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Question for those with LED undercabinet lights

13 years ago

I got a sample light to test, and it leaves a dark shadow that extends about 6-8 inches down from the top of the backsplash. The lights are supposed to have a 120 degree beam spread, but the light strip sits in a channel that is 1/2 " wide and 1/2 " deep and it seems that the channel is blocking the light. But is that really the problem? Even at at full 120 degress with no channel it seems that there would be a shadow at the top.

Do your LED lights cast a shadow on the backsplash? I'm wondering if that is typical of all LED lights since they do not throw off light in all directions like other bulbs?

Featured Answer

numbersjunkie
Original Author

13 years ago

I tried every position I could think of, and could not get the look I was hoping for. If I put them towards the back, they light up the backsplash(and show every imperfection). AND, I do not get the light I need on the front edge for task lighting. Even putting them on an angle did not do the trick.

OMG! I have been researching LED under cabinet lights for
what seems like forever, and now I think I need to go to Xenon.

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Comments (10)

lightguy
13 years ago
Have you tried to mount the strip closer to your backsplash?
numbersjunkie
Original Author
13 years ago
Wouldn't that put the entire backsplash in a shadow AND rduce the amount of light on the front edge of the counter where I am working? But I will try it tonight to see if it looks better....
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David
13 years ago
No it won't put the backsplash in a shadow. Play around with the relative placement to the backsplash, angle the lights, etc to see what fits your requirements.

eg - place the lights near the front with a slight tilt towards the backsplash.
mountaineergirl
13 years ago
could you post a pic? I am planning on buying these lights after the holidays and don't want to spend $500+ and not like how it looks! :(
DavidR
13 years ago
In my admittedly limited experience, a narrow beamspread is characteristic of most LEDs, especially the low cost devices.

Low cost LEDs also tend to be woefully inefficient - often barely any higher in efficacy (lumens per Watt) than good incandescents.

However, I am not an expert.
prttimer
13 years ago
Hi, Numbers, the flexible LED UCL strip/tape/ribbon lights that come on reels avoid the use of a fixture that can
block part of their beam spread. This may be part of your problem. I'm also finding these strip/ribbon LEDs for like
$4 per foot -- cheaper than fixture-mounted versions I assume. But I'm still curious to know if they have offsetting disadvantages.
numbersjunkie
Original Author
13 years ago
prttimer- I avoided the low cost ropes/tapes for a few reasons - (1) most of them did not give enough light to serve as task lighting, and my recessed lights are behind me whan I stand at the counter, (2) I wanted something with a high CRI (color rating index) and most LED lights are 70-75 on a scale of 100. I found some that were 85, but it took a lot of searching. My other criteria was a lot of length options to avoid shadows.
numbersjunkie
Original Author
13 years ago
mountaineergirl - Check out the picture on post #51 from the thread below. This is the shadow effect I was getting.

BTW - I stopped at Lowes last night and they have a new line Utilitech PRO, which if you look on the back is made by Good Earth Lighting (the other Utilitech line is made by Kitchler). They have a CRI of 85 which is great, are dimmable, and look great on the display. They are plug ins so I assume no transformer is required. Something to check out.

Here is a link that might be useful: LED thread on Candlepower forum
marcydc
13 years ago
I have the regular ones from Environment Lights.

I had to go down and look to see if there was a shadow at the top since I never noticed one. The angle leaves no light hitting the top 4 inches. I never noticed it because a) I'd have to lean over to see it and b) maybe the counter reflects enough (it's light colored) that it's barely perceptible.

They have a higher brightness product now too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Environmental Lights High Brightness

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