I see 6 cabinets where UC lighting could be installed. $1480.00 is nearly 250 per box. Seems terribly high. I'm self installing it in our project...don't really need it, but doing it for the wow factor for resale down the road... For Philipps Hue smart lighting I spent under $500 and for 7 upper cabs.

seems high. You can price them yourself. you said it's already wired? what else is this electrician doing besides install?

BTW, you want 4000K light, not 3000. 3000 will be far too yellow looking (5000K will be really blue. 4000K is natural)

I keep one of mine on 24/7. sometimes I don't even turn on the kitchen lights when I'm in there.

That seems very pricey for fixtures. I personally like under-cabinet lighting and use them daily.

As for 3000k vs 4000K: pick whichever you already have. If you have 3000k cans, 4000k under cabinet lighting will look weird. And vise versa.

I personally like 3000k and feel that 4000k+ is too cold and harsh.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5906729/talk-to-me-about-light-bulbs#25453356

A Helpful Collection of Visuals · More Info

3000K is still on the yellow side. personally I don't care for it. 4000K is natural light. 5000k is rather harsh.

3000K

A kitchen isn't a bedroom. I want to see what I'm cutting on my countertop! bring on the white light.

Well, you sure do have a lot of overhead lights and light counters.

It's up to you whether you think you need them.

One thing though, I don't know how old you are, but the older you get, the more light you want when you do tasks.

I never use mine.

We have under cabinet lights that allow you to choose 2700K, 3000K, or 4000K. We tried all of them. The 2700K was too yellow. The 4000K was too blue. 3000K was just right.

We have them in two kitchens. I really don’t use them. Other than ambiance, not sure what the purpose of them are if you have a well lit kitchen.

You can see in the Op's pictures that all the lights are on in the kitchen but the counters under the cabinets are still in the dark. The purpose is to light up the counters so you can see what you are doing.

Well to round out the choices I prefer 3500K. Brighter bluish white is OK in the garage for me. 450 lumens task lighting at the counter is what I have based on recommendations. If you're using recessed overheads for this you need to place them over the counter so you don't create a shadow on your work. Undercab lighting can do this. 3500K works throughout an open concept space for living, dining and kitchen.

Because everyone said we needed them, we installed them when redoing our kitchen and I almost never use them. I think it depends on your work habits and kitchen layout. We have our sink at the window with an overhead pendant. We have lights in our stove vent for cooking. We do almost all of our prep work at the island which has overhead lights. This covers all of our work zones so I rarely feel the need to turn them on. We do have ours on a dimmer, so when we're having guests, I may turn them on dimmed just to have a warm glow.
We installed them ourselves and just used off the shelf LED ones from Lowe's, so it wasn't a significant amount of money.
Now that I see how we do use them, I would never spend that kind of money on them. I guess you need to think about how you'll use your kitchen and decide.

Just for fun, I wonder how many of us grew up with them.

And really felt their absence.

@loobab I didn't grow up with them, but had them and then didn't.

I purchased some plug-in LED strips for our first house, used them for 5 years, and found them extremely useful. Our next house didn't have them, so I bought more plug-in strips.

I designed the lighting plan for our new build (closing next week) to include hard wired fixtures.

I use my under cabinet lighting all the time. In fact, they are the first, and often the only lights I turn on, when entering the kitchen.

Even in a well lit kitchen, the counters will be dark under the cabs.

Btw, for those of us who grew up in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, under cab lighting was not available. You can’t miss what you don’t know. My mother-in-law, who was quite the cook and baker, did a major kitchen reno at 70 years old. Under cab lighting was a priority.

Wow!! So informative! Thank you all for your input!! I think the decision is to go for it but maybe not with these pricey fixtures. Anyone have suggestions for alternatives. I think it would be for mood lighting as we plan to do the vast majority of prep work on that gorgeous, ginormous island. Ideas?

Cost me about $5/ft for a DIY. I posted all my parts here.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5914198/under-cabinet-lighting

Depends. Do you have to hire someone, or can you do this yourself? If you have to hire someone, pay the electrician now and be done with it. The price seems a little steep, but I don't know what's in place already and what he or she has to finish up. For several hour jobs, getting estimates from tradespeople later is a pain in the neck. And then it takes time to get them there, wait for them, and such. And most won't come by to give you an estimate for such small jobs.

Ask your electrician why the prices on these fixtures are worth it, maybe they will have an acceptable answer.

I know I could do it cheaper myself, but I'm comfortable with basic wiring tasks, I know my limits, and am willing to research options.

They are nice to have at night so you don't have to light up the total kitchen. However, I can't believe you have enough light over your island at night time.

So I can personally just barely change a lightbulb—so maybe having him do it now is worthwhile? He has done all the labor—the wires are ready—he just needs to connect exhorbitant fixtures. Oh—and I will be putting in two 18-24” wide fixtures over island and one 30ish” one over dining area—I just cannot find what I like! Definitely black. I love mid-century and clean lines. I hate to see exposed bulb. Budget is about $1000 maximum for all 3 total.

@Michelle NJ, then pay the electrician! :) And ask what less expensive fixtures might be like.