gwent...I've been through this before and am going through it again and am still confused. Below I'll run through what I've found. Just remember there are no absolutes. For example, many say that fluorescents aren't dimmable; however there will be someone who says "some are" but finding them and and affording them may be difficult.

So, without getting too complicated (which I don't know enough to do anyway :-)) fluorescents are the most efficient, typically a "warmer" light (meaning warmer in appearance not heat) and don't feel hot to the touch. One major drawback is that they are not dimmable. Halogen are on the other end of the spectrum and definitiely are the least prefered that I've found in that they are just generate too much heat under the cabinets, and some just don't like the color of light they put out. Xenon are sort of in the middle...are dimmable which is attrative to many...generate some heat but not too much to worry, and put out either a warm or cool light (depending on fixture/bulbs). Again, that is the very general description of these..but it gives you a start.

A couple of questions you might answer before everyone chimes in....do you want dimmable? What "color" of light do you want, something cool/white or warmer/yellow? Also, how much room do you have to put these under your cabs..your options may be endless if you have 1 1/2 + inches...however if you have less than that you really need to look at the "thickness" of the fixture because you may see it sticking out under your cabinets....

We're in the market for these fixtures too..and like you we are confused by all of the posts..we want to keep it simple, no transformers..just hardwire a fixture in. Like you we have them setup on a switch. We have about 1 1/4" of space, but want either a dimmable light or at least one that has a "high/low" option on it...We find what we want but the fixture is too thick to fit under our cabs...We bought a fluorescent fixture last night at Lowes (no high/low and not dimmable) just to see it in our space and the light was very white/bluish...cold and uninviting to us so it's going back...Good luck and I know others will chime in to offer advice and I'm sure to correct me if I'm wrong!

We went with xenon at the assistance of our lighting designer, and are very happy with them. They're bright, inconspicuous, give off nice light, were pretty cheap, and stay relatively cool (although I wouldn't put chocolate or butter directly above them). Our kitchen is "U" shaped, and there are 6 strips, all on a single switch. Each individual light also has an on/off toggle at the unit, but IÂve never seen a reason to turn a single light on or off.

I donÂt know anything about the halogen or fluorescent options, but my gut tells me halogen would be dangerously hot and fluorescents might flicker. IÂve heard LEDs are excellent, but donÂt know anything about them either.

Best of luck!

Well I went through the same thing also. We went with xenon. I am very happy with them. They are on a dimmer. They really throw allot of light on the counter in fact we did not need nearly as much bulbs as we bought so we kept some and brought the rest back. To be honest with you everyone says you have to have a dimmer but when I switch them on I never use it. LED were just too expensive. I don't really like the light fluorescent throw out but you can't beat the price. I have not noticed that the xenon throw off allot of heat either. DH loves them and is constatly showing them off he says that it's the only thing I let him pick out LOL!

Xenon bulbs last longer than halogen and they also put out a brighter light with less heat (5-10% cooler). My Mom put in the Westek ones from Amertak which are line voltage (no transformer required) so they are dimmable. We are in Canada and this product is a stocked item at Rona but I think they are available off the shelf at Lowes in the US as well. They are about $22 Canadian for a single unit(they come in 2 and 3 light units as well).

The is the product:

This is a shot of how much light they throw (at night, no other lights on and no flash):

You can see them under the cabinet in this one:

These come set up for plug in or hard wire, our electrician had no problem installing them. My Mom has had hers for about 3 months and is very happy with them.

We had Seagull's Low-Voltage Ambiance lighting installed and we love it. The cabinets do get a little warm above but I'm not storing anything in them that would be affected. I am terribly remiss in taking pictures of the final results. They are dimmable and we have 1 transformer in our basement directly beneath the kitchen.

I've provided a link to the product below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seagull Low Voltage Lighting

I'm not sure I understand the advice above about fluorescents being a "warmer" light in appearance. I would say that they give off a cold, white, harsh light. The ones I had in my new house turned my cream tiled backsplash into a flat, white color. I pulled them out. I told the electrician I wanted a warmer light and he recommended LEDs, but said they're expensive. He's going to bring a sample; otherwise, I'll probably go with xenon. I had the Home Depot version in my last kitchen and they were fine. The halogens before them did get rather warm (heated the plastic lid on my burr grinder) and also kept breaking down. Oh, I've also never found the need to dim my UC lights, but many do. In fact, I don't really ever use the dimmers (installed by code) that are all over my house, but maybe I'm weird.

I read as much as I could on this forum for undercounter lights. I am so happy with our decision. We got JUNO Pro-Xenon, which are dimmable and very slim 1" deep--they are totally hidden and I don't have a light rail for the purpose of hiding the lights. They aren't cheap, but do give you 10,000 hrs. of lamp light. Our electrician said they were the best lights he ever installed, like the package says "5-minute direct-wire installation." That's a consideration when you are paying electricians by the hour.

mbarstow, did you purchase your uc lights on line, and if so, where? They are a great option for those of us without light rails.

slc2053, great tutorial.

Slc and everyone- thank you for clarification. Very helpful and will talk over with DH. Dimming not so important to me as quality of light (I"d like warm) so tending towards florescent or xenon if not too pricey.
thanks everyone

For us, undercabinet lights were only mildly necessary. We plan on a light colored backsplash and our recessed cans put out a ton of light on the counters. Plus, most of the work we do at the counter is on the island, under the pendant lights. The undercab lights are really there for two reasons: to add a splash of extra light in a few slightly darker areas and to use as occasional nightlight/mood lighting in the kitchen when we have guests.

Given how we planned to use our undercabinet lighting, our electrician recommended that we use rope lights. They aren't at all what I pictured when he said that. I thought he meant those flexible plastic tubes with lights in them, but these are rigid fixtures that operate in much the same way as all the other undercab lights I've seen. They aren't as bright as some undercab lights, but that was a plus for us. We didn't want strong, bright lights, just a bit of extra task lighting. They are hardwired, don't use a lot of energy compared with other lights, and are very cool to the touch. We have been very happy with them.

Oooh, I almost forgot to mention that they were VERY inexpensive!

Holligator-
Can we see some photos of your UC rope lights?
Thank you!!
Stacey

DH (an electrician) is installing new Xenon undercabinet lighting in our kitchen reno. We had halogen previously, but found them to get quite warm, not that the Xenon don't heat up, but not as much as halogen. DH likes the kind of light they give off too.