a typical Ikea no nonsense solution.

Did cutting /splicing work? Where did you order from?

I have a similar situation where I want to extend a cut led (from 2m led 2m cable, then 800mm led)

paintguy · 23 Apr 2018 at 18:38

The Craig said:
Did cutting /splicing work? Where did you order from?

It was 10 years ago so can't quite remember lol.

But I simply bought a connector that was made for the lights I had and extended it.

GSXRMovistar · 23 Apr 2018 at 20:26

I used strips/kit from Hi-line a couple of years back, very happy with it. Two different zones with one split across units with an extractor in the middle.

Lots of daft colours to make your kitchen look funky but also decent whites for when cooking.

However doing it again I'd probably go with Hue strips (which weren't available back then in RGBW) as it would integrate with the rest of the house.

Obligatory pic of the lights

m4rmite · 23 Apr 2018 at 20:33

Thanks for the info Ad ordered from Hi Line and fitted them tonight.

Looks good and well impressed. So's the wife so got a few brownie points.