I am going to use flourescents with warm bulbs. LEDs look really promising, but I am not crazy about the bluish light they cast. I want something warmer. Xenons can be hot and I don't need or want the extra heat in the kitchen.

Fluorescent lighting is what I'm using & will repeat in the new kitchen. It's proven technology, energy efficient, doesn't pump a lot of addt'l heat into the kitchen & is perfect for linear lighting applications. It's available in different color temps; I prefer the daylight variety but a lot of people around here like the warmer color temps. (Basic old Edison type light bulbs are much too yellow for my taste.)

We tested out LED, xenon, and fluorescent in our kitchen, and chose the fluorescent with warm bulbs. We wanted to like the LED but they just didn't give off enough light; the xenons got really hot.

That's three for fluorescent! And they're energy saving (and legal in the state of CA too!) so that's a definite plus. This is encouraging to hear - for some reason, my electrician was not keen on them, but maybe he's thinking old-school??

Are these CFL's we're talking about here? What brand are you all using that you like, cuz I've definitely heard people complaining about fluorescents, and on this site there's a whole thread of complaining.

Thank you all, I'll definitely check it out.

FWIW...

We really like the lighting option that the Ikea cabinets have - where you can basically build the cabinet using a fluorescent light panel as the bottom of the box instead of particle board.

The thing that was holding us back was that the panels, as they come from Ikea, cannot be dimmed. We found that there are dimmable ballasts avaiable that can be substitute for the existing ballasts. So we're happy.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/40122429

Sailormann,

In all the years I've been going to Ikea and studying the kitchen displays, I never noticed this - is it new? So it actually replaces the bottom of the cabinet, is that right? Are the lights bright enough to use a real under cabinet lighting, or are they more decorative?

I'm planning on Ikea boxes with custom doors, and would *love* to have under cabinet lights without that light rail.

We went with xenon under shelf light bars. They are quite hot but a nice light.They are set in series and can be set to high or low, but not dimmed. We used CREE LED 6" cans for all our can lighting and I love them. THey have two different color spectrum that you can choose from. Ours is a warm bright color. LED technology is advancing....

Wife and I met with lighting designer this morning. Told her that our builder suggested fluorescent. She said NO WAY, and steered us toward xenon. Said they cast a 'better' light, and that they're no where near as hot as people expect them to be...guess we took her word for it, and went with the following...

Here is a link that might be useful: American Lighting Xenon

Most of the undercabinet fluorescent fixtures are T4 tubes. We're going with fluorescent too, instead of xenon. The fixtures were cheaper, and the energy savings is good (I'm hoping to put the LR6s in for general lighting, but that's a budget issue--we may gradually work them in.) I looked at the LEDs, and the biggest issue I found is that most of them (especially dimmable ones) run on 12 or 24v so you need a transformer, and as we had 3 disconnected cabinet areas, we'd need multiple transformers. I'm hoping the technology improves in the next few years.

I have had my xenon undercabinet lights on for over an hour and they are only the slightest bit warm. I can hold my hand on them with no discomfort at all. I love them.

I understand that there are different colors of fluorescent bulbs and I am going to try to find replacements for the fluorescent can lights in my kitchen. I hate them. They change the color of my granite. I live in CA or I would never have had them put in.

We decided on xenon undercabinet lights. The ones we chose do not require a transformer. I visited a home where they were left on from prep through dinner and they were warm but not hot as I checked them after dessert. I did like the color of the lighting too. Perhaps I took the word of my friend too easily but with so many other decisions to make I decided to trust her and my GC/Kd on this one. We've never had any undercabinet lighting before so I'm looking forward to it.

Joann23456:

We have not installed them yet. They are sitting in the basement waiting for us to progress to the point of installation. They are on display in the Ikea store that we bought them in though and they seem more than bright enough. The bulb is a standard T5 which is what you'll find in most of the fluorescent undercabinet fixtures.

There is a plug (smaller than regular) in one corner that attaches to a power cord that they sell. If you are not going to use light rail underneath the cabinets then I think you might have to do some creative drilling to hide the cord, but it could certainly be done.

They do replace the bottom of the cabinet though, and it's a very clean look :)

We went with direct wired low voltage Xenon and are extremely happy with them. The color of the light that they give off is very pleasant. They do get a little warm if I leave them on for hours at a time, but I can still touch them. Like lucypwd, ours are on a bar and have the high/low option. I like these infinitely better than the fluoro that we had at the old house. Of course, those were the older variety and I'm sure that there have been many improvements since those were installed. :o)

Seagull lighting 12" xenon light bars. They get warm, not hot and IMO give far superior lighting than florescent, which I really dislike. High/low/off switch is fine and no dimmer is necessary.

Xenon here too, Kichler. High and low switch, and we dim them all the time...direct wired. Love them...

I was ready to go with Juno Pro Xenon light bars that the electrician recommended. When he showed up he had Juno Pro Halogen. Now he says they use the Halogen all the time. I know he said Xenon when we first talked. What do you think? He says the Xenon is way more expensive, but I did not find that to be the case on line. Should I go Halogen or Xenon?

Natsis:

we have halogen undercab lighting (it's not Juno, I don't know what it is...) and it gets so hot that we accidentally started a fire by leaving one of our hot pads on top of the microwave (within 2 or so inches of the halogen)! Granted, these are 5-7 years old, so they may have advanced the technology by now...

As to the rest, it sounds like some people really love fluroescent, and some hate it - I wonder if it depends on which colors you get - ? - or is it a function of brand? Also am wondering - maybe the light they give off works better under cabinet than from above? I am still drawn to them bcause of the energy savings, but don't want to hate them...

I went with Seagull LX xenon linear low voltage lighting under my cabinets. It is warm but not HOT by any stretch.

One tip given to me by the woman at the lighting store was to put tiny washers under the screws when mounting the track to the underside of the cabinets. The allows for airflow between the track and cabinet and keeps everything much cooler.

My contractor wanted to go with Kichler xenon UC lights for my rebuild. I went by the house last night and turned them on for the first time. I was totally sick. On high, they are blindingly bright, and on low, they give off a hideous yellow glow. If you like warm colors and have those type colors in your kitchen, you'll probably love them. If you like cool colors, you will probably despise them. I know I do. I have a bright, white subway tile backsplash, and they make it look dirty and dingy. ...sigh

Our kitchen is almost finished and our contractor put in hallogen puck lights, I don't know if this is the same kind of hallogen lights or not. They don't seen to get hot when we have tested the lights. My only complaint is they don't seem very bright. I think he told me they are an 8 watt, but may be wrong. I will see how it looks when all done. In the past we had flouresant strips that plugged into the wall and were very bright.

One more vote for fluorescent. I must confess I had my doubts...but our KD specified hardwired warm-white fluorescent, we went along, and they are great. The enclosed undercab units are very low-profile. The light is even and pleasant. No heat. Much more energy efficient than xenon or halogen--for us, an important consideration regardless of California's quirky laws. Only downside is that they don't dim. Not a biggie.

We hardly ever use the halogen pucks in our glass cabinet and if we had gone with halogen undercab lights, I suspect we would not be using them. We do have one halogen track fixture to light the mural in our range enclosure and a couple of halogen cans for spot lighting. The rest is all fluorescent and works very well. Rather than using dimmer, the best strategy is to use layers of fluorescents--overhead, over-sink, undercab--you can turn on more or fewer as the occasion demands. Based on what I've read and seen, I agree with those who've suggested that LED technology is not yet ready for prime time.

had the fluourescent before the renovation and the Seagull Xenon linear lighting and now and MUCH prefer the latter. Love the warmth and love the evenness of the light.

The fact that others prefer flourescent for exactly the opposite reason just proves that there is a lid for every pot! and that it all depends on the quality of light you are after for your kitchen.

Here's one vote for the LED's!

These were installed as part of a recent remodel. They are from Environmentallights.com. They are a snap to install, come in different color tempuratures, give a great deal of light, and, depending on how you connect them up, are dimmable.

Juno also has some similar fixtures, plus they have little modules that can snap into tracks.

Bayou citizens, do you mind telling me where you put the transformer for your LEDs? I've been looking at the Environmentallights.com website and haven't decided between the fixtures or the ribbons. Yours are the fixtures, correct? (I'm glad to hear they are easy to install!)

Yes; they are the fixtures; what they list on their undercabinet LED page as light arrays.

We have two runs; we were able to do the wiring as part of the remodel while we were down to the sheetrock. If you look at the specs for the lighting, you will see that there is a 6' power supply cord. One end plugs into one end of the light array. That cable then goes into the wall and comes out behind a base cabinet. The lights are wired to a switch; wiring from the switch comes out at the same point as the power supply cord. The two are brought through a hole in the back of a base cabinet. The wire to the switch is spliced to the power cord of the transformer (after cutting off the plug). The power supply cord plugs into the transformer. The transformer sits in the cabinet. For one run, we have the transformer at the bottom of the cabinet behind and under a drawer; the other happened to line up with the cabinet that holds our trash pullout. That had a little shelf between the bins and the top drawer; the transformer sits on the shelf.

Here is a little drawing; hopefully it will make this clearer:
{{!gwi}}

Thanks Bayou, the drawing isn't showing but I will study your description!

Sometimes the picture shows; sometimes it doesn't. Can't figure that out.

Try this:

Here is a link that might be useful: Wiring for undercabinet LEDs