Changing from fluorescent to halogen

[mark]

I had under-cabinet fluorescent lighting that I want to change to halogen. I removed one of the fluorescent bulbs and found a hot wire, a neutral wire, and a ground wire. However, the halogen kit I bought has a power cord that includes just two wires. How do I safely wire the halogen kit directly into the existing wiring? do I just cut the ground wire off at the wall? Does it make any difference which of the two wires on the halogen power cord I connect to the hot wire of the house wiring?

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Yes. Halogen will generate more heat. Tony

[Matt]

Mark -

You are trying to replace a hardwired fixture with one that was designed to be plugged in.

While there are safe ways to do this, the actuality is that to do it properly you will spend more on that then the fixture cost you.

If you are set on having halogen lighting, take the ones you bought back to where you bought them, and buy under counter lights that are designed to be hard wired.

FYI: I installed hardwired under counter halogen lights under all my cabinets a few years ago. While I prefer their light over flourescent - they do generate a GREAT amount of heat. Enough heat to make guests uncomfortably warm if I have em all fired up.

Also, they have a high and low setting..... the low setting generates a lot of flicker.

I'd look for other options, were I to do it all over again.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, LED lights maybe another option. Tony

[MLD]

Good idea. Saw some yesterday in a lighting store. Strips of varying lengths that can be set up individually or plugged into one another to make a long run. Nice, but were a bit pricey. MLD