This past weekend my kitchen got a facelift: New lighting! We removed the old, barely functional, and extremely ugly fluorescent lighting fixtures under the cabinets, and replaced them with new xenon light strips. How did it go, and how do they work? Well, there are pros and cons to the new lighting; here's a look at both.
First of all, a word on under cabinet lighting. It rocks. My kitchen is relatively small, and the only other source of lighting, besides a window, is one older light fixture in the ceiling. It's an awesome light fixture, but it doesn't give off a ton of light. So cleaning and cooking at night is difficult without some extra light.
The previous under cabinet lighting was fluorescent. Now, fluorescent lights are more energy-efficient and cooler to the touch, but we really disliked these fixtures. I am all for conserving energy but I am very picky about the quality of light, especially in the kitchen, and I just strongly dislike fluorescent lighting.
They were also very old, and disgustingly rusted and dirty. They had probably been in the kitchen for at least 20 years. They also had no covers, so any spattered food would go straight into the light itself.
So, even though we rent, one small upgrade we planned and budgeted for was lighting. We painted the underside of the cabinets one weekend, after my husband took down all the old lights. Then we went shopping for new lights.
We went with these newish xenon-bulb lights because I liked the quality and temperature of the light and also because the bulbs run cooler than halogen and last a lot longer. My husband and my father-in-law put in the lights last weekend, and now here's where we get to the pros and cons.
Pros of Xenon Strip Lights
• They give off really beautiful light. The light in my kitchen is usually quite cold, and these warm it up just enough. It's warmer than fluorescents, but not so warm as a halogen bulb. It's not pure yellow light; it's kind of golden. I love it. The new lights sort of glow under the cabinets, and they make the kitchen look ten times better than it did before.
• The lights are able to be plugged in or hardwired. We hardwired these into the existing wires, but if you just wanted one easy light under your cupboard these can be plugged into an outlet.
• They have 3-way switches: High, Low, and Off. The lights can be switched to a lower output which gives a nice warm glow plenty bright enough for most work.
• The light covers are easily removable for cleaning. This is really important to me, as I wanted to keep the lights much cleaner — especially since I don't have a hood over the stove, and I need to be able to clean the light cover as frequently as possible.
A wider light over the stove.
Cons of Xenon Strip Lights
• They were a royal pain to install. My husband and father-in-law both have Ph.D.s in engineering, and it took them nearly all day to get four lights installed. (Cue jokes about engineering Ph.D.s... but my father-in-law has done extensive construction and electrical work, and even he was scratching his head a little.) The issue is the Utilitech construction. You have to take the lighting box apart to get the wires installed, and once you take the box apart it's really hard to put it back together. If you're just plugging them into an outlet this isn't an issue, but if you want to hardwire them then it is just an all-round pain.
• These still run hot. Like any incandescent light, these lights will warm up the cupboards they're placed under. They are under four cupboards in my kitchen, and since most of them just hold tools or dishes, this isn't a big deal. But I need to rearrange my oils cupboard to move my oils away from the warmth. Also, we are installing a dimmer for the lights that will keep them at a lower setting most of the time. But you can feel the heat from the lights, especially when they are on the highest setting. In the winter this won't be a problem, as my kitchen is always extra-cold and drafty, but in the summer I plan on always using the lower setting!
• At the lower light setting, the lights have a slight flicker or vibration that I've already gotten used to, but might bother some people.
Here are the actual lights we bought:
• Utilitech 24 in. 60W Xenon Under Cabinet Light, about $40 at Lowe's
• Utilitech 3-Light Undercabinet/Rope Light, about $35 at Lowe's
Do you have under cabinet lights? Have you ever installed them yourself? Any tips? And any thoughts on these xenon lights?
Related: Survey: Do You Have Under Cabinet Lighting?
(Images: Faith Durand)
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A little dimmer info:
Q) What kind of dimmer switch should I use?
A) An ordinary incandescent dimmer can sometimes be used to dim the hardwire Xenon Low Voltage Task Lights. However, on occasion the use of a standard incandescent dimmer may cause an audible humming sound. Also, the range of dimmability may be limited with an incandescent dimmer.
source:http://www.pegasusassociates.com/XenonWhiteTaskLights.html#moreinfo
As s7726 says, Xenon is indeed dimmable. I just installed Pegasus fixtures in a kitchen project, wired to regular Lutron dimmers. No hum, seems to be a full range.
You *do* feel the heat of the Xenon fixtures in the bottom of the cabinets, but it casts a very true light that works perfectly with the halogen overheads. And Pegasus is pretty helpful.
I will say, when the project was still in progress, the workers had regular incandescent bulbs in the overheads, and THOSE buzzed like a beehive when dimmed (so much so I thought we had put in the wrong transformers). Turns out it was just the bulbs... the correct halogen bulbs are silent at any range.
Yes, we're using a Lutron dimmer that should be rated OK for the amount of voltage in the lights. Next weekend's project!! :-)
I bought a pack of these LED 'discs' from Ikea:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00119424
and I LOVE them. They don't get hot, they put out a nice (not as nice as yours, Faith) bright light, and there's no installation necessary. The only downside is the ten miles of cord that they come with. I think I will drill a hole into the bottom of my cabinets and run the cords through. I just have them taped to the underside so they're out of the way right now.
I can't wait to get more of them--for my closets.
These should be able to let you see your food in the color they actually are as well, both have a CRI of 100, which really makes buying xenon worth it over fluorescent. However, xenon usually gets ridiculously hot. I would be curious as to what you store in your cabinets and if the lights have had any effect on them.
- both. I was referring to incandescent which appears that I forgot to write.
@Khatam, yes, I mention the heat up above. The dish/tool cupboards aren't really affected. The bottoms of my bowls and mugs get slightly warm from the lights if they've been on for a while. I am moving some oils in another cupboard, as I don't want them exposed to the warmth. But honestly, I should have done that a long time ago, since the fluorescent lights that used to be there also heated up the floor of that cupboard quite a bit. The xenons are definitely hotter, though, and I am careful not to touch the bulb cover after they have been on for a while.
We used Xenon in our renovation (which y'all might get to see real soon -- wink wink) -- don't have the model number handy, but they're from GE (and from Lowe's). They work like a charm hard-wired to dimmers. Confession: we had them installed by our contractor, but time was an issue. But we are pleased -- we were looking for something in traditional incandescant tubular or other small bulbs, but nothing like that is sold anymore. We pondered LEDs for a brief moment, but the light quality is ghastly.
The thinking that xenon puts out less heat is a bunch of hooey, IMO. I have both halogen (kitchen) and xenon (mudroom) and they're both hot.
I do really like the quality of the light from either, but if it had been available at the time, I would have gone with LED.
The only downside to the Ikea lights sjbreeze mentioned is the reason we picked them! That super long cord meant we could run the wires up and over to one cabinet where we ganged the cordes to one switch! Now all the in and under cabinets lights turn on and off at once! Yippee!
Are you worried at all about the heat of the bulbs and the wood of the cabinets? I used to have halogen lights under mine, but took them out because they made me nervous. -Potentially for no reason.
A report back (a month into using these daily). I am not too worried about the heat's effect on the cabinets. They are wood; they are not going to burst into flame from some warm lights. Also, we just installed a dimmer switch that keeps these at a really nice level for evening work - light enough to see by, but not so hot.
I do notice the heat, though, when I am in a full-on cooking session and the lights are on at full brightness. It feels measurably warmer near the cabinets.
Ultimately, this has been a small price to pay, though, for the MUCH better light and the way it freshens the kitchen.
On those Ikea products are they cool white light or warm white? I am not fond of the cool glow of LED's.
OK I know I'm months late, but...
Can the heat in the cabinets from xenon lighting be dissipated by installing the fixture with a gap between the fixture and the cabinet? I'm thinking perhaps a couple of washers could be used?
Also is the heat transferred just to the bottom shelf of the cabinet or throughout the cabinet? My concern is storage of spices and herbs.
As for the Xenon under cabinet lights (Utilitech Brand), the directions say, "CAUTION< DO NOT USE THIS FIXTURE WITH A DIMMING CIRCUIT." Yet folks all through this thread comment on using a Lutrom dimmer. Has anyone actually used these with a dimmer? If so, do you set them to the highest setting on the fixture switch and then use the wall dimmer for adjusting all the lights simultaneously?
I would be curious as to what you store in your cabinets and if the lights have had any effect on them.
corner curio cabinet