We didn't do under cabinet lighting. Our kitchen is approx 12 x 12 and we opened up a wall into the adjoining DR, so we get a lot of natural light. We have 7 recessed cans, one over the sink, one in the entrance hall and 5 in the largest part of the kitchen. We have an OTR microwave that has two levels of light, if needed over the stove. I don't miss it and didn't want the extra cost. Also, like you, never had it so I really don't know what I may be missing :) Our 5 cans are on a dimmer switch, so I can have the lights on low if I want. We used our old cabinets and would have needed to attach a light rail to hide them, another reason we didn't do it.

HTH! I find the Kitchen Forum extremely helpful..... but it also pushes you towards wanting lots of "extras" you either didn't know about before or don't have it in your budget to do. I have had to reign the budget in many times after reading and seeing great things on here!!

I love our UC lights. We didn't have them before and, even though we added more overhead light than we had before -- three recessed lights plus a pendant over the sink in addition to the old lights -- and even though the kitchen gets a lot of natural light -- two west-facing windows and one very large north window -- and even though we opened up to our (admittedly fairly dark) dining room I'm still glad for the undercabinet fixtures. I turn on the one in my main prep area every time I'm working.

I think if I was 20 years younger (I'm 50) the extra light might not be as much of an issue but as it is I need all the help I can get (and I think I would have liked the light even back in the day).

Our fixtures (warm fluorescent strips) were not expensive -- I think about $40 each. I don't know how much doing the wiring cost.

I think UC lighting is one of those things you don't know you can't live without till you have it. On the other hand some people get it and then never use it. As sw in austin pointed out, age also plays into it as you need more light to see well as you get older.

I vote for doing the wiring at least and installing them later when you can. Although in the end, that might not be that much cheaper...

UC lighting is like an ATM: it's one of those things that didn't exist when we were younger, and now we could never do without! My recommendation is to find another way to cut costs. Fluorescents are not that costly, and hardwiring them now is the way to go. Retrofitting later would cost a bundle.

I think a lot depends on how deep your cabinets are, and how close to the back edge of the counter your work habits take you.

I love mine, but I could see living without them if absolutely necessary.

I think it is big mistake not to have UC lighting.

We use UC lighting about 90% of the time. Recessed lights the rest 10%.

Reason- you need lighting on countertops! Lighting people is not as important as lighting the work surfaces.

I agree..under cabinet lighting is a must for me and always has been. I'm all about the lighting in every space. I really notice it when I'm at other people's houses helping with meals and they don't have it. So as suggested by others, maybe there are other ways you can trim the budget considering how inexpensive it is.

I totally renovated my kitchen, but did not include UC lighting. I don't miss it at all. I do have a great deal of natural light in the kitchen, and good overhead lights. I'm not sorry I didn't use it.

Recently this subject came up in the below attached
link. The orginal question was about puck lights that
run on batteries or something like that. Anyway, you might
check out the link. There were many who do not have UC
lighting and are perfectly happy with it.

Best of luck on your choice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Am I being a total cheapskate, or will this work?

Lynda --I can't even imagine doing without undercounter lighting. When people say they have a great deal of natural light -- how does that help when the sun has gone down? I have 5 windows in my kithen, but the UC lights go on everynight when I'm preparing a meal. Also, your body cast a shadow on the counters from the recessed lights above, which doesn't help either. I'd give up my disposal before I'd give up on the UC lighting. I'd say do the wiring and hold off on purchasing the lights until you can.

I, personally, had no desire for undercabinet lighting so didn't put any in, so I'm with jagl. We had some in our last house that we never used even though the overhead wasn't that great. I guess maybe I just don't like having lighting coming from underneath eye level. I prefer to work in a light room.

It's a good idea, if you can afford it, to have the wiring to use later if you'd like. That can't hurt anything.

It is a must have for me. I use it every day and it is probably the most used lighting in my kitchen. I can't stand overhead lighting though - always prefer something indirect like table lamps, etc.

I'm not planning on having UC lighting - I think it must depend a lot on your kitchen layout. The longest UC strech I have is 30", and the end of that cabinet will be open to the DR, the other side open to a window. Definitely won't be getting any light from the window when it's dark, but still, it doesn't seem like that one stretch will really need it. I am also concerned about the lighting interfering with countertop appliances. The next longest stretch is 15" cabinet where I will be putting my coffee maker. Do I really need a light for a CT that will be used 99% of the time to make coffee? So, for me it's about the layout. I can definitely see how it would be beneficial in some of the cavernous kitchens I've seen.

I love the idea of a lamp - I think I'll add that to my buffet area.

Lynne

Have it, rarely use it. My contractor felt it was a must, so I went with him on it. That said, I'm glad we do have it even though I would use it more for mood than tasks...most of my prep space is on my island or on my perimeter where my windows are, hence no uppers for UC lights! I do not get a ton of natural light, by the way, but really rely on my recessed lighting.

In my opinion, its the most important form of lighting that a kitchen can have! I'd pick UC lighting before I'd put in any recessed cans. Typical older kitchens have that one center light fixture that casts shadows onto your counters every time you are doing a task. Can lighting can help with that, but it's a lot harder (and more expensive!) to get can lights positioned just right to put the light on the work surface. Under cabinet lighting is at the exact right place to light the area that you are working. Ideally, you would have the can lights and the undercabinet lighting, but if one has to be sacrificed in a budget, sacrifice the can lights. And put your UC lights on a dimmer and they can work as mood lighting for entertaining.

Hey... I'm not going to be helpful, but just wanted to chime in and say that we added under cab lighting and it was the first time we've had it. It is one of our favorite parts of the remodel and looking back, I would advise folks to cut back somewhere else in order to get it. I think we've used our full overhead lights a few times since the kitchen was done because we mostly just use the undercab. Our kitchen is small, so our lights were only a few hundred for the lights (xenon pegasus lights) and a few hundred to pull the wiring. I would definitely NOT skip them. Undercab lights and a nice faucet are totally worth it.

[I started this yesterday afternoon, then kids & work got in the way b/f I submitted...some points are already covered...but here's another voice!]

It's great that you have a lot of natural light...but what about at night? Natural light only does any good during the day...but at night it's no help. And, if you think about it, in the late autumn, winter, and early spring, night comes early...5:00pm in the mid-Atlantic states!

If you place your recessed lights so they don't cast a shadow on your counters while you're standing at them AND you put in enough of them, then you may not need UC lights.

I didn't have them in our old kitchen and hated it...from day 1! We had just a single kitchen light + fluorescent over the sink and it was nowhere near enough light! And we had a large bay window in the kitchen...7' long by more than 5' high (22" off the floor)...so we had (and still have) a lot of natural light.

Yes, age can play a part in the need for more light, but I think you'll find that task lighting is a big plus when you work in your kitchen at any age! Ask yourself this, do you want to spend all this money and still have a less-than great functioning space? (Yes, adequate lighting is part of the overall functionality of a kitchen!)

As to "atmosphere", I think the dimmed light of undercabinet lights sets a much nicer mood than dimmed recessed or standard kitchen lights. Yes, I suppose you could use lamps, but you'd have to either take up significant counter space to have enough lamps to create good task lighting or move one or two around a lot. One thing though, I've never particularly liked small lamps in any room where I'm standing for any amount of time b/c the light shines up from the top of the lampshade and into my eyes and I think it would be worse in the kitchen...although height may have a part in my discomfort around small lamps.

Is there nowhere else you can cut costs? Particularly something that can be postponed and done later...like a tiled BS or decorative door panels on the ends of cabinets or doing your own demolition or reusing existing faucets until $$ for more expensive one. Others here can probably list more things... [Have you thought of selling your existing cabinetry (if it's worth anything) and/or appliances on CraigsList to help defray costs?]

Despite all this, I do think that if it's b/w recessed lights and UC lights and you want both eventually, it would definitely be better to do the recessed lights now since it will require ceiling work and that's usually more expensive than installing UC lights later. You could have your cabs wired for it, but I suspect a good portion of the expense will be the labor & parts needed for the wiring. (Maybe you could have an outlet installed in some of the upper cabinets and then when you later install the UC lights you can drill a hole in the bottom of the cabinets & plug the lighting in inside the cabinets...I don't know if it's any less expensive to do it that way, but you might look into it!)

This is a tough one...but try to work it out so you can do both...I think you'll be happy that you did down the road.

GL & HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: Scrimp on this, Splurge on that....

I put in UC lighting because it seemed like a must-have on this forum. After I'd put them in and spent the money (only a couple hundred $$), I really regretted it. UNTIL I had my backsplash and counters in. Now I love the UC lighting - it makes my glass tile backsplash shine, and it really does make it much more pleasant to work on the counters.

I did not have it at my last home and it was just fine. My GC convinced me to put it in this house and I use it every day. I seldom use my cans--just use my under cabinet lighting and 2 pendants.

I did not really want them, thought they were an added expense but DH really did. I am SO glad we did. We had added extra can lights and I thought that they would be enough but at night and early in the morning my kitchen does not get allot of natural light and casts some dark shadows that are now illuminated. I'm 47 and yes maybe I need them more now than 10 years ago but I love them for task lighting and would definitely do them again.

Thank you, everyone, for such thoughtful comments.

I've been doing the design of this kitchen, my husband the stressing about money, and we had never talked about the UC lights.

Last night I raised the idea of not doing them and he said he wanted them! Who knew?

So, we will at a minimum have it wired, but probably go ahead with the full install.

And find other ways to save money -- we are doing our own demolition, paint and flooring to cut costs -- demolition started over the holiday weekend, you can see where we are in the picture!

I guess its personal preference. I dont have them in the house that I have lived in for 35 years. We are installing them in the new house. It gets dark outside in the winter by the time I cook dinner and extra light is always welcome. As you get older, you need more light.

I used them all the time in our old kitchen (which only had one other single bulb -fixture in the middle of the ceiling.) I thought they were a must-have but I find I only use them maybe 3x/year in our new, well-lit 13'x16' kitchen. I love task-specific lighting. The lights I use in our kitchen most often when prepping at night are 3 recessed lights (one in the middle of the work area, one in the walkway through the kitchen, and one just out of the kitchen in the dr at our pantry) and a 3-bulb fixture above the peninsula (where I do most prep.) I have pendants above our sinks and a light in the range hood which I use when working in those spots. We also have 5 additional perimeter recessed lights that get turned on about as often as the uc lights (almost never) but I DO think they will be handy as my eyes age even further. If I had it to do over again with a stretched budget, I would keep all the recessed lights and would ditch the uc lights.

I'm not a fan of lights over cabinets, in cabinets, or under cabinets. I have the 3 main recessed light on dimmers and turn them down when the kitchen is being used less frequently (i.e. after dinner.)

I'm 45 and designed the kitchen with 5 recessed lights for general lighting (should have had 6 to make it symmterical - wrong plan got to builder!). Another row of 5 along my work aisle (about 14.5' not counting countertop at end - 16.5' x 13' room), and one over the sink. I have 3 pendants hanging over island where I do most of the prep, and for eating. I would like to have UC on prep counter b/t sink and range, but with range light DH says it's not necessary (36" counter with 30" upper).

I'd say look at your floor plan and see where you're going to be prepping, put UC lights there but don't need them everywhere (I don't need or want them over MW sitting in corner). If you do most of your prep at an island like I do, you might just want pendants there and at sink.

My fluorescent UC lighting is the most used lighting in the house. I have can lighting and pendants also, but the UC lighting alone provides excellent task lighting and ambient lighting.

An additional benefit is that I use the UC lighting to provide some supplemental light for indoor plants and small pots of herbs. I have 30" deep counters and use some of the space next to the wall for this.

Hey there. Just get the cheap amazon led strips! trust me, huge difference then not having at all. After 3 years, mine finally went out and i cannot wait until new set comes in because its feels strange without them! Its $20 compared to $500-$1000 and honestly, not much difference. I could of bought the diffuser strips to make it look neater, they go over the led strips, but its a rental, so didnt really care, they are way back so very hard to see strips anyway.

Also I can tell you this much, wherever I move, I will have to have them. Thats how much of difference. At night, no need to turn on kitchen lights, so much better!