Thanks Gooster…my contractor asked if I wanted a switch on the wall or under the cabinet - I went with under the cabinet since I will only have 2 cabinets and would rather not have an extra switch on the wall - can you still put a dimmer on that?

I recently had Maxim under cabinet light fixtures installed. They are hard wired, dimmable, rated for 50,000 hours and come in 2700K and 3000K. Both my contractor and I were impressed with the construction quality and ease of installation. Tried Kichler and did not like their build quality at all. So far, very pleased with Maxim performance.

Thanks for that texasgal47 - so helpful to get some references for a starting point!

I also used InspiredLED - they were great to work with. We told them what we were trying to do and they basically told us what we needed to accomplish that. We have a wall switch, with a transformer in the back corner of one of the upper cabinets. It's not on a dimmer (no need, plus it's mostly used as task lighting).

Well the funniest thing is that washing dishes in the bathroom sink has helped me make a decision (also great to hear from everybody else here - such a great discussion and so much feedback! people are passionate about their soap dispenser process!) I have realized that I like the control of being able to squirt the bottle in to whatever I am hand washing - I rarely fill up a sink to wash dishes and tend to wash pots (not dishwasher friendly i.e. Le Creuset) in the sink mainly and I've realized that I like to squirt around the pot and trying to put a pot exactly under the soap dispenser may be difficult/painful esp with a deep sink (Rohl Shaws fireclay sink)… I'm ok with putting the squirt bottle away under the sink since I'm a neat freak so will concentrate on storage under the sink that will be good for both cloths/sponges and squirt bottles… after removing a whole cabinet of cleaners I hardly ever used pre kitchen demo I've decided that in the new kitchen I'm limiting myself to just the few cleaners I use and the rest goes in the basement for occasional use!!

I love having this forum to bounce ideas off - I was very determined to have a soap dispenser built in but I would have used it mainly for washing hands than dishes and weighing it up I would prefer the aesthetics of just one central faucet given that it's going in the island… thanks everybody for your comments and help - it really made me think about what I needed and wanted!!

My electrician came by during the week and he thinks a long strip at the back of the cabinets will work best… he suggested 'juno' LED and my contractor suggested 'halo' LED - does anybody know these and can comment? We have 2700 or 3000 LED can lights in the ceiling so will match the same 2700 or 3000… does anybody know if the strip lights can come on a dimmer or low/med/high?

UC lighting should go towards the front of the cabinets, not the rear. Most LED can be dimmed, no problem.

Pippin, I was going to say what GD's said. I have read some on UCL on here and the consensus was towards the front if you want it for task lighting, or at least in the middle. Also, depending on your BS material (i.e. shiny), if you put it at the back, it may glare/bounce off the wall. Just a thought!

And yes, isn't this place a wealth of information. ;)

Dimmable xenon under my cabinets.

We got dimmable as there were so many saying you should. In reality we have never adjusted the brightness, ever, in over 2 years. Next time, the dimmable feature will not be mandatory.

I use the dimmable under cabinet lighting for lighting the kitchen at night while we are still up. We always double check the door to make sure it's locked before we go to bed, so the soft lights don't jar us. When I'm working in the kitchen, they are always on full. But really it's personal preference.

We don't want it for task lighting as per golfergirl29 - really just as light for soft lighting while we are in the dining room (open plan dining/kitchen) or as a night light when we are in the living room watching tv and every now and then need to get a drink etc from the kitchen or for late at night - therefore I thought that the strip light at the back would be best and also highlight the backsplash

Sounds like you've thought it out then and that will work for you.

We used Unilume LED because they were thinner and we didn't have much trim to hide them. Love them so much, I sometimes just use them to prep by and forget to turn the cans on!

With only 2 lights I don't think you would need dimmers.

We used LEDs on a dimmer. I like them, and they are plenty bright when turned up, but they seem to cast a smaller "pool" of light on my counters than the old (hot) halogens from my former kitchen.

Has anybody sen the difference between LED strip lighting and xenon strip lighting? I'm wondering what the difference is besides LED's not getting as hot and being more energy efficient i.e. in terms of the light softness and reduced glare? (I've been reading that LED's can provide a lot of glare which sounds awful)

I bought mine from environmentallights.com and the light bars had diffuser covers that pretty much got rid of the glare and evened out the lighting. Perfect 3000k warm color and I am glad that I chose the in-wall line voltage dimmer since I use it all the time. That does require a large transformer but they sell everything. I sent in my layout, then consulted on the phone with my preferences, and they created a plan and a shopping cart for me. Great service with exchanges when I realized that my 14 inch cabinets could not fit a 12 inch light due to wall thickness and needing to fit the wire that comes out the end of the light bar (exchanged for LED puck lights instead).

Still deliberating over the under cabinet lighting… does anybody know of a dimmer on the light - I didn't realize that my electrician could have put the dimmer on another wall (too late now)…and if there is only low/high/off can anybody tell me which lights these are (xenon?) and what the light is like i.e. is the high too high and is the low still able to be used for 'task lighting' i.e. to prep but is soft enough to not be glary? There are so many choices and I'm worried about choosing one that will be too bright/glary or like a runway

You may want to x-cross post over in lighting. A couple of resident experts there.