Under cabinet wiring codes (appliances, to buy, cabinets)

[padmaster]

I am 2-3 weeks away from getting new cabinets installed in my kitchen and I need to make some decisions about under cabinet lighting. I have scratched my original plan of using LED strip lights because of cost and complexity. I am now leaning towards linear flourescent lighting because I already have the switched wiring in place from the old over sink light. My plan is to daisy chain 4 fixtures together (1x 48", 1x 36", 2x 18"). Does anyone know if it would it be acceptable to run the wiring (romex) along the underside of the cabinets?

[djmaxwell]

Originally Posted by padmaster

I am 2-3 weeks away from getting new cabinets installed in my kitchen and I need to make some decisions about under cabinet lighting. I have scratched my original plan of using LED strip lights because of cost and complexity. I am now leaning towards linear flourescent lighting because I already have the switched wiring in place from the old over sink light. My plan is to daisy chain 4 fixtures together (1x 48", 1x 36", 2x 18"). Does anyone know if it would it be acceptable to run the wiring (romex) along the underside of the cabinets?

Off hand, I don't think it would be a problem, but don't know for sure. How do you plan on wiring it into your switch? That might be your bigger concern. I was looking to do something similar and some of the web pages I found suggested that running the wiring into the switch would be a no-no.

[padmaster]

There was a flourescent fixture above the sink in the old cabinets. That light had a switch just to the left of the sink. So basically I am only rerouting the wire that went to the old fixture and connecting it to the first "new" fixture, then daisy chaining three more lights to it. The difference is that I will need to run the "daisy chain" wire around the underside of the cabinets.

btw - these fixtures are made for hardwiring, they are not the plug in type.

[BMW Dave]

You should use the rope lighting.

It looks good and is affordable

[padmaster]

Isn't rope lighting LED's? I decided not to go with LED's because of the complexity and cost of it.

[BMW Dave]

Ok, they have pod led clusters, thats what I thought you meant when you said LEDs

I don't remember them being complex, but I can see how you could say cost being a factor.

Good luck with what you end up going with!

[padmaster]

By complex I meant that you have to have a low voltage power supply to drive the LED's. If you have a long enough string of them (more wattage) you have to pick the power supply accordingly, leaving a 20% fudge factor. If power supply is bigger then you will need to mount it inside a cabinet out of sight. The power supply will need an outlet to plug into and, depending on size, may need proper ventilation for heat dissapation. You will need to run low voltage wiring to the light strip and be careful not to run it close to high voltage wiring. In my case I had planned on running the long strips (rolls) so I would have even lighting across the counter top. These strips can be cut to length but then you have to solder the wiring to the strip. If you want to be able to dim the LED's then you have to get a low voltage dimmer or get a dimmable power supply. If you get the brighter LED's they may need to be installed on aluminum extrusions for heat dissapation. The aluminum extrusions are only sold in 1 meter lengths so you have to buy the clips to couple them together and cut to length. Then you need to decide if you want to buy clips to screw mount the lights or do you use double sided tape. Personally I wouldn't want to put sticky tape on my new cabinets. Then you will need to notch out the side lip of the cabinet so the light string can run continuosly across the cabinets. And of course LED's don't last forever. They do go out and so do the power supplys. So if one LED goes out you will have to replace that entire string.

Don't get me wrong, LED lighting is nice and I realize they sell LED pods and pre-made light bars but it's a complicated and costly install any way you look at it. It's just easier to use flourescent fixtures, especially since I already have the switch and wiring in place. The only thing I have to worry about is wiring the multiple fixtures together and hiding/protecting the wiring.

[harry chickpea]

The proper way to run the wiring would be in a conduit or chase between fixtures and to the wall. That provides mechanical protection and a grounded exterior, minimizing any shock hazard. Yes, there are undercounter lights of various types that are installed without such protection. Note that most of them are sold as plug-in "appliances" to get around any code requirements.

Personally, in working with food, I would put strip lighting last on my list. There are halogen lights available that give a more balanced and appetizing light.