Under cupboard kitchen lighting
Under cupboard kitchen lighting
Author
Discussion

SLacKer

Original Poster:

2,622 posts

229 months

Sunday 29th November 2009
quotequote all
Hi

I have tried the small strip lights as well as halogen downlights and I am not happy with either.

Anyone know of a mains operated LED (via transformer) solution or some such to be low power and cool in operation. I don't want the battery powered stick on jobs from B&Q but a more professional setup.

I would also like to have light under the cupboards just above the kick boards or even in them. Anyone got any pointers or experience.

Edited by SLacKer on Thursday 3rd December 15:34

miniman

29,163 posts

284 months

Sunday 29th November 2009
quotequote all
I just bought a set from B&Q, not battery powered, one transformer for 4 strips of LEDs. They were very reasonably priced, however the light is quite blue so might not be to everyone's taste. They don't seem to list them on the website though.

Gingerbread Man

9,173 posts

235 months

Sunday 29th November 2009
quotequote all
SLacKer said:
Hi

I have tried the small strip lights as well as halogen downlights and end am not happy with either.

Anyone know of a mains operated LED (via transformer) solution or some such to be low power and cool in operation. I don't want the battery powered stick on jobs from B&Q but a more professional setup.

I would also like to have light under the cupboards just above the kick boards or even in them. Anyone got any pointers or experience.
I was looking for under unit lights just last week. Sensio seem to be a good make for your problems.

I've also seen at a house we worked in lately, the use of a 'light rope' for kick board lighting, comes in a variety or colours and is flexible.

miniman

29,163 posts

284 months

Monday 30th November 2009
quotequote all
Gingerbread Man said:
SLacKer said:
Hi

I have tried the small strip lights as well as halogen downlights and end am not happy with either.

Anyone know of a mains operated LED (via transformer) solution or some such to be low power and cool in operation. I don't want the battery powered stick on jobs from B&Q but a more professional setup.

I would also like to have light under the cupboards just above the kick boards or even in them. Anyone got any pointers or experience.
I was looking for under unit lights just last week. Sensio seem to be a good make for your problems.

I've also seen at a house we worked in lately, the use of a 'light rope' for kick board lighting, comes in a variety or colours and is flexible.
Yep, that's the same stuff I was referring to above.

zcacogp

11,239 posts

266 months

Monday 30th November 2009
quotequote all
Could try these:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Me...

... but they are expensive.

(On a side note, I just dismantled a 21-LED GU10 bulb to do this:



OK, they are lounge shelves not kitchen, but you get the idea. They work very well, but are a very 'cold' blue light, which is not to everyone's taste. It doesn't suit the room in the picture above, and I'm wondering what to do about it.)



Oli.

aberdeeneuan

1,410 posts

200 months

Monday 30th November 2009
quotequote all
We've fitted some LED under lights in the kitchen just last week, not sure of the make though but work very similarly to the Sensio plinth packs.

They're not cheap though, we needed 11 metres and it came to about 500 quid as far as I can recall, but that runs round the top of the wall units (5m worth) and the bottom of all the base units (with the exception of the dishwasher).

davidjpowell

18,572 posts

206 months

Tuesday 1st December 2009
quotequote all
zcacogp said:
Could try these:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Me...

... but they are expensive.

(On a side note, I just dismantled a 21-LED GU10 bulb to do this:



OK, they are lounge shelves not kitchen, but you get the idea. They work very well, but are a very 'cold' blue light, which is not to everyone's taste. It doesn't suit the room in the picture above, and I'm wondering what to do about it.)



Oli.
How much night power do they have? I'm looking to change the illumination in a display cabinet and am wondering if something like this would do the job?

B16JUS

2,386 posts

259 months

Tuesday 1st December 2009
quotequote all
we used small decking lights ( about 10mm )cost £30 got 6 of them wire in line together look lovely.

rocksteadyeddie

7,971 posts

249 months

Tuesday 1st December 2009
quotequote all
Gingerbread Man said:
SLacKer said:
Hi

I have tried the small strip lights as well as halogen downlights and end am not happy with either.

Anyone know of a mains operated LED (via transformer) solution or some such to be low power and cool in operation. I don't want the battery powered stick on jobs from B&Q but a more professional setup.

I would also like to have light under the cupboards just above the kick boards or even in them. Anyone got any pointers or experience.
I was looking for under unit lights just last week. Sensio seem to be a good make for your problems.

I've also seen at a house we worked in lately, the use of a 'light rope' for kick board lighting, comes in a variety or colours and is flexible.
I used a light rope under the edge of my decking. You can't see the rope but the light it throws looks great, and was relatively easy to put in. Will also take a bit of yanking about if you have kids.

B16JUS

2,386 posts

259 months

Tuesday 1st December 2009
quotequote all
rocksteadyeddie said:
Gingerbread Man said:
SLacKer said:
Hi

I have tried the small strip lights as well as halogen downlights and end am not happy with either.

Anyone know of a mains operated LED (via transformer) solution or some such to be low power and cool in operation. I don't want the battery powered stick on jobs from B&Q but a more professional setup.

I would also like to have light under the cupboards just above the kick boards or even in them. Anyone got any pointers or experience.
I was looking for under unit lights just last week. Sensio seem to be a good make for your problems.

I've also seen at a house we worked in lately, the use of a 'light rope' for kick board lighting, comes in a variety or colours and is flexible.
I used a light rope under the edge of my decking. You can't see the rope but the light it throws looks great, and was relatively easy to put in. Will also take a bit of yanking about if you have kids.
plus if your having a party you can turn it into a strobe light effect lol

anonymous-user

76 months

Tuesday 1st December 2009
quotequote all
SLacKer said:
Hi


I would also like to have light under the cupboards just above the kick boards or even in them. Anyone got any pointers or experience.
I used downlighters, wired them to a PIR so they came on when you walked into the kitchen. If they need to be cool then you are stuck with CFL i would say which take a while to get to full brightness(LED seem useless in my experience).

zcacogp

11,239 posts

266 months

Tuesday 1st December 2009
quotequote all
davidjpowell said:
How much night power do they have? I'm looking to change the illumination in a display cabinet and am wondering if something like this would do the job?
Ummm, "some". Each strip is one of these bulbs:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Lighting/GU1...

... dismantled for their constituent LEDs and control circuits. I think the bulbs were rated as being equivalent of 40w when assembled, but they didn't seem quite as bright as a 40w filament bulb. Having said that, the strips pictured produce more than enough light to illuminate each shelf, and I'd have thought they would do quite well for a display cabinet. (They also produce no heat, which could be an advantage.)


Oli.


monthefish

20,467 posts

253 months

Wednesday 2nd December 2009
quotequote all
zcacogp said:
Could try these:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Me...

... but they are expensive.

(On a side note, I just dismantled a 21-LED GU10 bulb to do this:



OK, they are lounge shelves not kitchen, but you get the idea. They work very well, but are a very 'cold' blue light, which is not to everyone's taste. It doesn't suit the room in the picture above, and I'm wondering what to do about it.)



Oli.
Shelving by 'Audi'...hehe

zcacogp

11,239 posts

266 months

Wednesday 2nd December 2009
quotequote all
monthefish said:
zcacogp said:
Could try these:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Me...

... but they are expensive.

(On a side note, I just dismantled a 21-LED GU10 bulb to do this:



OK, they are lounge shelves not kitchen, but you get the idea. They work very well, but are a very 'cold' blue light, which is not to everyone's taste. It doesn't suit the room in the picture above, and I'm wondering what to do about it.)
Shelving by 'Audi'...hehe
You're not joking! I have to admit that Audi got there before me, but I didn't (consciously) imitate them when I did that shelf ... but it's still hellishly annoying!


Oli.

Big_Dog

992 posts

207 months

Wednesday 2nd December 2009
quotequote all
Have a look at some cold cathode fittings. They dont have the dazzle effect of LED and last somewhere in the region of 30,000 hours, run cool too.
LED is not so practical but more decorative unless you use a lot of them. Typically LED is 20 lumens per watt which is similar to halogen. Most halogen lamps used under cabinets are 5,10 or 20 watt whereas LED groups are usually 1.8watt. Therefore often not bright enough to be safe.

Gareth79

8,684 posts

268 months

Wednesday 2nd December 2009
quotequote all
If you are electrically minded, DealExtreme have lots of types of LED strips, most you just need to wire into a 12V supply:

http://www.dealextreme.com/advsearch.dx/search.led...

zcacogp

11,239 posts

266 months

Wednesday 2nd December 2009
quotequote all
Big_Dog said:
Typically LED is 20 lumens per watt which is similar to halogen.
Correct me I am wrong, but is lumens/watt an indication of efficiency?

If so, this is saying that an LED is about as efficient as a halogen bulb - non?

If this is the case, then I am surprised; I thought that LED's were much more efficient than any form of incandescent bulb, as their technology produces no heat. Halogens get very hot (hence much energy wasted), whereas LEDs run cold, so no energy wasted in heat.

(I'm not arguing - just interested!)


Oli.

Big_Dog

992 posts

207 months

Wednesday 2nd December 2009
quotequote all
They are not exactly the same but to compare a typical (cheap) LED group and say a 20w halogen they are within 5% of each other sharing a luminous efficiency of about 2%.
I have a lighting business and have had a lot of people returning stuff like GU10 lamps with LEDs in because they cant see. I was surprised at the numbers too. But they come from a pretty clued up specialist lamp distributor.
The new ultra high efficiency LEDs cook out a bit better but think in terms of £40 for a GU10 or MR16 replacement. They need a rectified power supply too.

zcacogp

11,239 posts

266 months

Thursday 3rd December 2009
quotequote all
BD,

Interesting. Wikipedia says the same:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode

('Efficiency and Operational Parameters', 1/3 of the way down.)

It does sound like LED technology is progressing fast tho', so I expect that it will improve dramatically over the coming couple of years.

Interesting at the very high efficiency of flourescent lights (up to 100lm/W).


Oli.