Here's the photo link!

Here is a link that might be useful: New kitchen design plan.

I'm not sure what kind of lights you could get for under $150. and in my opinion, LED is the only way to go. They operate for pennies, and last 8-10 years, but are a little costly. I had 3 areas to illuminate, a total of 13 linear feet I think, and it was around $450. and if I remember correctly, only about 50 watts total,tho I could be wrong about that.

Mine were purchased thru environmentallights.com

Here is a link that might be useful: UC light bars

I installed LED pucks - dimmable. Each fixture was around $25 and the dimmable drivers are ~$100 each (each will carry a lot of fixtures).

I did in-cabinet lighting as well as under cabinet lights, each set on different drivers / dimmer switches so we could control them separately. We have 10 in cabinet and 9 under cabinet pucks.

So our solution wasn't cheap, but it beats cooking our cabinets with halogen lights and is cheaper than a lot of LED fixtures out there.

The trick with low-voltage lights (most LED, Xenon/Halogen cabinet lighting) is the wiring.

Technically you're not supposed to run the thin low-voltage wiring in walls. If like us you need to span 'breaks' in the cabinetry where there is nowhere to hide the wiring, you need to use standard 14/2 wiring inside walls, just like normal construction.

You can run low-voltage across standard house wiring, and it's safe to use in walls (i.e. it's up to code).

For our installation, which was a complete gut to the studs, I ran new 14/2 wiring from each area where I wanted the LED lighting, stubbed out from the wall (2-3 feet of wire sticking out from fresh drywall) with the other end in the cabinet above our range.

From the two dimmers, I ran standard wiring up to the same area. These connected to the LED drivers, which in turn are connected to all the runs of wiring going to all the different areas. Then standard low-voltage wiring is used to go from one puck to the next just like normal.

Looks like you have a 'break' above your sink, where there is nowhere to hide the wiring. You might consider wrapping the crown molding across between the two cabinets to provide this channel for the low-voltage wire.

Big question is what light switch are you using to control the lighting, and are the walls being opened up?

In my glass cabinets I put 2 pucks. I also used glass shelving to allow the light to flow all the way down.

Aside from that, I put 1 puck under each pair of doors, more or less, so I suppose 24-30 inches between pucks at the most.

Some might say it's not enough, but it's plenty bright for me.

I should clarify that in the small glass upper cabinets, there is one puck in each, centered. It's only in the full glass cabinets that I doubled up and put 2 in each.

It's not that complicated...the halogen and LED-type lights come in strips of various lengths (8", 12", 24")...measure the cabinets you would like to install the lights under and then purchase a strip a little smaller in length. We had two 15" cabinets, so for those we chose a 12" strip...for a 30" cabinet...we went with a 24", etc. I went to Lowe's to educated myself and asked some ??? of the electrical guy there. Then I went to a "wholesale to the public" kind of place and ordered the strips I need. We were on a budget so we went with the Xenon strips...I wanted them to be dimmable but what we got was a "Hi/Lo" switch and the "Lo" option is perfect. Our electrician hard-wired it and I am very pleased. Personally, I don't care for the hockey-puck lighting affect. The LED is nice but can be really $$$. I think we spent $285 total...but again, the Xenon lights get hot and some people don't want that and are willing to pay more for the LED...
capegirl

If you're truly on a budget, then you might check out IKEA. I used their cheapo LED strips (I think they were $14.99, but can't find them online). Must be plugged in (I had a plug in placed in the corner of the upper cabinet)...work great.

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA LED Lighting

nowadays you can buy strips of LED lights and they are fairly cheap... you buy roll of LED strips and glue them at the base or you install them in a rail.

They are dimmable and work off of a wall wart i think...

Thank you ALL for your photos and help so far.

We have a budget like anyone else and I always wanted in-ceiling can lighting but as I am learning, I can't have everything and it'd be difficult for that or an exterior exhaust fan given we have a 2nd floor and are doing 42" cabinets.

Last night we bought a pack of 6 Xenon puck lights for $40. They're too shadowy and may look good in cabinet but I want them for under cabinet use, I'll return them today. I will buy an LED strip or LED puck light today and compare it. Maybe I'll get lucky and have to use less of the strip lights (Not under every cabinet). I saved money on the other lighting in the room, but I think for undercab. I will have to spend more. I spent a lot on cabinets and installation will be a lot too, I just wish I got a break somewhere other than the granite. It's really "adding up".

I don't want a light that's too hot as I'm not always super careful, so I guess LED is the way to go.

TorontoTim - thanks for the tip on hiding the wire in crown moulding. Walls are not being tore down, just opened up a little for repositioning outlets. Thanks for your photos! How gorgeous, love it all!

Luv2Laf - Thanks for the link. Given my budget I will consider it. And I never would have thought that this amount of money would be considered a "budget" for a 9x9' room. Lol.

Jmith- yes, I've read somewhere you can buy strips and cut to size. I just wish someone would say "here buy this" and it would be moderately affordable and I could be done, haha.

I wish I had a bigger budget but this budget is already high enough for us, the house, the area etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: led puck lighting (amazon.com)

And TorontoTim - your 3rd photo I noticed you used a heating vent for the toe kick area. I need to do that on one of my toe kicks too. I bought the vent cover last night and it matches my honey maple cabinets pretty well, shockingly. Any negatives to venting the heat through the cabinet? thank you again.

TorontoTim- I'm not sure how it is done in Canada but in the US you can run low voltage wire in the walls as long as it is approved wiring. Perfect examples are speaker, thermostat, phone etc. wiring that is approved for in wall use (requires a "jacket" for one thing).

On topic- I would consider tape on LED strips. They can be cut to length and they illuminate identically to encased strip LEDs. And since they are under cabinet (a space that normally never gets touched or seen for that matter) their exposed bulbs are fine. The best part is they cost a fraction of what LED fixtures cost.

@cherryblossom99: I only have canadian sites.. there are local places but i did a search and found the attached site. Its a random site I am doing the same thing and i want to see the make/brand in person and brightness before i make the decision.

The cool thing is last time i saw them at a showroom they were on for most of the day and i put my hand on it and it was barely warm.

Another thing you can double up the strips or get super bright strips.

The key item here would be the light colour aka if you want soft white vs daylight etc.

so yellow vs white, based on colour temperature.

Here is a link that might be useful: Strip lighting a random supplier

Cherryblossm99 instead of putting a grill in the toe kick, you may want to consider shortening the height of the toe kick by 1/4 to 1/2 inch at the top for the air to flow out of. The lip from the front of the cabinet will cover and you wont have a grill to clean and look at. We did this in our last home per the cabinet guys recommenation and it worked great! We are also doing this in the home we are building.

Jamiecrok- thanks for the timely suggestion. I will ask my installer about this in the next hour! :)

Oh, I found this combo packaged of LED strip lighting. This isn't my field of knowledge, so if anyone can tell me if it's a good deal, that'd be nice. They look to be 8.75" long, my wall cabinet's measure 24", 30", 24" corner, two 9" which I assume I wouldn't put a light under, another 24" corner, 21" and 21". Plus of course the cabinet above microwave (frosted glass) measuring 30" total.

Here is a link that might be useful: LED kit package with 10 lights

I'm inching closer to having to choose under-cab lighting too, so I'm interested to hear all these helpful recommendations. I'm also trying to keep costs down, so I was thinking of skimping a little on this feature (since I've already blown the budget on bigger ticket items :). Ikea's under-cab lighting seems to be affordable, but does anyone have experience with it?

GRUNDTAL Halogen -

14" length: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10119334/

22" length: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10119334/#/30119328/

It can be hard wired, but I'm not sure if that's an easy feat -- I remember my (a little bit whiny) electrician was unimpressed last time he installed Ikea light fixtures for us because the European format wasn't his thing......

Here's a quick picture of my IEKA LED lighting - I couldn't find it online. It's actually three individual bars that can be customized to fit the space. Sorry, can't remember it's name.

Inside the upper cabinet - lower right corner. The outlet is controlled by a switch just below. The lighting is plenty bright for me...but then I barely use it. I prefer overhead lighting.

Thanks for your photos, luv2laf. I love your subway tile...the undercab lighting and tile are my last decisions (I hope!). I guess I'll wait until the granite's in and then bring home tile samples, I think that's how it works, right? :-)

I'm only going on what I've read on a gazillion electrical sites, where the topic of low voltage wiring has been discussed to death.

Consensus from the professionals is you cannot run LV wiring in walls for lighting use, and that's based on USA code.

Cherryblossom--my old kitchen had the toe kick register like that for 40 years until we ripped it out. No problems whatsoever. New kitchen has two of these toe kick registers. I might not store perishables directly on the floor of the cab above (I know, who would), but otherwise you should have no problems.

I bought the lights that I mentioned on Amazon. I will see how they are in person, but they get great reviews online and are only $149. So we shall see. I really need to save money somewhere.

Here is a link that might be useful: LED kit package with 10 lights

We purchased uc lighting from environmental lights and am 1000% satisfied. Their tech support was great and they helped with my order from start to finish, shipping fast. the end product is great. I would highly recommend vs the hot puck lights. They put off zero heat and I've seen those puck lights get way too hot. In fact the ones we demoed out of the old kitchen were actually melted.

Please let us know how they work. I was reading reviews myself and might order them if you like them!

Really ONU_Rx...melted?! Wow...glad I didn't keep them.

Abfabamy- I will! I will get them in a day or so and maybe test them out early with my old cabinets. They have a good price to great reviews ratio. I'm so over-budget from what I thought it would cost (probably like everyone else on this forum) so I had to save somewhere! ;)

So far I am very impressed by them and they're not even installed. I just plugged them in to test, and unlike the puck, the strip design really gives even lighting. I think they'll work wonderfully & my installer's going to wire them into the wall so one wall switch will control the whole kitchen, yay!

OK, everyone. My remodel is over and my LED lighting is installed. It wouldn't be the same without the undercab lights and I'm glad I got over the $149 price tag. After spending a lot on this remodel (A LOT), I just was trying to save money and I'm so glad I didn't save in this genre. It's just beautiful, if you're looking for LED's, really consider this one on Amazon I listed above. You get 10 LEDs and all the necessary parts and best of all my installer somehow installed them so that I could turn a wall switch on and off! WE REALLY LOVE THE LIGHTS (For function & beauty!) Enjoy the photo...

Here is a link that might be useful:

Thank you so much for updating us on the light search! I see that you love the lights. So you did go with these in my link from Amazon?

Do you find they give you enough for task lighting (can you chop an onion, etc), or are they more for 'mood' lighting? Is it really a warm color and not blueish?And lastly, is the lighting evenly spaced across your counter?

The time has come for me to decide on lighting and I was wondering how your choice turned out. I really want to order these but would love to be SURE about it!!

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon Lights???

oh boy!! i am in a huge dilemma....should we get LED from Environmental lights or Xenon from WAC they are just about the same price? HELP Please!

If price is not the issue, from what I understand from my research, LED is the way to go. They are much cooler burning and the most energy effecient of all choices. Xenon got hot to the touch which can put off excess heat into the kitchen, not a good thing in the summer!

Use LEDs that don't require a transformer and dim from line voltage.

We used these LED fixtures from Philips. They mount under the front of the cabinet and the reflector throws the light down on the countertop and back against the backsplash for a really smooth even lighting effect. You can save money buying LED strips without reflectors but I think you lose something (a lot or a little?) in terms of the lighting effect.

Billy

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