Adding a switch to existing under-cabinet lighting
I bought a house that came with hardwired under-cabinet lighting connected to a wall switch that's too far. The wire goes from under cabinet to behind the backsplash, follows along under the sink (where the driver is) and arrives at the switch some 10ft away. It is likely stapled in various places so I cannot rip it out easily.
The most practical solution (or so I thought) is to cut the wire right before the light strip and splice in a second switch. I can then leave the wall switch on all the time and use the under cabinet switch to control it. I have been Googling for two days and I can't find any helpful discussions/instructions on doing something like this. Every tutorial/article assumes I am starting from scratch.
I would prefer to have a motion activated switch (not a timer; wave for on, wave again for off) but a button switch would do as well. The only setup that shows multiple components wired together is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq8LQO2fq1Q but the guy doesn't say what the components are or where he bought them.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
The driver under the sink:
Where I am trying to splice the wire:
Comments (9)
PROUser
2 years agoGizli Gizli
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Under cabinet light above sink with switch needed
Comments (1)How about using led? EW profile, maxlite, UniLume are possible choices. They are all dimmable. The UniLume has it's own on off switch....See MoreAdding cabinets under existing island overhang
Comments (2)We have an overhang just like that one. I found some metal bookcases at BBB and have been using them, with baskets, under the overhang for storage. Works very well, but with such a beautiful kitchen as yours, cabinets might be a nicer looking solution. (I'm just starting out on the kitchen renovation. I probably won't add an overhang this time around, and may put shallow cabinets there instead.) Good luck!...See MoreDoes warm-glow under-cabinet LED lighting really exist?
Comments (41)To follow up, the Juno lights as installed look good so far (although my kitchen is flooded with natural light right now, so I won't know for sure until it's dark out) - I took a chance but I love that there's an off/switch on each of the 3 bars (2 24's and 1 12) on the left hand side and a dimmer dial on the right, plus the on/off switch on the wall for all 3 (which are connected), so we can very much customize the amount of light is on and off each time we turn the switch on and off on the wall. or we can leave the wall switch on and use the on-bar controls. It's a lot more versatility than any other LED light that I've seen. And when on full blast the lights are pretty bright, and when dimmed they are pretty dim, so far. What I might do to get around the problem of having reflections on the shiny (Zodiaq cloud white) countertop, is use the stick-on diffusers provided with the environmental lights package, and put those on the Junos and not return them to environmental lights. One thing re environmental lights - they know their stuff, were VERY helpful and I'd love to work with them. I just prefer a dimmer dial. And Juno's customer service is not 24/7 like some electrical support shops - it's just M-F, which I didn't like as much. And the dimmer-dial LEDs we used aren't even on its website, for whatever reason. I tried to call its customer service line today to ask why they aren't on the website and make sure they still support them before deciding which to install - but they aren't available today (a Sunday). For what it's worth, the Juno bars we installed have a 5 year warranty and the environmental lights have a 3 year warranty. I'm not sure why the difference and it wasn't a big factor in deciding, but worthy of note....See MoreCombining under-cabinet and can lights on same switch?
Comments (6)Absolutely NO! General lighting should be on a different switch than task lighting and accent lighting. You want the over the sink lighting on one switch, for those late night visits where you only want one light to come on. The under cabinet lighting should be on another switch. That’s especially important for functionality and scene setting. The general kitchen lighting and general dining lighting should be on two separate circuits. And please reconsider your kitchen plans. No tall object should ever interrupt a run of counter space. The refrigerator is in a very bad location and should be moved elsewhere. I would suggest shortening the peninsula and placing it across from there....See More- PRO
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Gizli GizliOriginal Author