Under Cabinet Light Location

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Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Retired Electrical Contractor
What I like about the swivel uint is that you can keep the light towards the back and angle to the front. This also is less glare in the granite countertops. I am in the process of buying granite for my house but we will be getting the honed or leathered version to reduce glare.
 

Little Bill

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Tennessee NEC:2017
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Semi-Retired Electrician
What I like about the swivel uint is that you can keep the light towards the back and angle to the front. This also is less glare in the granite countertops. I am in the process of buying granite for my house but we will be getting the honed or leathered version to reduce glare.

That "Moderator" job must pay better than I thought!:grin::grin:
 

mkgrady

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Even though you know me as an E.E., I also used to be a professional cabinetmaker for high-end customers. It wasn't just a side-job, it was my sole business.

Anyway, the majority of the time, I would install fixtures toward the front of the cabinet, but vary this as necessary depending on the light cast of the particular fixture. This Website appears to be for the lights you are choosing, and it even has a diagram for the light cast.

XTLPhoto.gif

So for this particular fixture, you would want to mount it closer to the rear if you want a portion of the light cast to be on the back wall. (The 7" spacing is for NOT having light cast on the back wall.)

What I would do is power up one fixture and hold it in place under the cabinet and let your wife decide where she wants it located.

Thanks for explaining that. I saw that in the catalog but never paid any attention to it.
 

Electric-Light

Senior Member
Depends on the fixture. I have seen a cheap T5 fluorescent fixtures that have the bulb hanging down and no cover over the bulb (something akin to a shop light). If that is mounted at the front, you will see the bulb hanging down below the bottom surface of the upper cabinet. If it is mounted at the back, you will not see it.

T5 fluorescent does a better job IMHO as its a continuous linear source rather than a set of four dots spaced apart.
 

mkgrady

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
T5 fluorescent does a better job IMHO as its a continuous linear source rather than a set of four dots spaced apart.

I find most people appreciate the light most when it is dimmed very low and they are using it to light the kitchen enough to walk around at night while enjoying the look of the tile and counter top. I assume you can not dim the t5 flourescents.
 

220/221

Senior Member
Location
AZ
Front for task lighting.

If there is a trick textured backsplash wall I'd move them back and graze it for the shadowing effect. That will only work with certain lights, like pucks.
 

ActionDave

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Durango, CO, 10 h 20 min from the winged horses.
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I find most people appreciate the light most when it is dimmed very low and they are using it to light the kitchen enough to walk around at night.....

What you say is true in my household. I put in undercabs in my kitchen thinking they would be used for task lighting. Turns out they mostly get used as night lights or a low light that illuminates the snacks during evening home movie watching.

Mine are mounted at the back of the cabinet.
 

Rick Christopherson

Senior Member
I find most people appreciate the light most when it is dimmed very low and they are using it to light the kitchen enough to walk around at night while enjoying the look of the tile and counter top. I assume you can not dim the t5 flourescents.
You'll also find that the sharpness of this type of light accentuates the granite countertops much better than florescent lights. The discrete sources provide a much richer appearance in combination with the stone.

Before you make your decision on actual fixtures, make sure to check pricing on replacement bulbs. I've come across some fixtures where the bulb replacement costs were outrageous.

My entire kitchen used to be lit with 12V ambiance lighting above and below with almost 100 sockets on 10 ga zip cord tracks. The cost of replacing so many bulbs was getting crazy, so I switched to task lighting below and temporarily abandoned the ambiance lighting. With LED lighting getting more reasonable I am planning on replacing the ambiance lighting with LED strips.
 
CA Title 24

CA Title 24

Unfortunately, most of us in the golden state end up using fluorescent UCL's because we need the high efficiency wattage to allow the designer 3 or 4 incandescent pendant lights @ 50 watts a piece.

It's even harder when the customer wants LED UCL's, which basically have next to no wattage :mad:
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I prefer it at the front edge of the cabinet to get it as close to the center of the countertop as possible.
Same here.


Depends on the fixture. I have seen a cheap T5 fluorescent fixtures that have the bulb hanging down and no cover over the bulb (something akin to a shop light). If that is mounted at the front, you will see the bulb hanging down below the bottom surface of the upper cabinet. If it is mounted at the back, you will not see it.
I attach those flat, with the tube toward the wall, not hanging down.


What I like about the swivel uint is that you can keep the light towards the back and angle to the front.
You can also mount them at the front and swivel them rearward; less glare into the room.


T5 fluorescent does a better job IMHO as its a continuous linear source rather than a set of four dots spaced apart.
Agreed, generally speaking, and less heat and energy.


I find most people appreciate the light most when it is dimmed very low and they are using it to light the kitchen enough to walk around at night while enjoying the look of the tile and counter top. I assume you can not dim the t5 flourescents.
No, but I've never had anyone complain that they're too bright.
 

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
Mkgrady,

Do you have any experience with xenon ucl's? If not, I'd get a sample and tack it up for a couple days.

I know recessed lighting and xenon/halogen ucl's are hot with designers, but I absolutely hate it for the kitchen.

I put recessed lighting and halogen ucl's in my last house, all on dimmers, and will never do it again.

Xenons, in my opinion, are far too hot. And the low K color just doesn't work well for food prep/cooking. It can look nice, but just isn't practical to me.

I put a light box w/ T8's and T12 ucl's in the kitchen in my current home. I love it. I also put 3500k mini cfl's in the pendants (incandescent just didn't match well) and it looks great.



I have some pics of a couple kitchens I did with xenon and incandescent recessed I'll try to post up later.
 

cadpoint

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Go buy some samples of all the products stated above and you can show her some ideas of the future... since you don't seem so set...

You could build a small power board tap with all controls, you can use some double back tape and remove later, all the lights don't do all the same things, thus not created equal, show her it in daylight and at night.

Her eye is the one you want to please. :grin: It will be a quick decision, maybe a little work!!!

Of Course if it's not all too much!
 
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mkgrady

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Mkgrady,

Do you have any experience with xenon ucl's? If not, I'd get a sample and tack it up for a couple days.

I know recessed lighting and xenon/halogen ucl's are hot with designers, but I absolutely hate it for the kitchen.

I put recessed lighting and halogen ucl's in my last house, all on dimmers, and will never do it again.

Xenons, in my opinion, are far too hot. And the low K color just doesn't work well for food prep/cooking. It can look nice, but just isn't practical to me.

I put a light box w/ T8's and T12 ucl's in the kitchen in my current home. I love it. I also put 3500k mini cfl's in the pendants (incandescent just didn't match well) and it looks great.



I have some pics of a couple kitchens I did with xenon and incandescent recessed I'll try to post up later.

Yes I have installed many xenon UCL's in kitchens. The customer has always been satisfied. They really gush over how they look when the lighs are dimmed late at night. I actually don't care for the glare of the individual bulbs the way they reflect off the shiny counter and tile back splash, but I don't point that out to the customer. Since most people dim the lights when they are not working at the counter, I have ruled out flourescent bulbs. I have not noticed the xenon bulbs getting hot like a halogen.
 

mkgrady

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Go buy some samples of all the products stated above and you can show her some ideas of the future... since you don't seem so set...

You could build a small power board tap with all controls, you can use some double back tape and remove later, all the lights don't do all the same things, thus not created equal, show her it in daylight and at night.

Her eye is the one you want to please. :grin: It will be a quick decision, maybe a little work!!!

Of Course if it's not all too much!

I have already purchased the xenon fixtures. The tile goes up this week. I'm planning on mounting them at the rear of the cabinet on Saturday based on what I have read here. If my wife has any complaints I think it will be bulb glare (not that I will mention it). I will tell her she can have glare with dimmable bulbs or she can have less glare with non-dimmable flourescents.

By the way. Can you get a flourescent as low profile as the NSL xenon? They are only 1-1/4 inch deep.
 

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
By the way. Can you get a flourescent as low profile as the NSL xenon? They are only 1-1/4 inch deep.

yes; T5's are even more shallow.


mkgrady said:
Yes I have installed many xenon UCL's in kitchens. The customer has always been satisfied. They really gush over how they look when the lighs are dimmed late at night.

i've never had complaints personally from customers, and they do look nice when dimmed @ night; it was just my opinion that as a task light, it does a poor job. i know my fluorescents aren't as "pretty", but i don't feel like i'm working in the dark when they're on. i'm just more of a function-over-style type of guy.
 
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