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Xenon under cabinet light disaster

15 years ago

Please help! I've been reading posts for the last year while re-building my house after a total-loss fire on Christmas day, 2007. I've learned so much by reading all the posts, and now I need information as quickly as possible.

Against my better judgment, I agreed to Kichler xenon under cabinet lights in my kitchen. I was finally able to turn on the lights last night, and I HATE, HATE, HATE them. They are blindingly bright on high, and they are an ugly yellow on low. I realize that most/many people like warm colors, but they make me very uncomfortable. All of the colors in the house are cool colors, so I really can't stand that yellow tint. Also, my eyes are very sensitive to light, and I can't stand the lights on high.

I had fluorescent under cabinet lights in the kitchen before the fire, and I loved them. This time around, there was some type of plumbing thing (pipe?) in the wall under one of the cabinets, and the electrician said he could not put a fluorescent there. I was stupid and agreed to xenon. What I desperately need to know is are there different types of xenon bulbs?...maybe some that give off a cool glow? I slept only two and a half hours last night worrying about this. I already emailed my contractor and asked if they could be replaced with fluorescent lights. I know this will be costly, so I'm trying to think of other solutions.

Can anyone help me? I feel like an idiot.

Thanks in advance,

M Sue

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Comments (3)

friedajune
15 years ago
An easy solution is to install a dimmer switch so that you can adjust the light to any level you want, rather than just "high" or "low". Make sure you get a dimmer switch that is specifically for low voltage lighting. A low-voltage dimmer costs about $50 if you buy it online.

My xenon undercabs are bright white when fully on, providing excellent work light for my counter, and when I dim them, they soften to nice mood lighting, not yellow at all. I have the Juno Trac12's. I really like them. One thing that has been cautioned on this forum about the Kichler's is that Kichler makes two types, open and closed. The closed mean that the bulbs are enclosed in a plastic casing rather than having the bulbs open to the air. That has two disadvantages - it causes heat build-up, and it changes the light quality of the bulbs. Although you don't say which one you have, I wonder if you do indeed have the closed Kichlers. My Juno's are open.
boo53
Original Author
15 years ago
akchicago - my Kichlers have a glass casing, and they put off a lot of heat. I guess that makes them closed. I put hours and hours into the decision-making on this house, but I had to make this decision pretty much on the spot. It was a huge mistake.

Your lights sound great. I really appreciate your input.
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"Heat rises" is false. Heat in this situation under discussion does not rise: it goes in all directions imaginable. Heated air rises. Only heated air rises, in the typical household situation. It only rises if there is other air that is cooler which can take its place when it rises. (Heated fluids rise, also, when surrounded by fluid that allows them to rise. Since they are more lightweight when warm) If anyone insists that heat rises, tell them to ask the sun which way it sends its heat since "heat rises". Wikipedia on heat : it is energy, which moves in all directions possible, without regard to the gravitational field of our planet. Heat = heat radiation. (Radiation is the term, but it has nothing to do with nuclear radiation.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat : It is energy, and it moves through space , without looking at gravity to choose a direction. It always moves and never stays still. -- the second thing that may need to be corrected is the statement "replace them with lights that have decent efficacy,..." because it may be necessary to tell the OP that all lights of the incandescent family are all heaters, and the differences between them are not great. Go with LED's or thin tube fluorescents if anyone feels the heat of an incandescent (of any type) is too much heat. -- 1/2" spacing can be good to get air to take the heat away.
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Homepro. I went with what the my electrician recommended. He uses Xenon lights in his kitchen and in 4 years has never had to replace a bulb. What he really likes is the warm color temperature that these lights give off and he installs these into most new homes that are valued well over a mil. His opinion, and it's just his opinion, is that LED lights will burn cooler but they do not give off that warm light temperature that most people want. Someone else commented that they use Xenon lights under their cabinets and have them on basically 24/7 and in 14 years have never had to replace a bulb. For me it's all about color temp. Thank you for your thoughts.
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"Some of the cheaper dimmers get screwed up with trying to find the zero crossing on a non-resistive load." Worse than that, the chopping of the leading edge of the voltage waveform causes a lot of high frequency noise that can destroy transformers and power supplies not especially designed to cope. Shutting off on the falling edge before a zero crossing is not nearly as bad, but takes a different part than a Thyristor used in common incandescent dimmers.
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I just had the Xenon under cabinet lights installed. Highly recommended by a trusted long time electrician. They do burn warm no question. To the point where if you have them wide open for 10 minutes, you will burn your hand. There is a high low switch on each fixture which I have not played with which could cool them down a bit. These lights are on a dimmer. My only concern is what is this heat doing to my new cabinets? Having said that, he is installing Xenon lights in multi million dollar houses for people that have unlimited budgets that can afford anything. It seems that most people, including myself, like that warm light that the Xenon gives off vs the cold light that the best of LED's offer. This electrician, who can install any light he wants, uses them and said that he has not replaced a bulb in the last 4 years of steady use. The light temperature is beautiful and does not cast a flare of light that many LED's do. Hope that helps someone...
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ljsandler
15 years ago
I LOVE my Kichler's linear UC lighting. I have them on dimmers and I use them all the time. I bet there is a dimmable color you will like.

Maybe once you have them on dimmers, you will love them too.

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