under cabinet lighting

Dr Evil

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I thought I started one of these before. Nothing came up so here it goes again...

My kitchen has 6 downlights that I've installed Cree 3500k LR6s in. Due to their locations, there is quite a shadow under the cabinets. My thought is to run a 1 to 1 1/2 inch wide x 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick piece of aluminum or copper under the cabinets. Then mount the LEDs, maybe on stars, every 6 inches. There are 4 sections total. One will either be left out or combined with another though.

There is 18" between the counter top and the bottom of the cabinets in every section.

1. 66" long x 16" deep
2. 44" long x 16" deep
3. 54" long x 12" deep
4. 24" long x 12" deep

Section 4 will either be left out or I'll wire it up to come on with section 3. I prefer to wire it up with section 3.

1. What LEDs should I use? I want something high CRI and as close to 3500k as possible. Something that already comes mounted on stars would be nice but not needed.
2. Drivers? I guess that can be figured out once I know how many LEDs will be used and how much current they will be given.
3. Series or parallel?
4. I really want two brightness levels. One that provides enough light for reading/working/prepping food and another that provides a little more than a bright full moon. Any suggestions on how to do this?
5. Spacing. Is 1 every 6 inches good? I want even lighting. Or should I just crank up the current and spread them out further? There is a lip around the edges that sticks down about 1/2 inch. I'm guessing an inch or two behind that would be a good place to mount the lights.

That all I can think of although I might be missing some needed information. Let me know and I'll post it.
 

mddolson

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I have a similar project in my kitchen.
I have two 18" florescent tubes & one 12" florescent tube under the kitchen cupboards, and a 24" florescent tube in the window valance above the kitchen sink.
I'd like to convert these to LED.
I'm considering the LED strip lights or perhaps modular LED light bars.

Mike D
 

FRITZHID

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Depending on how bright you really want/need it to be, I've had great results from the double row, warm white, 5050 (plcc6) cob LED strips.
I've replaced all the former florescent tubes (except garage ceiling) with them, as well as adding lights to areas that I wouldn't have considered using florescent tubes in.
They are user friendly. Great color rendition. Low heat. And with the rgb controllers available, they can be dimmed extremely low (using one of the 3 chips in each cob at lowest level) and the remotes have a nice custom preset option.
I've used WW in most applications except my kitchen island, where I took the double row strips and swapped 3 of the 6 COB LEDs from WW to CW for a very nice even, bright, comfortable white, since that's the main work area in our kitchen.
The light output vs. cost was great imho. Especially if you're a diy'r.
Simple cheap 2A 12v wall wort PSs work fairly well as long as they are tested to confirm they are less than 14v (the LEDs don't like to run higher than that for prolonged periods), otherwise PSs are readily available for the strips.
Having a control driver for these is a good idea but not a necessity.
The longest run I've installed is 37' above crown molding in a ceiling bounced fashion and it lights the room in a very nice, even, warn white light that allows for reading, gaming, etc, tho I've found that for cleaning, it's nice to have a main, really bright light available.
For under cabinet or lighting over a distance of about 4' or less, these LED strips are very bright, more then enough for any task I've needed to do using them.

Just my 2¢ worth.

(P.S. Here's the link to photo album for the island project, unfortunately some photos were lost but the original CW's i had installed, and then some completed shots with the modified WW/CW and lensing installed.
http://s1204.photobucket.com/user/fritzhid/library/island light
 
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Captq

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Have you looked at the Mr Beams battery operated slimlights. I was very sceptical of these lights but so far they have worked out great without the hassle of wiring the space. May not be enough firepower for your application but they solved my under cabinet space issue
 

made in china

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5050 strips are not COB, they are SMD.

5050 strips have very very poor CRI. I have a very nice 3000K LED strip setup in our bar, but the CRI is so bad things are greenish under it.

The OP is on the right track, I'd definitely do CREE LEDs on stars. The higher CRI is well worth it.

Or, just wait until some vendor actually releases a verified high CRI LED strip.
 

FRITZHID

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They in fact are COB LEDs on 5050s, they just happen to be smd COBs. There are other smd leds on strips that are not COB, but the plcc6 is considered a COB.
The strips I buy are not by any means greenish or harsh. The cheaper, cool white are but I use WW and have no issues with color rendition. I've combined cool and warm white leds to provide a little boost in total LM and the color is a little closer to florescent lighting but still good, no green. But then again, I don't buy the cheapest I can find. Cree makes a wonderful 5050 chipset.
I'll look and see if I can find a cri on the chips I use.....
 

mddolson

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Thanks for the input Fritzhid. My existing undercounter lights (florescent tubes) are hard wired 120Vac.
I was considering stripping ballasts & tube mounts out of the boxes, & using it as the mounting surface & heat sink for strip lights & junction box.
I was looking at these drivers: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00HFP1DYA/

I'm considering one of the following for the light strips:
http://www.lowes.ca/cabinet-lightin...f-led-strip-rope_g758717.html?linkloc=related
or
http://www.lowes.ca/cabinet-lightin...p-30-ledsm_g903434.htmlclass=?linkloc=related

Not sure about the light output I need

Now the stupid question: How do I connect the strip to the driver? Is there a crimp connector or do I need to solder to the strip?

Comments & suggestions welcome.

MikeD
 
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brickbat

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I'd opt for Cree's CXA LED arrays. For under-cabinet use, my preference is for more, but smaller emitters, so I'd go with the CXA1304.

My quick search at Digikey didn't turn up any in-stock 3500K, 90 CRI devices, but they do have 3500K 80 CRI:

http://www.digikey.com/product-sear...=1&stock=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25

Mouser stocks these as well, and they do have 3000K 90 CRI devices, and maybe they have 90 CRI 3500K - let us know...
 

alpg88

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Crunched the numbers on the strips I use and they come out at approx 2000lm/m....
Or about 100lm per segment (6 COBs/segment, 3 chips/COB = 18 leds/seg)

cut that in half, and double the price. it will not be as bright for long feeding on 12v those tapes have heat issues. drive them at 9v they will last very long, but you need to double the lights to get same brighness
 

FRITZHID

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cut that in half, and double the price. it will not be as bright for long feeding on 12v those tapes have heat issues. drive them at 9v they will last very long, but you need to double the lights to get same brighness

Well, idk what strips you've been using but I have 4 sets that have been running for almost 2 yrs now, 24h/day, at 12.7v to 14.5v depending on my supplys demand and they haven't dimmed, discolored, faded or malfunctioned in any way at all. They are very bright, more than adequate for replacing most of the lighting in my home and what I have already done, people don't even know it's LED until I tell them and everyone seems to like the color and output.... including all my customers that have them installed in their shops, homes, etc.
Just be sure not to buy crap LEDs.
 

googlebridge

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May 15, 2016
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I have a similar project in my kitchen.
I have two 18" florescent tubes & one 12" florescent tube under the kitchen cupboards, and a 24" florescent tube in the window valance above the kitchen sink.
I'd like to convert these to LED.
I'm considering the LED strip lights or perhaps modular LED light bars.

Mike D
Hi Mike,
I wonder how you or others got on. I saw this article about LED under cabinet lighting: http://www.reviewswise.com/indoor-kitchen/indoor-appliances/under-cabinet-led-lighting/
which mentioned the Lightkiwi T1228 which it says is easy to install and is dimable. I just wanted to get more input from people on this forum about how to choose a product. [h=2][/h]
 
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