First time under cabinet lighting help

Hey all,

So I’m nearly ready to start an under cabinet project and I just need some help verifying if I need anything else, and also any suggestions to tackle a mid window run and hallway run in our kitchen.

So for LED’s I’m looking to go with these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KW2DW38?colid=1W2EZX7K93XBY&coliid=I1NSDK69B6OL4X&psc=1&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl

I have a hue bridge system so I’ll be getting this definitely:

The LED kit already comes with a 12v 5a power supply so not sure if I really need a 6a power supply…but just in case, I have this in my cart as well:

Now for the connectors, I’d rather not solder unless I really have to, so I found an ok deal for 5 PIN connectors on ebay:

First Question: Do I need anything else?

So far the two tricky places are getting the wires over to a last set of cabinets that are separated by a sink and a window on an exterior wall. There’s already a back splash plate and I think the material of that wall is concrete. So far, the best option I could think of is going above the window and back down into the cabinet, hiding the wire behind the window blinds curtain rail. Doing it this way would mean that you “might” see wires poking out from the top left and right sides if the window for where the wire goes back into the cabinet from the top. An idea to hide them is to use fake shrubberies in front of them, but if you have a better way, I’d like to hear it.

The other tricky part is that the kitchen leads into a dining room towards the back, but there’s more cabinets parallel to the window wall. I figure that I might be able to go through the ceiling from the pantry, but since its the first floor, I’m not sure how much drilling I’d need to do to cross the hall.

If anything in regards to both tricky problems, I can take some pictures and post.

Second Question: Those LED’s come with a controller. If I add the Zigbee controller above along with the stock controller, will I have a problem?

Sorry for the lengthy post. First time doing cabinet LED lighting and just making sure I have everything.

Last Question: If I wire the power connection to go in two direction, will either controller (the Zigbee controller or stock controller) control both sets of lights, or is it better to start at one end instead of the middle (was planning to place power above microwave).

Thanks all :smiley:

Your kit comes with an LED controller to change color, etc.
You could use a zwave switch or outlet to turn the 110v power on/off to led lights with the included controller

FYI, I used warm white LEDs for my cabinet lighting. I also plan to install an aluminum channel with diffuser so you can’t see the discrete LEDs in the reflections.

If you want ST to control the color, check out this thread on the Fibaro LED controller:

I just finished this project but my backsplash was being replaced at the same time, so I cant help with that aspect. Initially I went with a GE in-wall Z wave outlet due to the location, but I rerouted the wiring into the cabinet where the Microwave is plugged into. Then I replaced the controller that came with the kit, with a Fibaro RGBW controller. You can see my posts in the fibaro device type (linked above) with the issues Im having. Im sure that will get fixed soon though.

Heres my solution for a no switch install (Wife requirements):

Final look:

1 Like

I suspect these won’t make good contact and/or match the LED strip pins. The strips you listed are 10 mm and these connectors are 12 mm. It is tricky soldering these so I understand the motivation. If you try them let us know your results.

@beckwith
I suspected that as well. So I did end up finding these then:

and I can probably just cut the wire myself:

@Turb02
Very nice setup sir; very clean :slight_smile: More than likely though since I have a Philips Hue Bridge already, I’ll end up doing the light controls in Hue and communicating with that through ST since I believe the Zigbee controller I mentioned above makes those lights act as a single bulb in regards to hue, and I’ve read that with the white wire, it can handle white light a bit better than 4 wire but…meh. I guess my only question with this then is if ST can handle HUE scenes or color changes via routine? Or would there be a need for some Tasker trickery to get that working? I’m working on an android zone controller for upstairs and more than likely will add one for downstairs in the kitchen as well.

If I have to do without the stock controller by running it in line with the FLS-PP, then that’s fine. I just thought it would be nice to have a remote control ready for users who may not want to use their phone. If anything, I’ll test it in line to see if there is confusion between both controllers (that is, if wiring them both is even possible).

Other than the correction the the jumpers, it looks like I might be all set, unless anyone else wants to throw some other concerns in the hat?

I am also planning an under-cabinet LED strip project. My question at this point is more about the type of strip I should buy, not the integration with ST. I have spent some time on the internet looking for answers, but there seems to be an overload of information to weed through, and the answer so far appears nowhere. This thread seemed to be closest to my inquiry. Hope bumping this topic up is okay.

We just had “Sapphire Blue” granite installed. It has kind of milky white to light blue specs in it that seem glow more blue under higher-Kelvin lighting, which we would love see. But at the same time, 5000K or higher will make food look funny, as it does not seem like a normal color balance for indoor lighting. So I was considering a strip that another person on this forum used with alternating 2800K and 7000K LED adjustable white LED strip. On the other hand, I really wanted to play around with the RGBW or RGBWW strip and potentially tie it into some automations.

I am curious what others here have encountered with using RGBW or RGBWW to simulate a higher or lower Kelvin white, that is, with the RGBWW (Warm White), adding some blue to make it look like cool white, or with RGBW, adding some yellow to make it look more like Warm White.

I am tentatively planning to use the Fibaro RGBW controller, but would be open to other options as well.

If you have links to specific products they have used, that would be appreciated, that is, if if you recommend the product.