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Best way to wire undercabinet lights?

missamo80 | Posted in General Discussion on July 15, 2006 09:52am

As part of our kitchen remodel we’re planning on adding undercabinet lighting. I’ve already run wire for a new circuit from the panel to a switch in the kitchen via our crawlspace. Where I’d like some advice, however, is where to go from there 🙂

From the switch I need to get to cabinets in several different places in the kitchen. The attached diagram of the kitchen has the light locations marked in fat red. The switch is on the right side of the doorway.

What’s the right way to run the wire from the switch to the other locations? I was thinking of running from the switch back down to the crawlspace, but I’m not sure how to branch off for the lights. Do I do junction boxes at each location in the crawlspace where I have to come up through the stud bays? I assume I have to run BX cable since it will be exposed under the cabinets, and I’d rather not have two runs of it getting spliced at the actual light fixture. Is there some other way that I’m missing?

Thanks!

Neil

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  1. calvin | Jul 15, 2006 10:12pm | #1

    Neil,

    Personally I don't find much of a problem with the light cast from xenon fixtures applied at the back of the cab.  Then no visible cord, cable or bx in view.  When setting new cabs I stub out wire at the bottom back of the upper cab line, fish through a hole when mounting the cabs.  In a remodel of all but the cabs, we'll channel out the wall board to run the wire.  If the finished splash is in place you might be able to run a fish tape through the hole and down the wall.  There's not much room for a junction in all those xenon fixtures to use them as the junction, but it can be done with several brands.  There's usually a couple diff knockouts (or drill your own) to come in/go out a diff. hole. 

    A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.

    Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

    Quittin' Time

     

    1. missamo80 | Jul 15, 2006 10:27pm | #2

      Calvin,

      Thanks for the speedy reply. I am installing Xenon lights, and will hold them up prior to running wire to see how they look at the back of where the cabinets will be. Good suggestion.

      I'd prefer to avoid cutting a channel in the drywall to run the wire, since the crawlspace is so easily accessible. How do you run the power up into the cabinets from the main circuit? Do you branch off a loop around the kitchen? Where do you make the splice if that is the case?

      Neil

      1. calvin | Jul 15, 2006 10:41pm | #3

        Power to switch.

        Feed from switch to 1st light, then pick up each of the remaining lights.  Into fixture, out of fixture.  Junction in fixture.  If junction in crawl, run single feed to each fixture from that junction box.

        or do what I do, call my electrician and let him figure what is the easiest legal way to power up the customers lights.  Each job has its own set of ways of doing things.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.

        Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

        Quittin' Time

         

  2. mikeingp | Jul 16, 2006 12:17am | #4

    I remodeled a friend's kitchen recently with very similar setup, and it went pretty much as calvin described, although we did mount the lights mid-cabinet. Our electrician said Romex was fine, so if you're nosy enough and peek under the cabinet, you'll see short lengths of Romex running from a hole in the back of the cabinet to the lights. The cabinets (like most) had a 2" recess in the bottom so none of this is visible to folks over 4' tall.

    Our fixtures had room in them for junctions, but the supplied connectors were very small, so only one cable could go in a connector. So, we used connectors at each end of the light and just ran the cable between lights.

    We removed practically all the sheetrock in the old kitchen, which seemed wasteful at first, but in the end turned out to be the right way to go. With all the sheetrock out, it was easy to run the cable from the switch through the studs from light to light. We stapled the cables to the studs and told the sheetrock guy where they were supposed to come out. When we were ready to hang the cabinets, the wires were sticking out of the (new) sheetrock about where they had to be (long enough to reach where the lights would be). Since everything was going to be covered by either a cabinet or a tiled backsplash, things didn't have to be perfect. We drilled holes in the bottom back of the cabinets and fished the wires through as we installed the cabinets. We screwed the lights to the bottom of the cabinets, and let the electrician make all the connections. All in all, a lot easier than I had expected when I first saw the lights.

    Even if you had to go down to the crawl between cabinets, I think most electricians would just run the cable without junction boxes. Every junction is a place where heat can develop, and what purpose would all those boxes serve?

    1. missamo80 | Jul 16, 2006 12:26am | #5

      Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll have to wait until the lights come in to see how much room there is inside for junctions and whatnot.

      Neil

      1. User avater
        BillHartmann | Jul 16, 2006 12:32am | #6

        There is nothing wrong with putting a junction box(es) in the crawlspace and running individual cables to each fixture.And unless you are opening up the walls or want to learn to use a flexable drill bit you will need to drop back down to the crawlspace a couple of places anyway.Probably less wire to home run each one to one to two j-boxes.

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