Kitchen under cabinet lighting

[aanicol]

Can any kind gents/ladies point me in the direction of decent and well priced lighting for under kitchen units ?

Was thinking along the lines of linking fluorescents, and was unsure whether a complete spread of these would be required, i.e. each wall unit having same sized ftg under, or would it be better to have a gap between ?

Or of course if any other type is recomended ?

I have an L-shaped worktop, 4mtrs x 3mtrs with wall units above all way round, kitchen is quite bright, being white gloss door & drawer fronts.

Mate is a sparky who would be fitting them, I would like to have them ready for when he comes back from his hols in 2 weeks, just as a little surprise for him..

Thanks all in advance.

 

[jj4091]

If you are thinking of T4 slimline fittings, personally I would not recommend them as I have always found them unreliable & short lived. Others will & have diasagreed in the past. The strip light Led kits at S/fix look promising but I have no experience of them yet.

 

[Steve]

If you get LEDs, make sure they are warm white (2700-4000k)

I would go for T5 fittings. They are far better established and reliable than T4s.

DO NOT use any kind of SPOT lighting. This would be a useless excersize.

 

[JohnL79]

Doh!

Just installed T4 slimlines in mine, purchased from trade point at b&q.

Cabinets are spread out but as youll see on the L shape part i left a gap which i think looks good.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Doh!

Cabinets are spread out but as youll see on the L shape part i left a gap which i think looks good.

Do you mean the dark gap over the sink? I guess you don't do the washing up then!

Or does the torch in the ceiling give a glimmer of illumination onto the egg encrusted plates??

 

[JohnL79]

As an eligible bachelor i will let the dishwasher do the washing up when i finally move in, self build project thats near completion.

And the torch's in the ceiling (IMHO) do a very good job of lighting the kitchen , in total there are 12 x 4.5W LED GU10's which ive used in a mixture of cool and warm white to give a more pleasing (to me) balance of colour.
In fact with the cabinet lights and ceiling lights both on its too bright and consuming an eye watering 116W!!!!

 

[CharlieL]

Don't trust a professional kitchen fitter, as I did. Each of our 5 under cupboard lights are wired directly into a 32amp spur feed without individual fuses. If a 11watt flourescent lamp fails, nearly 8kilowatts short circuit shuts the house down, or sets fire to the wiring! I have a HNC in Electrical Engineering, but am not apparently qualified enough nowadays to wire up kitchen lighting. We have the correct certificates from the kitchen company. No, the "Spark" wasn't Polish. If I put in in-line fuses, I invalidate the 5 year guarantee. If I keep schtumm, I'm leaving myself open to a lawsuit when I sell. And, Yes, they have gone bankrupt! And no earths, despite metal lighting units. Double insulated? Get off, like the earth lead!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If a 11watt flourescent lamp fails, nearly 8kilowatts short circuit shuts the house down, or sets fire to the wiring! I have a HNC in Electrical Engineering, but am not apparently qualified enough nowadays to wire up kitchen lighting.

Are you qualified to explain how a flourescent lamp failing:
a) generates a fault current of that magnitude for long enough for the wiring to catch fire
b) can shut the house down
?

We have the correct certificates from the kitchen company.

No - you have fraudulent, falsified ones.

No, the "Spark" wasn't Polish.

If he had been you wouldn't be having these problems because they still train electricians properly there.

If I put in in-line fuses, I invalidate the 5 year guarantee.

Nonsense.

If I keep schtumm, I'm leaving myself open to a lawsuit when I sell.

Nonense.

And, Yes, they have gone bankrupt! And no earths, despite metal lighting units. Double insulated? Get off, like the earth lead!

Complain to the body with whom they were registered before they went bust. The warranty will be insurance backed and will pay for the remedial work.