want to add task lighting to upper cupboards in our kitchen. There are only two either side of the hob / splashback.
the doors are flush fit to the unit at the bottom so no easy way to hide the lights, which I would like to do.
what lights are good to use? I was thinking a hue light but that would mean having to somehow hide the cable to the plug and also somehow get it to go behind the splashback
any easy way of hiding the lights themselves - not sure chasing the unit base would be a sensible idea
or should I just buy new units?
I was looking at this myself. I didn’t put any in my kitchen and wish I had now. I’ve put led strip light into shop cabinets before, I thought about doing similar and routing channels into the cabinet base, running cabling behind cabinets and taking a feed from the extractor to avoid going down the walls as they’re not tiled.
If your cabinets are painted can you make some pelmet to match the style to hide behind? Ikea do a good range, also looking amazon there are a few rechargeable options most seem to do 5 hours or so
I'm no sparky but I think
taking a feed from the extractor
might be frowned upon.
I'm not 100% sure but I think ours are run from the lighting circuit: circuit to switch, switch to fused spur, spur to transformer, transformer to led light strips. The strips are stuck to the back of the pelmets, apparently having the LEDs face the wall helps diffuse the light they produce which can be fairly harsh.
the draw of a hue strip is it comes with a standard plug and I could clip most of the cable out of sight behind the fridge. not sure how to bridge the hob splashback possibly just run it behind or maybe cut and solder
pelmet is a possibility but strong chance it would look naff. think routing is out as it would weaken the cupboard
where do you get the sort of gloss white stuff (mdf?) that units are made from? on closer look I reckon there bespoke carcasses rather than off the shelf
LED strip behind a shallow pelmet. You might not even need a Pelmet if the LED strip is towards the back, will be out of line of sight when standing up.
Our under cabinet lights are just two strips:
[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8675/16004665665_929b17c135.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8675/16004665665_929b17c135.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/qoh6vt ]Twin strips[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
where do you get the sort of gloss white stuff (mdf?) that units are made from?
Most diy places sell it, but if you want pretty much any panel product cut to size and edge banded with whatever finish you choose, Cutlist are excellent. We get veneered panels from them.
My Hue strip runs up inside the units then sticks to the underside of the cooker hood. Its great as it lights up the inside of the cupboards as well.
I run LED sticky strip. No pelmet.
Fortunately when I planned the kitchen I also ran an outlet to above the cupboards so I can power speakers/lights on smart home relays/smart meter monitors etc.
I've just fitted Ikea 80cm Omlopp worktop lights to the undersides of my kitchen cupboards either side of the hob. They are unobtrusive to the point that unless you were looking for them you wouldn't even notice them. They are bright enough that I don't even need the main ceiling lights on to work in the kitchen.
The way my cupboards were fitted leaves a small air gap 5-10mm between the cabinet and the wall that meant I was able to run the cable along the underside of the cabinets and up the back of the cabinets to keep the wiring hidden. the lights come with stock on conduits to keep the cables tidy as well. The transfomer/led drivers are on top of the cupboards, where they can't be seen, the transformers are wired into the lighting circuit, cables are dropped down through the cavity and out level with the top of the cabinets again so all the wiring is hidden from view, but easy to get to when stood on a stool.