I use my under cabinet LED's all the time at night. I really like them for task lighting, and that's even with overhead (pendant, not recessed) lights on. Someone on here said recently that they like their kitchen to be lit like an operating room and I would second that, but that's (obviously) a personal bias (I just see much better with more light).

I use my undercabinet lights for task lighting mostly and, very occasionally, "atmosphere" or "mood" lighting. Even when the recessed lights are on, I usually like the UC lights b/c while the recessed lights give great general lighting as well as lighting for those areas w/o upper cabinets, they aren't as great for task lighting on the counters under the upper cabinets. This is especially true if I'm standing or leaning over the counter b/w the recessed light and the countertop.

I have also found that as I grow older, I need more light for tasks. It has been a gradual increase, not "all of a sudden". So, if you plan to stay in your home for more than a few years or if you're in your early- to mid-30's, I would seriously consider putting in the UC lights.

I did not think I would use the undercabinet lights but I am really glad I got them. Mine are just flor. Each side is on a separate switch and I can turn each off and on individually. This gives me so much flexibility. As mentioned above, I need more light than I used to for tasks. The recessed LED's (Cree and I love them too) are great but do not put much light directly on the counter where you might be reading (cookbooks, medicine bottles etc.) They are also great for atmosphere. I don't think you will regret having them.

I use them all the time. I got LED from environmentallights.com and love them. I got dimmable, but haven't installed the dimmer yet. The dimming will be for mood lighting if I ever get around to it.

I also have the recessed CREE LR6 too. They are great, but when you get a certain age, task lighting becomes more important (suddenly I can't read with the bedside lamp anymore and just use my LED booklight! )

I love, love, love the undercabinet lights. We have Kichler Xenon and it is a great, flattering light for the kitchen. It's not flourescent but not yellow either. A nice true light. They do not get hot either.
I use them all the time, for task lighting and just plain ambiance. Makes all the difference!!

We put in Kichler Xenons when we did our kitchen about 9 years ago now (wow.....long time!) and haven't regretted them for a minute. We run ours almost all of the time for ambience and for tasking.

Actually, I've become quite used to them and find it hard to work in a kitchen that doesn't have them...LOL I'm in my mid-40s now and whoever said that as we get older we need more light is spot on...

I wouldn't do without them.

I have florescent tubes under all of my upper cabinets and use them all of the time. I have can lights overhead but I sometimes block the light when standing at the counter if I lean forward. As vivian said, the older I get the more light I want!

All of my undercab lighting is on one master switch, but each fixture has a switch as well in case I want to shut them off individually.

We have Kichler xenon linear lighting (wire tracks/strips with individual lamp/bulb holders) and love them. I use them all the time at full power when prepping meals in the evening. I turn them off when eating in the kitchen because we don't need the add'l light then. I'll flip them back on and dim them as a "night light" until we go to bed (or are finished running to the kitchen for a snack or drink!). Ours are all on one switch, btw.

I just about never use our undercabinet lights. I used them all the time in our old kitchen (one single one-bulb light fixture in the center that created shadows) but in the 5+ years we've had them in our new kitchen, I very rarely turn them on.

Probably it's because I do the majority of prep at a peninsula with a good fixture over it (no upper cabs.) We have recessed lights placed over most of the counter so that shadows aren't created. I prefer the more dispersed light from the ceiling rather than a lower light specifically lighting up the counter space.

We have pendants over our sinks (and along a run of counter with no upper cabs) and in our vent hood. Since we have these lights in our major work areas, the uc lights are unnecessary. Most of the time we use the peninsula light + 3 recessed lights. Sink lights and range light get turned on when we work at them. We have 4 additional recessed lights that rarely get turned on but they are my extra lights of choice when needed.

Think about how you'll use your kitchen. If you're going to do a lot of prep work in a space that has upper cabinets, you may want to consider putting a uc there. But there's no reason to go overboard. We put xenon lights under our 6 upper cabinets and when I turned one on about a year ago dh was surprised because he totally forgot we had them. I'm most likely to turn one on during the dusky early morning or early evening. We have easy to reach switches at the entry of our kitchen area so there is no need to leave any lights on in the kitchen when nobody is using it.

When building our kitchen I couldn't imagine not having uc lights since I depended on them in the old one. But they turned out to be redundant with other great task lighting.

I did find I needed better lighting as I got older. But even my mother in her 80's doesn't seem to need our uc lights (different story in her underlit kitchen.)

We're putting in UC fluorescents. I expect we'll use them for task lighting, in conjunction with the overhead cans.

I so don't miss the huge overhead fluorescent fixture in the middle of my ceiling.

Thank you all for your input. I will have under counter lights of some description.

marcydc the CR6 bulbs are 2700K. Which lights from environmentallights.com did you go with?

I also have the CREEs and find that on dark mornings, as I stumble out to the espresso maker, I cannot take the brightness of the LR6s. When I am working, they provide a fabulous light. But, pre-caffiene, I like the gentle wake-up call of the UC LEDs.

I did not like the color rendering of either the warm or the cool LEDs, btw, so I bought some of each and have them alternating for a more balanced light. Yes, my electrician thought I was a kook.

rupes, I have the Cree LR6 recessed cans that I bought from polar-ray.com and the environmentallights.com under cab LED bars in the 2700K 'environmental lights premium'

Due to poor planning by the light designer (me!) we've reordered from them 3 times and they have been great! Even reduced my shipping charge on the last order!

The undercab bars are so very tiny. Part of my 'redesign' was to add them above the sink area which I though was too high for under cab lighting(might be visible from the bar stools) Because they are so thin/tiny, I decided to add it there. I can now see the gunk I'm washing :)

Here is a link that might be useful: my led undercab lights

I use mine for several purposes. It's not that often, but they're very helpful when I do use them.

The time they get used the most is for quick tasks in the late afternoon, when the recessed lights aren't really needed yet.

I also leave them on all night when we have guests staying here, because they serve as a great night light for that part of the house.

When the recessed cans are on, I don't really need them in most areas. There are a few spots where they help with the added light necessary to be comfortable with tasks.

Other than that, they do provide nice "mood" lighting when we have company and have moved out of the kitchen for the evening.

Even though we don't use them a whole lot, I'm very glad we got them.

amysrq do you not have your LR6's on a dimmer? Don't the alternating warm and cool LED's look strange?

Thanks marcydc.

I am trying to decide between the two designs below. Since I have no wall cabinets on the sink wall the only lighting will be from above. Also not sure whether to go with a pendant or recessed light over the sink. I think the pendant would look great but I think the can would provide more light and better match the other light. I also like the idea of all the lights being LED.
Rupert

Rupes, do you have another light in the middle of the room? It looks like you have about 7 feet between lights which might leave a dark area in the center of the room.

I tend to like things lined up - so 2 gets my vote.

marcydc, currently I don't plan to put a light in the middle of the room. Someone at a lighting store helped me come up with design 1. She did not think it would be a problem.

I like the symmetry of 2 but it puts more light in the corners. I am not sure this makes sense since I won't be preparing food in the corners and there are under cabinet lights there.
R

Thanks for sharing this precious information with us.