[Tigratrus]

Just visited Our local IKEA in Woodbridge VA for our annual Christmas eve pilgrimage (actually we go to my FIL's house on X-Mas eve and it's quite close to IKEA so we always just go to IKEA first for last minute shopping etc...) and saw the new LED lights they just started carrying. I'll post a more complete account with pictures later tomorrow after things quiet down a bit, or maybe Monday, but here's my take on them in a nutshell; Sweeeeet! Seriously, these things are VERY nice, IKEA has done so many things right with these lights that I simply don't know where to start... But I'll give it a shot anyhow .

The puck style lights "TJUGOFYRA" (I swear that looks like I miss-typed it but that's accurate, I'm looking at the box right now) are particularly attractive. It comes with afairly long power cord that endsin a NORMAL plug... That's right folks, the ginourmous transformer is GONE! There is a nice compact transformer about 8 inches from the end of the cord with the 4 slot terminal that the lights plug into and then a switch about 3 1/2 feet farther along the cord. A nice rocker switch, not the ubiquitous and annoying dial switch that a lot of low voltage halogen light systems come with today. Then another 8 or so feet of cord before you get to the nice NORMAL plug. This sucker could EASILY be converted to a hardwired system, no problem at all. The new transformer islight, hasholes for screw mounting it to a surface and is about the size of a double pack of gum.

The lights themselves are even better than I could have hoped. They are VERY slim, about the size and thickness of one of thoseround red reflectors that people used to put at the end of their driveways to mark the sides of the entrance, if you know what those look like.Measurement wise I'd guesstimate them at about 2" diameter and 1/4" thick. They are VERY low profile.And given the minuscule amount of power used (a single 60 watt bulb burns as much power as about *48* of these lights!) andheat generated you can put several of them in each cabinet and not worry about heat, wasted electricity etc. Heck, you could put multiples onEACH shelf and get the effect of having each shelf illuminated withregular (non-glass) shelves! Each light has about 6' of wire that you can run back to the junction box, so you could put them pretty much wherever you want.

And our initial tests in the store made the light look quite white, not the blue/white that you get from a lot of the LED lighting systems. The light looks a bit colder/less yellow than an incandescent or halogen light, but it's worlds better than a lot of the fluorescent lights. We'll do some tests in our kitchen Annex cabinets and take pictures so you can see the comparison to halogens, but from an engineering standpoint these things have the holgens beat before they even start. Did I mention the durability of LED lighting in general? the fact that the expected lifespan of the bulbs is measured in DECADES? This is flat out the BEST implementation I have seen of LED lighting for consumer use yet. And are you ready for the best part? The package of 4 LED lights was about 30 dollars. That's it. Most of the consumer LED lighting products I've looked at have started at $40-$50per bulb. and the strip lights that might be adapted for cabinet use have run in the hundreds.

I didn't look at the strip light system IKEA had as closely, but they looked pretty good as well. They can be attached together in a single long bar, or in an "L" shape or even a cube, or mounted individually. The transformer and switch looked the same as the puck lights. The strip lights sell for about $50 for a 4 pack.

For those with high tech/energy efficient yearnings for kitchen lighting (Or child's desk or changing table or...)I can only say:

Merry Christmas indeed! IKEA has come through with a winner, and it's a gift that can keep on giving for YEARS to come. LED's havearrived... FINALLY!

[DesignDiva]

Uh oh.

As soon as my husband finds out about these we will be glowing from outer space.

:shock:

[Lisa]

I definitely was interested in these due to some major darkness over by my LACK shelves. (My electrician is an idiot...have I mentioned that before?). If I'm hearing you correctly, I'll be able to mount the transformer to the hidden side of the LACK and then just plug the strip into my plugmold?

The thing I'm thinking I'm not clear on is how long is the cord overall?

And here I thought I only needed one box of CAPITA legs. Silly me.

[Tigratrus]

Ok, exact cord lengths:

Plug -> 80" (6' 8") of cord -> rocker switch -> 51" (4' 3") of cord -> transformer -> 8 1/2" of cord -> 4 way junction for individual light cords to plug into.

Each light disk has about 97 1/2" (8' 1 1/2") of small gauge (12 volt) wire to reach back to the 4 way junction.

The transformer is about 3" long, 1 3/4" wide and about 7/8" thick with two attachment points (screw holes) that stick out on diametrically opposed corners about 5/16" each to make the total length about 3 1/2".

Basically, I'd guess that you can probably use these things almost anywhere. Plus it should be a snap to splice in more wire if you need to mount the LED disks farther than 8" away from the junction box. With the amount of current we're talking about here (.1 amp on the A/C side and 1.25 watt for each disk) this is the ultimate in a low current system.

[fisheggs]

Oh, wow, this is so cool. I saw those come up on the website and was excited, but it's so neat to hear that they are good in person as well! This makes up for the fact that I can't start on my kitchen yet and have just been sadly lurking. Will Ikea keep coming up with more neat things if I wait longer? Probably....

[Tigratrus]

There are new door styles coming in 2007...

[fisheggs]

Now that's just mean....Maybe I should do what grl was doing and plan on just getting the cabinet carcases for now. We are trying to figure out if we want to run gas to the new stove or just stick with electric. Decision is going to be based on how long we are in the house, which will either be almost forever or only a year depending on whether I get a job in the area or not.

Hmmm... a new door style might match the house without being pine like fagerland....

[websmurf]

I've been mulling over LED's for a while and was excited to see that ikea was carrying them. then i saw them in the store and they looked so dim!:? i suppose I can double or triple them up, but I'm so bummed.

On a side note, people are mod-ing them up to light up their flat panel TV's. People just have too much time on their hands

[DesignDiva]

Have you seen the bottom panel for wall cabinets with the integrated light inside? You replace the bottom panel with this light fixture and it lights up inside the cabinet as well as under. I think it is flourescent, though, and only fits the 24 inch cabinet for now.

[GardenOfDarwin]

Is that the one that fisheggs posted about earlier? Does it have biggish puck lights on the bottom part?

Susan