Discuss Inside cab lights and wiring on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. Inside cab lights and wiring - Electrical, Plumbing, Demolition and Construction - ask our experts!.
I just received my in-cab fluorescent puck lights for my one 36" glass wall cabinet. They are plug in. Will I attach them inside at the top and run the wire with the switch inside the cabinet-- then what route to an outlet? Do I have my electrician install an outlet right below the corner of the cab and drill a hole for the cord to drop through?
First off, it looks like these aren't the proper product to be going inside your cabinet - under "Product Applications" it says NOT to install in "totally enclosed cabinets" because they could get too warm and fail. And judging from the picture, these are not intended to be "hardwired" in any way - rather, to be powered by plugging them into a standard outlet.
That being said, at 9 watts per bulb, these are hardly a major source of heat. The only danger would be to the bulbs themselves, so if you're willing to replace them more often than you intend, I don't see an issue in using these. Your electrician could also probably provide a safe solution to the wiring issue. Maybe he/she thinks it's OK to hardwire them and power them off a switch; or failing that, plugging them into an outlet which is switched, so that you get a similar effect to the hardwiring idea.
If you use the wiring that's provided, you need to have access to both the in-line switch and the outlet the unit is plugged into. Both local codes and common sense safety concerns would dictate that. I don't know what your layout looks like, but perhaps there's room above your cabinet for an outlet to be installed - this would minimize the amount of wiring that is exposed to view. Other possible locations would be in a filler space adjacent to the cabinet, in a base cabinet below, or, as you suggested, right under the cabinet itself, tucked up high enough that it is hidden from view.
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The website warning about using these in enclosed spaces is a result of me calling them Monday and noting that the package said this, but not their website, so their website was updated on Tuesday! They also reassured me that these lights could work in the cabinet, but with the same warning as you gave about the life of the bulb and that the ballast would shut them off before they would get unsafely hot. With a 36" wide x 39" tall cabinet, there probably is plenty enough space for the heat to dissipate.
But, since I haven't seen this kind of light anywhere else, the bulb might be hard to replace, so I think I will return them. Darn, you would think fluorescents would be so much cooler in a cab than xenon or halogen...
Environmental Lighting also has some neat LED strips that you would stick inside a cabinet, but I am concerned about LEDs being too bright, and the dimmer box is $97--out of my price range.
For my money, there's nothing like a fluorescent light. It's not modern, it's not high tech, but you get the most bang for your buck, that's for sure. In my kitchen, we have fluorescents above and below the cabinets, but passed on "inside" because we only have a 15" glass cabinet on either side of a single window. No matter how you slice it, you get a lot of light, without much heat, along woth the option of altering the color of the light cast. You just can't beat it with a stick!
If heat inside is your main concern, stick with you first choice - even a 10 watt halogen is gonna give off more heat than your 9 watt fluor., though the halogen may stand up to that heat a little better. In any case, the fluor. is gonna give off better, more even light than the hoydy-toydy (hoyty toyty?) halogen.
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A 31 1/2" piece inside would blind you, I'd bet, and provide a much nicer effect than any halogen/strip/xenon light you might use otherwise. Or tone it down a bit with a shorter piece.
Want to dazzle 'em? Use two - one at the top, one at the bottom, mounted against the back of the cabinet.
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Just taking my inner IKEA geek out for a walk.
Great idea to use the T4 inside. I was stuck with the idea that inside cab lights are always puck lights, but doesn't have to be the case.
The T4s are have a very nice, sleek white metal case that could run across the top (and bottom) back inside cabinet. Hmm... I am going to think about this, thanks for all the ideas!
I am picking up my cabinets next Friday, so I hope to start a progress blog soon. Eventually I'll be able to show photos of the lights, including the neat adjustable Kvintett pendant IKEA has for $19.99 that I am putting above the sink and counter. I have had fun looking for a pendant that can accommodate compact fluorescent bulbs, and this one looks great.
Ikea has a new LED light strip for $49 (I think). It's called Dioder. It's not hardwired, but if you have a switched fixture it's really easy to run that wire to an outlet instead of a light fixture.
IIRC, the current dioder is the multi color changing variety ... might be a little too off beat for a kitchen.
The older setup was available in solid white ... but it's been over a year since it was discontinued.
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I've seen the Dioder in action, and really didn't like it. It is multi-colored, as Narf described, and was installed vertically along the front edge of the sides (the shelves [solid, inside a glass door cab - go figure!] had to be notched to accommodate the strips), and gave off very odd light (the nature of the LED, perhaps), even in the white color. There was also A LOT of wiring inside the cabinet for such a small amount of light.
Maybe it would look different installed at the top and bottom, but I'd hesitate before using them.
__________________ A-P-A-R-T/Together, Inc.
Find out how you can get a piece of Chuck.
Just taking my inner IKEA geek out for a walk.
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