Mounting Angle for Undercabinet Light Pros & Cons

4 years ago

What are the pros and cons of mounting undercabinet lighting at a 45° angle (facing the backsplash) vs mounting it flat to the bottom of the cabinet (facing straight down at the counter)? Do people have photos of their own undercabinet lighting illuminating the counter & backsplash? Is the light spread better for one or the other?

Context: We're getting undercabinet lighting for the first time, and we've decided on using LED strips. We're mounting them in aluminum channels with diffusers (for increased longevity and to prevent bright spots). However, the aluminum channels come in a corner/45° angle mount option in addition to a regular surface mount/straight down option, and we're not sure which one to pick.

I'm a little concerned that if we go for the straight down option, the backsplash will be unevenly illuminated so the bottom will look a lot brighter than the top. (It's going to be a light, shiny backsplash, not sure if that will effect it.) However, if we pick the 45° angle, will the front of the couter not get illuminated? I'm hopeful the light would bounce off the backsplash and illuminate the counter regardless of the angle.

I'd love to hear from people who have seen/tried both types, but all opinions/experiences are welcome!

either/unimportant

angled 45°

straight down

Featured Answer

Shannon_WI

4 years ago

The UCLs are not supposed to be installed toward the back. They’re supposed to be installed toward the front of the upper cabinets, just behind the light rail. That way, the light is shed onto the middle of the counter where it is supposed to be. And the lighting is pointed straight down onto the counter. The UCLs are not supposed to be ”illuminating the backsplash”. They are supposed to provide task lighting onto the counter which would otherwise not receive task lighting from your ceiling lights because the upper cabinets overshadow the counters.

If you install the UCLs correctly toward the front of the upper cabinets, they will still provide some light onto the backsplash. But to install them toward the back so that they shed light mostly onto the backsplash is a big waste of the money you spent on them.

Furthermore, if you install the UCLs at the back rather than toward the front, you will be able see them from a seated position which is glaring. That is another reason why the correct installation of UCLs is toward the front of the upper cabinets.

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Comments (6)

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Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I think you need to figure out what you want the lightinhg for. IMO under cabinet lighting is an addition to overhead lighting so that work surfases are better lit so I guess I would do down light I don't have overheads so not an issue . You also should not have bright and dull spots of you go with the right under cabinet lighting I like LED strip lights and have never used a channel for them and I hve no idea how the channel has any effect on longevity.
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Elsa Gernand
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks Patricia! That makes sense, we don't have can lights just some light fixtures near the center of the room and task lighting at the sink, so it's important that the undercabinet lighting illuminates the counters.

Aluminum channels can help prolong the life of LED strips because they act as a heat sink. Even though LEDs are much more efficient than other types of lights, they still produce some heat, which can damage their delicate components over time and reduce their lightspan. By attaching the LED strip to a metal channel instead of just the wood of the cabinet, the metal helps draw the heat away from the LEDs and dissipate it, increasing the lifespan. (It's kind of like how if you use a light bulb that's not approved for enclosed installation in an enclosed fixture, it will fail faster than it should.) Of course, this only matters if you're planning to use the lights for a very long time, but our current kitchen has lasted us 40 years and we hope the remodel will last us at least that long, so we have no intentions of replacing it before we need to! :)
Elsa Gernand
Original Author
4 years ago
Hi Shannon, thanks for your comment! To clarify: I wasn't ever considering installing the undercabinet light at the back (where the wall meets the backsplash). Rather, my question was about whether or not the lights, installed at the front of the cabinet, should point straight down or angle backwards at a 45° (directly facing the line where the counter meets the backsplash).

I appreciate your feedback on the purpose of the undercabinet lights. We haven't your opinion as someone who uses them is helpful. It's becoming clear to me that the most important role of the undercabinet lighting is to illuminate the counter and it doesn't matter as much its impact on the backsplash.
acm
4 years ago
Straight down. But install them about 1.5 inches back from the front edge of your cabinet or light rail; otherwise the rail shadows the light and you don't get illumination of the most important part of the counter. I had to have some replaced for color shift, and they relocated them backward just a bit and suddenly they were hugely useful!
Shannon_WI
4 years ago
Ah Ok, the way you talked about having the lights angled, it seems they could only be installed at an angle if installed toward the back against the wall. In any case, they should be pointed straight down.