I have xenon lights, I think by Kichler, that look similar. They are hot. But they are also dimmable, and I liked the color of the light, so I installed them 5 or so years ago.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when I had found my backsplash finally, and decided to redo a couple of cabinets (they weren't right from the beginning, all my fault, and I thought I would see if they grew on me...). Unfortunately, they didn't put a deep enough light rail on the new cabs and I had to scramble to find something very thin to use instead and wound up with LEDs. The light is too bright, and because it was a rush to big box moment there was no time to research the dimming, but I was and am confident that we can dim based on recent dimmable LEDs placed in an entertainment center.

While doing the backsplash it became clear that the xenons were so hot that they cooked the glass cover (it is flaking off shards of glass) and burned themselves out (two of the remaining six bulbs). I am not sure whether the original lights were faulty or just what caused that, but overall, xenons were not as cool as I expected, and I am loving the LED possibilities.

Gotta figure out the dimmer thing, get some replacement UC lights, install them...after I finish wrestling with my flourishing weeds.

I also started with xenon because I liked the color but they are just too hot. I know that LEDs are expensive but I think they are the wiser choice. I don't want the bars because they are too thick. I saw some nice rope LEDs (Hera by Richelieu I think) at the KD showroom. I think I will go with those. The light is white.

Honestly? I really like my fluorescents the best. Have stayed in condos on vacations that have the pots/other types that are so hot and have come to appreciate the tried and true old school fluorescents. I took the covers off of them so they are a little brighter. I really don't want to fool with dimming lights under cabs. But YMMV : ) The ones we have are slim and do not show under the light skirt on the cabinets. I love them use them ALL the time.

I'm with gr8day. It's hard to beat the good old fashioned fluorescents for the light quality.

We did brand new LED two years ago with the intent of using the same lights in our remodel. But we threw them all out and went with xenon pucks for the in-cab lighting (yes they are really hot) and fluorescent strips underneath. I just couldn't handle the harsh whitish lighting of the LEDs at all. The strips also give better and more even work surface lighting (zero shadows).

I hear there are some warmer LEDs now, but didn't want to dork around with them again after being so disappointed last time around. We did a light valence to hide the undercab lighting.

My hardware (cabinet) store has a nice display of LEDs so I could look at the color of the light, brightness, etc. I was NOT interested until then. And I didn't want to mess around with trying to locate the transformer in the middle of the most recent thrash (Electrician is on the property two days early with no time to shop). However, now that things are somewhat calmer I am planning to figure this out better. I agree that the current big box bar of LEDs is quite harsh and though it provides lots of light, it is Quite Harsh.

The LEDs in the entertainment center (combo of pucks and strip to light two large rock display cases) are fabulous, and dimmable so we can leave a soft glow on even while watching tv! Love them.

I have Sea Gull linear dimmable LED undercabinet lighting. I love it. It's efficient, puts off pretty much no heat, and the light color is great for me, not harsh or cold. Mine were installed last August. There are probably even newer things out now.

Environmental has good LED undercab lights, too.

I'm going to check out Hit lights LED double density strips. I changed my mind about the philips LED bars b/c I would need a light rail(KD gave me the wrong under cabinet measurement)and the estimate was too high.

We got LED UCL from Enviromental Lights. I am pretty sure we got the MaxLite Self Driven ones but DH took care of this decision and purchase. We like them quite a bit but maybe we should have gotten slightly more lights (in the same amount of space) so they would be brighter. They are dimmmable and I LOVE that they don't get hot.

My husband called them with questions and they were very helpful in answering his questions and helping him decide what to get. By and large, LED UCL are not cheap but I think they are worth it. We were doing this once and kind of went all out (well, within some reason of course).

Here is a link that might be useful: Environmental Lights - UC LED lights

Oh and I just grabbed this from an article I clipped when I started researching UCL.
It's by davidrol, which is kind of a light guru. There is also a forum just for lighting. You can search here or over there and find a lot about UCL and LED UCL specifically.

"All the various incandescents produce a lot of heat.
Under any name (zenon, xenon, halogen, etc), they are all incandescent.
They all make more heat than light.
You can safely disregard opinions about "zenon" or "brand X" of zenon.
LED is going to be the only way to go.
LED lighting is improving every year.

Fluorescent (long thin tubes) is the 3rd option.
Fluorescent light tubes (when expensive) can produce very good light.
The tubes can be as thin as 1/4"; many are available in 1/2" thickness.
key concepts: CRI ; temperature .
web search to get more info.
read more here too http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/lighting/";

We put in GM LARC light bars - LED 3000K dimmable and love them. I thought I wanted 2700K but like the slightly whiter look - it makes things look cleaner - but there is an adjustment curve...

We used Philips undercabinet LEDs. They are great! No transformer is needed because they run from line voltage and they are fully dimmable. This greatly simplified things for the electrician. The 3000K color temperature is warm. See link below.

Billy

Here is a link that might be useful: Philips Undercabinet LEDs

I used Kichler's Design Pro Series under cabinet LED lights. They have a built in transformer so they can be direct wired. They have a warm white light and the fixture is only 1/2 inch high. They are dimmable but I don't find them too bright so I never dim them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kichler LED

I too used Kichler UCL and they worked out well.

Assuming that overall kitchen lighting of about 35 lumens per sqare foot has been provided, I prefer to add task lighting of about another 30 lumens per sq ft of counter space by UCL. For both heat and economy reasons, LEDs are the best choice though a case can be made for flourescents in places still offering inexpensive electricity. I also prefer a temp between 2700 and 3000K though some folks like them whiter and harsher. The CRI should be at least in the 80s and higher is better.

I have never found a reason to dim UCL and most kitchens I have seen do not pull off the mood ambience very well by dimming the UCL. Better is usually to dim the general ceiling can lights but even this does not approach planned ambience lighting in soffits above the cabs and bounced off the ceiling. If ambience is desired, a lighting planning specialist can offer real assistance.

Many folks do not plan their lighting scheme in advance and then either leave it to the GC (or his electrician) or they rush at the last moment to buy some lighting at the nearest store. Planning lighting should be as carefully thought through as planning workflows in a kitchen - the current planning approach is to layer the lighting with general illumination, task illumination, mood lighting and lastly accent lighting. Getting a plan together for these in conjunction with the kitchen floorplan and workflow will make the newly designed kitchen for more functional.

>It's by davidrol, which is kind of a light guru

The light guru/pro in the lighting forum is davidtay.

Billy g, it looks like the Phillips LEDs are a little higher profile than the Kichler (0.8 vs 0.5), but otherwise both seem quite good. Dougald, I like to turn off the overhead lights at night (they dim) but prefer a softer glow when I am not working in the kitchen (the xenons were never on a dimmer, I just left them on the lower setting). The LEDs I just purchased are very bright, and were a purchase made under the poor planning circumstances we all try to avoid. I am happy to see that there are some alternatives, and that I will be able to get rid of the Xenons. Gotta go with the dimmer though.

We needed puck lights because we wanted to extend the puck lighting to a high cabinet over the sink and puck lights worked the best for that situation. I just couldn't bring myself to the extra cost for LED's--so we went with xenon. Light quality is great, and at least they're not as hot as halogens. Xenons were about $25 each (plus a transformer), LED's would have been about $80 I think. We have 12 total. We have recessed LED lighting everywhere else, including the kitchen, and a solar array on our roof, so I don't feel too guilty about the extra power consumption.