How to Buy Under Cabinet Lighting
Under-cabinet lighting is a great way to illuminate your kitchen and make it look more modern. While you can purchase pre-made under-cabinet lighting kits that include lights, wire clips, and installation instructions, there are plenty of DIY options available — including battery-operated lights that you can use without running electrical wires through your cabinets. In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the crucial factors for buying under-cabinet lighting, including which type of light works best for different uses (hint: it’s not all about brightness!).
Under Cabinet Lighting
Choosing the Right Undercabinet Light
Choosing the Right Undercabinet Light
Choosing the right under-cabinet light depends on your needs. If you want to illuminate a specific area, such as a countertop or sink, you’ll need to consider how many bulbs are necessary for that space. For example, if four cabinets are above your kitchen sink, and each has two lights (one on each side), then eight total bulbs would provide enough illumination for all four cabinets simultaneously.
Undercabinet lights can be used for any number of tasks around your home–from illuminating dark corners to helping save money on electric bills. They’re also easy to install because most come with mounting brackets that attach directly to cabinet doors without any wiring required!
Consider the Lighting Needs of Your Kitchen
Consider the Lighting Needs of Your Kitchen
Before you start shopping, it’s essential to consider the lighting needs of your kitchen. You’ll want to think about the following:
- Kitchen size and light requirements. For example, if you have ample open space with many windows and skylights, under-cabinet lighting may not be necessary. However, if your kitchen is small or darkly lit by natural light alone (especially if there are no windows), adding under cabinet lights will make an enormous difference in comfort and functionality.
- How much storage space is there in the cabinets themselves–if there isn’t enough room for both food items and appliances like microwave ovens or blenders, then consider moving some things into drawers instead so that they don’t take up valuable real estate on top surfaces where they could otherwise go unnoticed until needed later on down the road when someone tries searching through their cabinets looking for something specific but can’t seem to find anything because everything else has been pushed aside due its position underneath where only one person could reach at any given time without disturbing another person who may also need access at some point during their day.
What Kind of Undercabinet Lighting Do I Need?
When looking for under-cabinet lighting, knowing the difference between LED and CFL is essential.
The energy efficiency and longer life of LEDs make them more energy efficient than CFLs, so you won’t need to replace them as often. In addition, LEDs produce less heat than CFLs do–this means you won’t have any problems with overheating or burning yourself on hot light fixtures when working in your kitchen!
If you want a brighter light source with better color rendering than an incandescent bulb can provide (which tends to make everything look yellowish), then choose LED undercabinet lights instead of compact fluorescent ones (CFL).
How Many Lights Do I Need?
Your kitchen’s size determines how many lights you need. The perimeter should be evenly lit with at least one light per 2-3 feet (60-90 cm). For example, if you have a 10 ft x 12 ft (3 m x 3.6 m) kitchen with an 8 ft ceiling height, then this would require about 14 under cabinet lights: 7 on each side and 1 in the middle (in addition to any overhead light fixtures).
Where Should I Place Mine Under Cabinet Lights?
When buying under-cabinet lighting, you must consider where the light should be placed. It would help if you placed your lights to illuminate the countertop and work area, and this will help make it easier to see what you’re doing when preparing food or cleaning up after meals.
Undercabinet lighting can also be used as an ambient illumination source throughout a room; many homeowners install undercabinet lights in their kitchens to see what they’re doing while cooking without having to turn on overhead lights or use harsh spotlights.
The 3 Types of Under Cabinet Lighting
There are three main types of under-cabinet lighting:
- Light bars. These long, rectangular strips hang from the ceiling and shine light directly down onto your countertops. They’re often used in kitchens because they’re easy to install and can be placed anywhere along a wall (or even multiple walls).
- Puck lights. These look like hockey pucks with LEDs inside them, but they differ from puck lights in that they don’t need adhesive to stick on flat surfaces or adhere them to vertical surfaces such as cabinets or walls; instead, they come with magnetic bases that allow you to place them wherever you want without having any holes drilled into your home’s surface structure!
- Tape lights are similar in design to puck lights except instead of being magnetic-based–which allows them freedom of movement–they’re stuck down using tape so there’s no chance of accidentally bumping one off its spot while cooking/baking/etc., which might cause injury if dropped onto someone’s foot!
Under Cabinet Lighting: 3 Things to Consider
The first thing to consider when buying under-cabinet lighting is the size and placement of your lights. You want to ensure they’re large enough to illuminate your work surface without crowding it but small enough not to be visible from above or behind your head.
Next, consider the power source: do you want battery-operated or hardwired lights? This choice will depend on how much flexibility you need in terms of placement and whether or not there’s an outlet nearby where you can plug them in. Finally, think about the light source:
- Halogen bulbs are bright but hot.
- LEDs are more excellent but less powerful.
- Fluorescent tubes balance these two extremes (and can also be dimmed).
Put under-cabinet lighting in your kitchen to make it look great.
Under-cabinet lighting is the best way to make your kitchen look great. Under cabinet lighting can be installed easily and quickly, saving time and money. It also saves energy, which will help you save even more money on your electric bills!
Conclusion
We hope you feel confident about making the right choice for your kitchen. If you have any questions about under-cabinet lighting or want us to help you with a project, don’t hesitate to reach out!
