LED lighting for kitchen cabinets: types, features and installation basics

Tags:Kitchen, Lighting

There are many ways and techniques to transform the kitchen interior. One of them is LED lighting for the kitchen under the cabinets. It not only successfully highlights all the advantages of the furniture set, but also serves purely utilitarian purposes: it facilitates the work of the hostess. With such lighting, it is convenient to cook at any time of the day. How to choose the best backlight option and install it yourself?

Illumination of the working surface of the table greatly facilitates the work

The content of the article

1 What is the backlight for?
2 LED lighting for the kitchen under the cabinets: varieties
3 How to install an LED strip with your own hands
4 How to choose an LED bulb
5 Nice, comfortable, economical
6 Video: how to make LED lighting in the kitchen

What is the backlight for?

Working in the kitchen takes a lot of time and energy from the hostess. To make work in the kitchen a joy, you need not only comfortable furniture, but also full lighting. The latter should not be dull, but at the same time not annoyingly bright.

Very convenient if the light sources are located under the wall cabinets

This level of placement of lamps is located below the eyes and at the same time the lamps are located so that they do not dazzle during operation. The lighting for the kitchen above the cabinets also provides additional lighting, but has a completely different visual effect. The lighting on the cabinet lid allows you to visually "raise" the ceiling and thus increase the visual area of the kitchen. But for cooking work, lighting under the cupboards is more useful.

Luminaires under the cupboard comfortably illuminate the work surface

Helpful information! The more sources of soft lighting in the kitchen, the less shadows are formed, which means it is more convenient to work.

There can be several light sources in a kitchen:

window for natural light;
chandelier for background lighting;
spot or LED luminaires with a directed luminous flux.

LEDs are one of the most economical types of backlighting that can be easily assembled by hand.

LED lighting for the kitchen under the cabinets: varieties

LEDs at the same time decorate the kitchen and act as a completely complete lighting. For such illumination of a kitchen set, you can use:

tape;
halogen spots;
wall appliances;
turning lamps.

What type of appliance to choose for lockers? For this purpose, tapes with LEDs and lamps fixed to the wall are used.

LED strip lighting

LED strip

It is a versatile light source that can be placed at any level. The tape provides uniform anti-reflective illumination, no shadow. It perfectly illuminates the workspace. Under the cabinets, the tape is attached directly to the bottom or along the joint line kitchen apron and shelf bottoms.

Kitchen plinths usually light up at the same time as the workspace. And if you use the lighting above the cabinets at the same time, then you can completely do without the main source of lighting - chandeliers.

LED appliances fully illuminate the kitchen

The advantage of the tape is that it bends easily and can follow all the turns and bends of the walls. The tape looks neat and completely unobtrusive, which allows it to be used in any interior design.

There are two types of tapes:

monochrome (monochrome);
multicolor.

What color to choose the tape depends on the preferences of the hostess of the kitchen and the design of the room. Calm white is considered a versatile option. Its warm shade does not hurt the eyes. Green, blue, red and cold white lights can distort the color of the cooked food, so they are not recommended for use in the kitchen. The brightness and intensity of lighting can be adjusted using a special device.

Colored lighting in the kitchen

You can buy ribbon-shaped kitchen lighting for cabinets in almost any hardware or hardware store.

Chandeliers and lighting fixtures with LED lamps

LED lights for the kitchen above the work surface can be:

external on suspensions;
overhead on the surface of furniture;
mortise.

The key to using these lights is proper installation to avoid shading and glare.

Surface mounted LED kitchen lamps under cabinets

One of the typical types of overhead lighting fixtures is LED panels. Today they are used not only for the kitchen, such devices can increasingly be found in office premises, in salesrooms and in medical institutions. These energy saving devices have a long service life of about 15 years. They can be easily fixed under the cabinet using small screws.

Helpful information! LED panels do not emit heat during operation and do not tire the eyes, so they can be used in the kitchen without restrictions.

Panels for illuminating the work surface

LED recessed furniture luminaires

Installing built-in lighting devices is not easy. For this purpose, you will need to make holes in the bottom of the cabinet and lay the wiring.Built-in appliances feature bright, directional light. Built-in lamps can be of several varieties:

touch (controlled by touch);
linear;
furniture.

Touch lights are very convenient. They can be turned on and off with a light touch. For the kitchen, this is a very practical option, since there is no need to move from the desktop to the switch.

Recessed lights under kitchen cabinets

How to install an LED strip with your own hands

In stores, you can purchase a ready-made installation kit, including a tape, a transformer, an electrical wire, or buy all these elements separately. To install LED lighting for the kitchen under the cabinets, you will need double-sided construction tape and a plastic corner.

LED strip is sold in rolls

Note! When choosing a tape for the kitchen, you should opt for moisture-resistant models.

Installation sequence:

Measure and cut the desired piece of tape.
At the end of the tape, the contacts are exposed, the cable cores are attached to them with solder.
The corner is fixed with construction tape on the bottom of the cabinet.
To enter the tape, you need to make a hole in the right corner of the cabinet.
The transformer device is placed inside a kitchen cabinet.
The protective layer is removed from the tape, and it is glued to the corner. The rest of the tape is passed through the hole.
The tape contacts, observing the polarity, are fixed to the terminals of the transformer.
It remains to attach a plug with a cable and connect the device to an outlet.

LED installation diagram

Note! The tape cannot be connected without a transformer.

The LED strip can be divided into several pieces that are connected in one chain.

Helpful information! Before installing the LED strip, all surfaces must be degreased.

How to choose an LED bulb

There are several parameters that are important for choosing an LED light source:

Lamps must operate from an electricity source with a voltage of 220 V. Devices adapted for 110 V may come on sale, such are mainly used abroad.
The directionality of the glow is indicated on the packaging of the lamp - this is an indicator of the direction of light from the device.
The K value in the lamp characteristics is the color temperature. Up to three thousand K - ordinary warm light, from 3000 to 4500 - intense white, 4500-6500 - cold light source.

To illuminate a kitchen apron, they usually use SMD tapes with a warm white moisture protection

LED strips are sold by bobbins of five meters. For them, you need to select a transformer of appropriate power and suitable fasteners.

Note! You can determine the power of the transformer by multiplying the length of the tape by its power and a factor of 1.25.

Nice, comfortable, economical

LED lighting for the kitchen under the cabinets greatly facilitates the work of the hostess. The soft light that perfectly illuminates the work surface and does not hurt the eyes is the ideal cooking companion. For the work surface, it is worth choosing white LEDs that do not distort the color of the products.