How to fit an under cabinet light

Under cabinet lights can be used in kitchens or in display cabinets in order to provide a nice glow to the inside of the cabinet. You may also use an under cabinet light under the base of your top cabinets in your kitchen in order to shed light on your counter-tops. Under cabinet lights range greatly in price and complexity, and if you need to fit an under cabinet light into your cabinets, you need to weigh the benefits of the different sizes of lights along with the costs and decide on what option is best for you given your available space.

Fitting under unit lights

When trying to fit an under cabinet light in, the first place you need to decide is where the light should go. You have three different main options. One option is the light can go inside the top of the cabinet box, lighting up the inside of the cabinet. This is usually done with puck lights and it will only light up the top shelf of the cabinet unless you have glass shelves inside of that particular cabinet space. Another option is the light can go along the let and right molding strip of the inside of the cabinet, also lighting up the entire cabinet but this time doing it from the sides instead of the top. This is usually done with LED lighting, which is significantly more expensive. However, this will light the whole cabinet. The third option is to use a LED or puck lighting on the base of the top cabinet in order to shed light not on items in the cabinet, but on the counters underneath. This is a form of under counter lights which allows your work space to be brighter.

Fitting in the lights

The way that you will fit in your under unit lights depends entirely on what kind you are using. If you are using puck lights, then installing under cabinet lighting involves making a small hole which is the depth and diameter of the puck lights in the base of the cabinet or in the underside of the top of the cabinet (depending on whether they are lighting the cabinets or the counters). You can then insert the puck light into the hole that you made. The shelf has to be at least 2-3 inches deep if this is to work and you are to hide the puck light itself, otherwise it will stick out. LEDS do not really require any cutting- the strips are 1/16 of an inch and they can just fit along the cabinet's edges.