Replies

1. 
   WorkshopJon | May 31, 2006 12:42pm | #1

   Puck lights are cheap and easy.  Usually can be installed with double sided tape, left plugged in permanently if you add a touch pad dimmer to the system.  Did I answer your question?

   WSJ

2. 
   Frankie | May 31, 2006 03:01pm | #2

   Juno Trac 12

   F

   There he goes—one of God's own prototypes—a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live and too rare to die.

   —Hunter S. Thompson

   from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

3. 
   Dunc1 | May 31, 2006 03:35pm | #3

   Addressed this question myself just recently. Consider the cabinet material: halogens and the xenon mini-incandescent lamps produce a lot of heat. The pucks also tend to produce cones of light (at least those I have seen) versus even illumination - proper spacing should address this. There are some low voltage strip light systems that I imagine would solve the uneven illumination. All these can be put on a dimmer; if you go low-voltage purchase lights that use a transformer.

   Myself, I chose fluorescent; the one I picked has a very small base: the width of the fluorescent tube - about 5/8" wide. Various tube lengths are available: about 10" to 24" overall. There are connectors included to couple the units together as a long strip (max of ten units which is almost 20 linear feet) and an adaptor box to permit direct wiring to the ac line. Result: bright, even illumination. Didn't want dimming. I am not certasin if this is possible although there are fluorescent dimmers available.

   Another innovation: one of the local stores is also selling LED lights. Kit of 6 light units (each unit has 4 LEDs) + transformer. Provides that bluish-white trademark lighting. Kit is about $40(canadian). Units will mount flush in a 1" diameter hole or can be surface mounted. They are certainly bright - I wouldn't look directly at them. I have not tried them but I suspect that they would not produce enough light to act as general counter illumination for performing tasks. More like lighting to hi-light art objects or perhaps as night illumination.

4. 
   Megunticook | May 31, 2006 03:44pm | #4

   I just installed some nice undercabinet fluorescents made by GE which I bought online (http://www.energyfederation.org/energyguide/default.php/cPath/25_175_586_363)

   They're a bit pricey, but the light temperature is quite warm (for a fluorescent bulb), there's absolutely no flicker or hum (they have some sort of ballast), and the overall quality seems good. Although they're set up as plug-in fixtures, you can buy a little kit that will allow them to be direct-wired to a circuit--which is what I did. I flip a switch and all 3 go on (each as an individual power button too).

   I'd take a good look at these anyway.

   View Image

   Creative Communications | Logos | Business Cards | Websites | http://www.hwaters.com

1. 
   jg | May 31, 2006 03:48pm | #5

   I agree on the GE Fluorescents. I put them in my kitchen and have been very pleased. Puck lights are nice, but they dont provide a whole lotta light. Fine for accent lighting, but not for task lighting. Just my 2 cents

5. 
   Amanna | May 31, 2006 04:31pm | #6

   Al,

   I just finished up low voltage lights under my kitchen cabinets.  Pretty straight forward for a DIY job, although I had to open up the wall to run romex under a window.  The lights do not get hot at all, provide enough light for task lighting, and  they can be put on a dimmer.  I have mine on a luttron dimmer and they work great!

1. 
   StartingOver | May 31, 2006 04:48pm | #7

   Thanks!  Do you remember the brand and/or where you got them (HomeDepot, Lowes, Menards, lighting store?

    

1. 
   Amanna | Jun 01, 2006 06:31pm | #11

   The brand name is Ambience, and I bought them at Astro lighting....

    

   http://www.astrolighting.com/

6. 
   Snowmon | May 31, 2006 06:55pm | #8

   I just gotta say that I have had miserable luck with the cheap halogen puck lights.  They have a tendency to go south after a short lifespan if used frequently.

   I'm a bit grouchy about it, because the last of the 3 pucks on my 3rd set just went out today.

   Sometimes you find that the terminals just need cleaning.  Doable, but annoying. Other times the plastic breaks down from the heat and UV.

   I have not yet tried the more expensive models.

    

7. 
   peteshlagor | May 31, 2006 08:21pm | #9

   Pucks suck.

   Check this out.  

   Post # 70998.3

   There was an article in FH about a year ago showing how to install these.

    

    

    

8. 
   cap | May 31, 2006 08:30pm | #10

   S.O.,

   Consider using fluorescent fixtures.  Good quality ones will have good color balance, give a more even light patern than pucks, and use a lot less energy than halogen or xenon pucks (because they're not turning 80-90 percent of the power into heat, like incandescent lamps do).

   Unless the upper cabinets have a false bottom with about an inch or so of space,  surface-mounted pucks (halogen or xenon) look like an afterthought, in my opinion.  To make the best of surface-mounted pucks, an alternative to the false bottom is a skirt or apron along the front of the upper cab.  Adding an inch or two of apron at the front of the cab shields the pucks from view.  The cabs have to be of the right style to make this work.

   Watch out for halogens, they produce enough heat to really warm up the area above the lamp.  And I mean enough heat to eventually turn shelf paper brown, and melt chocolate and the like.

   I think low-voltage undercab lights are an abomination.  You need a place to hide the transformer, and you need to run large-gage cable if you have many lamps at all (and keep in mind that you can't use landscape lighting cable and be Code-compliant).   There's just no advantage to operating a lamp at 12V versus 120 volts.  The only time I've installed low-v fixtures is when a client is set on a specific style of fixture or head that's available only in low-v.

   For a good fluorescent fixture, I recommend Kichler.  This style is only an inch deep.  And they have connectors so that special cords can be used to link fixtures together, once power is brought into one.  Much easier way to hook 'em up  if you haven't run Romex in the walls to link separate fixtures.

   http://www.kichler.com/kichlercatalog.jsp

   The design and finish on the Kichler is better than on the top-of-the-line GE, IMHO.  There is a trick to opening and closing the housing on the long (33") fixtures, though.

   Good luck,

   Cliff

1. 
   mrsludge | Jun 01, 2006 06:58pm | #12

   I'm not sure if the GE ones others have mentioned are the same, but we have the premium linkable ones from HD.  They're in a blister pack w/ green insert and are labeled as "thinnest", i.e. 1-inch thick.

   Echoing others' comments on the GE's- they're Energy Star rated, so electronic ballast for instant on and no flicker/hum, color is good, etc.

   They're cheaper than the Kichlers by a good bit (I originally wanted Kichler fluorescents). And I'm not that concerned about design/finish on something that's intended to be pretty much out of sight.  That said, I have no problems w/ the quality on the GE's.

9. 
   DanH | Jun 01, 2006 07:02pm | #13

   Xenon. Much cooler than halogen, price is right.

   If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison