Undercabinet 120v puck lights

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Gordon Stevenson

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Looking for code sections dealing with the approved installation of undercabinet 120v puck lights with attached 'zip' cord and field installed plugs. Haven't seen the product/kit yet but contractor wants to feed the cord/cable form each puck through the bottom of the cabinet, install the insulation piercing plug and insert into flush receptacle inside the cabinet.
I question protection of line voltage cable from physical damage, haven't seen the UL of these light fixtures... Guidance appreciated.
 
Gordon Stevenson said:
I question protection of line voltage cable from physical damage, haven't seen the UL of these light fixtures... Guidance appreciated.
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What is it that you think is going to damage the cords? This is a pretty normal install. Cords aren't allowed to pass through walls and floors, but they can pass through cabinet bottoms, no problem. This is no different then every over the range micro/hood.
 
The exposure to damage from contents stored in cabinets. Hoods are typically hard wired but if cord and plug some protection is installed to prevent pots/pans etc from hitting it when thrown into the cabinet. Same with microwave/hood combos. Those cords are much heavier duty and integrated plug than zip cord with field installed compression insulation piercing plugs. I'm listening.
 
These cords just don't get damaged. People put dishes in their cupboards, not angry pitbulls. I think you're just overthinking this.
 
I have seen a few 120v pucks lights and they are even bigger pieces of crap than 12 volt units. Talk about a fixture getting hot. Yowzee!
 
cords

cords

Gordon, I share your concern. Being ancient, I've seen a number of installations where some type of under-counter light has been supplied by a cord. On many of these, especially the ones wired with "zip cord", the cords have severely deteriorated over the years, but granny didn't notice. I think it is a dangerous practice and discourage it. The way most are installed you might hang your hat on 400.8(4).
 
I'm with Scott on this. Most puck lights are garbage. Aside from the pucks getting hot I don't think they throw off adequate light and your installation methods and fixture orientation options are limited. If you plan to install the puck say in the bottom center of a respective cabinet and bring the wire up inside each cabinet to a receptacle IMHO that's a lot of work on a per cabinet basis for such inadequate light not to mention tha exposed wire that you'll have to deal with. However, if you're dead set on using these things I would suggest that you look into the Sea Gull Xenon puck lights. They run a lot less hot than the halogen type and they use a push-in socket based bulb. Stay away from the bi-pin based units. They'll only burn up on you in a year or two.

If your kitchen cabinets don't go all the way to the ceiling, and if your cabinets have a void behind them, and if you have crown moulding there may be some other options to your installation. A lot of "if's" I know but if this sounds like your installation you can snake the lamp cord behing the cabinets, install a transformer on top of the cabinet and use low voltage pucks instead. That way you could have your electrician install one receptacle for several cabinets.
 
I have gotten my county inspection dept. to approve my favorite method of mating 18/2-lamp-cord-equipped lighting to building wire, and the head inspector himself even came to the job to go over it with me.

The 14-2 from the wall enters a shallow Wiremold outlet box, which is tight to the rear of the cabinet bottom, and the EGC is properly connected to the box's back plate with a grounding screw, and a typical plastic blank wall-plate covers it.

I used a hot-melt glue gun to affix the 18-2 wire to the cabinet bottom, rather than using small 1-hole cable clips and screws, which would likely pierce the cabinet bottom, and still only hold up the wire every several inches.

I carefully read through every article which applied, and the head inspector only had one request: that I provide some sort of wire protection at each KO of the Wiremold box, so I split 1/8" ID rubber tubing and lined the KO edges.

This ended up being a much more tidy method than anything else I could think of. I have a feeling some of you will question the legality of this installation, and I'd enjoy responding with my arguements for the various code sections.
 
Larry sounds ok to me. But....why??? ther are so many better alternatives for undercabinet lighting.
 
Puck Lights

Puck Lights

I Agree With All About The Installation Of This Type Of Cabinet Illuminatoin , But IF You Must Do It I Have Used 400 Wiremold Bac ,it Has An Adhesive Back To Affix It To The Cabinet It Hides The Lampcord Well But Still Is Unsightly In The Cabinet. Honestly, With The Price Of New Cabinets These Days I Would Avoid This Type Of Installation And Perhaps Stick With A Nice Xeon Based Strip Light Fixture Perhaps A Kichler. They Make Something Thats Pretty Slimline With High Low Control And COmes In A Variety Of Finishes.i Have Used The Puck Type Lights For Illuminating A Glass Door Cabinet, But At Least I Was Able To Hide The Unsightly Wiring Aboved The Finished Cabinets. Also The Xeon Based Fixtures Lamps Last A Pretty Long Time Also And Are Cool Burning.
So Much For My 2 Cents,lol
Happy Easter All!
 
mdshunk said:
What is it that you think is going to damage the cords? This is a pretty normal install. Cords aren't allowed to pass through walls and floors, but they can pass through cabinet bottoms, no problem. This is no different then every over the range micro/hood.
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Marc
Maybe you do not get back to the finished product much after your final install. I can tell you that in a lot of inspections, we cannot even see the receptacle in the cabinet due to all kinds of "stuff" in those cabinets. Yes, I agree that there is a good chance in those cabinets for unseen damage to occur to those cables installed there.
 
Pierre C Belarge said:
I can tell you that in a lot of inspections, we cannot even see the receptacle in the cabinet due to all kinds of "stuff" in those cabinets. Yes, I agree that there is a good chance in those cabinets for unseen damage to occur to those cables installed there.
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Somewhere between the potential for damage, and actual damage, there is a great divide. People who don't like this (legal) install are probably the same people who don't like SE cable. Just a guess.
 
electricmanscott said:
Larry sounds ok to me. But....why??? ther are so many better alternatives for undercabinet lighting.
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My strong preference is fluorescent, but I install what the customer wants. If they want dimmable, I have to use incandescent.

Oh, and I like SE cable.
 
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