I was going to install strip lighting until I came upon the pucks offered by elementalled.com They are not as soft as my CREE Cr-6 cans, but they are close enough. They put out quite a bit of light and look fantastic (they are made out of extruded aluminum). I bought the dimmable kits that come with 3 pucks and a transformer and wiring for $159. If you enter in thanks20% at checkout they give you 20% off.

I have them recess mounted under my cabinets and over the sink but they also come with very low profile mounting cups.

Thanks.

For some reason, we are sour on puck lights. We had them at our last house (halogen) and I did not like the huge spot and then dark, spot then dark. We had one about every 12" and it still did that. I know better ones spread the beam more evenly.

That being said, those look good, it's just I'd need a minimum of six and the way they wire up, that may look like spaghetti under the cabinet.

Are any of the direct wire LED options worth it? That would definitely be the cleanest, based on how we have everything roughed in now.

We used the Philips undercabinet LEDs. They don't need a transformer and dim from line voltage. The reflector eliminates hot spots and casts the light down on the countertop and back against the backsplash.

Billy

Here is a link that might be useful: Philips Undercabinet Lights

On page 13 of this link check out the beam angle and illumination of both the countertop and backsplash because of the reflectors in these LED lights. The reflector and diffuser provide some benefit over strip LED lighting.

Billy

Here is a link that might be useful: Philips LED Undercabinet Product Brochure

I got my LED puck lights from LED Lights Canada and they have strips as well - $17 for a foot long piece and they link together.

http://www.ledlightscanada.com/index.php/LED-Low-Voltage-Lights/Linkable-LED-Cabinet-Light/yagendoo_VaMazing_2.tpl.html

I did mine on their dimmable drivers using 2 Lutron LV dimmers.

The people there were very helpful in designing my layout and putting a package together for me. I didn't want to just buy big-box lighting which is typically the lowest end stuff out of China, and I didn't want to spend $100 on each puck like some of the major brands charge.

I paid about $24 for each puck and $80 or so for each driver (each driver runs 10 pucks but could do many more - I just needed 2 drivers to run on two dimmers).

So far so good - everything works perfectly and between the in cabinet lights and the under cabinet lights, we hardly use the ceiling fixtures any more (10 x 4' recessed lights).

I can't really tell from your description but it sounds like you have 6-8 linear feet to light? If so then you'd be looking at say $120 or for the strips and $50 - $80 for a driver, depending on how many watts you need and if you want them dimmable (the strips are dimmable). So should work well within your budget.

I've only gotten lights from them once, and I spent $700 or so on my entire setup with 2 drivers and 20 puck lights. I'm very happy with everything, 6 months later.

Here is a link that might be useful: LED Lights Canada

billy_g: I thought all LED strips needed a transformer to convert the power. I put the wires in a elect. box(in wall) and was planning on attaching to the transformer. The tranformer would be mounted under cab. so it has air around it. That would be great to forgo the tranformer.

Hey all,
Just a follow-up. I ended up going with the Philips strip/fixtures. The hardwire adapter, one long and one short fixture + wires was under $300 and fit our install, light, and color temp nicely.

I'm hoping to get them by Friday and install this weekend.

Thanks for the tips!
Anthony