We have the kitchen walls open for a remodel. I'd like to get some undercabinet lighting installed. Have read online about xenon strip lights and that sounds good. Have seen some references to running romex in the wall and having it poke out just where the bottom of the cabinets will be. Not sure on details of this type of install. Can anyone elaborate? A transformer is needed--where does this go? Can it sit inside the wall (NEC-wise)? I have read that you have to consider the length of the runs of lights etc etc. Any help/pointers to good resources appreciated.
Don't bury the transformer in the wall. Either put it in a cabinet or in the basement. I would go the basement route and then just run your low voltage from there. If no basement then put it somewhere out of sight (And sound, they can make noise). They can go bad and may someday need to be replaced.
If a garage wall backs up at or near the kitchen, you can put a transformer in a regular receptacle box. Transformer on the outside of a cover plate. It's not in the wall. Wires run back into the wall just above...small patched hole. Enough wire is exposed to allow replacement of the transformer. Run the wires back into the kitchen before you close it up. I would bring the wire in as mentioned...in a cabinet...
My door bell and street number sign are this way.
Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."
Every major lighting manufacturer makes self contained under cabinet halogen and xenon fixtures. Except for various puck and track types, the fixtures are fed with a 120 volt cable and either operate on 120 volt or have a built in transformer. You can wire all the feeds to the under cabinet fixtures through a wall switch or just run individual feeds and use fixture mounted switches
If I use these self contained units, and let's say I skip the wall switch, do I just run regular 12/2 romex down the wall and leave it dangling there for the rough-in inspection? And then you pull the romex thru the sheetrock and connect the light?
The transformer solutions all sound very involved to me. I was envisioning a single dimmer switch controlling all the undercabinet lighting, but I still don't have a good grasp on how to make it work. Re the proposals above, the kitchen is not adjacent to a garage, and there is no basement. So I don't get where the transformer would go.
You would run a 14/2 romex to each location. I would run it to a wall location at the center of where each fixture will be. If your cabinets have a lip around the bottom, a hole will have to be drilled through the lip and the cable pulled through as the cabinets are going up. You could certainly run a feed to a wall switch/dimmer and cables from that switchbox to each fixture to control them together
Essentially yes. Particularly convenient if you're installing fluorescent tube fixtures.
Recently however, we've been using QH LV puck lighting which have an integral transformer, switch and plug. So, instead of direct wiring, I put a receptacle in the wall immediately below the cabinetry - mounted horizontally. Then using various types of stick on cable clips and tie-wraps, the wiring, transformer and switch will all be tied up to the bottom of the cabinetry.
The receptacle is controlled by a switch.
We'll install a valence to hide the wiring and outlet.
Transformers capable of being dimmed are pretty big beasties. A 300W track lighting version we just used is a big toroidal transformer about 4" in diameter and 3" high. Those sorts of things need to be put in boxes somewhere else. Take into account the ampacity you're going to need to deliver to the lights. A 300W 12V circuit is about 25 amps. Which imply the use of #10 wire. [In a case like that, I'd use 10-2 romex, and try to get a sheath color other than the existing stuff. Eg: blue or red. Just to make it stand out as _not_ being 120/220V. Should also do a voltage drop calculation based on wire length and resistance.]
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