I was hoping to get advice on my first lighting project. My kitchen has existing under cabinet lighting, 12 volt halogen or xenon bulbs, which appear to be just tact directly into a cord. (It looks like a lamp cord -See picture).
My hope is to convert to dimable LED strips (cool white required but color also would be a bonus). I want to be able to control it both at the switches (3 pole) but also via smarttgings hub (CoRE installed) and my phone or Google home.
I have read countless posts and websites but there are so many configurations and options I’m overwhelmed trying to figure out what will work best for me.
I have 5 separate sections of cabinets with a total of 15 feet of lighting. The existing wiring goes into the wall at the top of our backsplash and is connected in the attic. We are in the process of pulling and replacing our backsplash so I thought this might be a good time to do the lighting if I have to re-do the wiring.
I would appreciate any advice on the project or recommendations on products:
LEDs
Switches
Power converter
Dimmer
Wifi controller
The other option (and one that I went with), is the Sylvania Lightify strips. The nice thing is that they are relatively inexpensive and you could extend them with the additional extension kit. However, you can’t just “wire” them into your existing wiring; You’d have to drop in a gang box and outlet. The plus side to that is… MORE OUTLETS! The downside is the additional labor. An additional benefit of this approach is that you can have basically a single strip broken into parts and have the wires concealed behind your backsplash.
As for switches, I’m liking the new GE z-wave+ dimmers. I got two last week and they seem to work pretty well. Throw on an add-on switch (for the 3-way wiring) and you are good to go. If you’re unsure about how to do 3-way wiring, there are tons of threads here with HOWTOs.
I ordered the device and a light strip from Ebay. Not bad. But Tyler on Youtube provided other links for them on Amazon.
I ordered 2xcontrollers; one to be used for a later project and a longer LED strip. But for the price on Amazon. It is cheaper than getting Hue LED strip.
Ok, I’m confused again. Can I use any 60W power converter for this LED strip? If I am using the GE z-wave dimmer switches do I need something specific?