Lighting over the kitchen sink

9 years ago

The upper Cabinet is 27 inches above kitchen sink - theres an 18 inch florescent tube under the cab & illuminating the sink. It isnt very bright but it may just be old.

So I was all excited to get a new GE LED "enbrighten" strip lighting fixture, but as Im reading the small print it says "Not intended for use above sinks."

Like.... why the heck not??? I kinda want to see the dishes as Im washing.

Assuming that there is no good reason to not install it, would 18 inch be an adequate size - its 902 lumens. The 24 inch is about 1100 lumens - is that going to be a noticeable difference? which would you suggest? One factor with this cabinet is that its a single upper cabinet, with decorative side panels that hang down about 4-12 inches which would block light from shining out the sides - so it doesnt really have to light anything but the 30 inch sink below.

If not this fixture then what are some other options - I do NOT want florescent & I want it warm 3000K or less & ir needs to be comfortably bright without being too intense or glary..

THANKS ALL!

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Comments (5)

Mike C
9 years ago
How are you going to plug in your new light assy? Puck LEDs look nice, mine use low-voltage connections wired to an AC outlet in the cabinet above the sink.
Debbie Downer
Original Author
9 years ago
I would like to direct wire it to a regular electrical cable (in metal casing) thats there now with a wall switch - was thinking I would just swap out the old florescent light thats there now for a new LED version. The wires come out of the wall and attach to the rear of the light fixture which is attached to the cabinet above. I just cant figure out why it says it shouldnt be installed over a sink - none of the old florescent fixtures say that - and it is 27 inches above, not like thered be all this water splashing on it though there could be some.

I was thinking of using a 5 foot row of puck lights on another cabinet that has workspace 18 inches below it - any way of plugging these into a regular wall outlet or do I need low voltage wiring run to it.

Thx!
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mike_kaiser_gw
9 years ago
Reading the manual for the fixture, there doesn't seem to be to many places you can actually use it. <lol> Frankly, I wouldn't worry about it too much and I suspect it mostly written by lawyers to limit liability. There are plenty of identical fixtures on the market, maybe try to find one that is less restrictive.

For reference, an ordinary 60 watt light bulb puts out about 800 lumens. Obviously, the larger fixture will be brighter but not "holy cow" brighter. I read somewhere that it takes a 4x increase in lumens for the human eye to perceive something as being twice as bright.
Debbie Downer thanked mike_kaiser_gw
rwiegand
9 years ago
Why not use a fixture labeled for your intended use? Lots of them are labeled for damp locations.
Vith
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
If this is an old fluorescent fixture, the diffuser may be cloudy from yellowing and age or dirty and limit the light output. Upgrading to new will probably be brighter. And the whole dont install over sinks is nonsense, just another way to say, dont get it wet. Well duh, most light fixtures that applies.

As far as a fixture, I would buy local so you can return if you are not happy with it. Keep the box, etc till you are sure.