A year ago we bought an old house and did some remodeling before moving in. We pretty much redid the kitchen which now has beautiful oak cabinets and granite countertops. Knowing very little about lighting, and liking the look of the halogen line-voltage puck lights that were installed under the old cabinets, we decided to keep them under the new cabinets for the time being. As I said, I love the look. It's the right task/ambience lighting for me. But it turns out that these are the cheapest Home Depot pucks you can get. Every few weeks a bulb burns out, and they've also burned out some of the multi-outlet extension cords they've been plugged into despite the fact that they are not too high voltage for these cords. Also, they flicker if we place a plate or a glass in the cabinet just above the puck. So, basically, now I just want to replace them with the best, since I'm so disgusted with the quality of the ones I have. I've seen some very nice LED's that were $200+ per puck - too expensive for me. And between what I've read and heard, xenon is probably what I should be looking for since the light rendered is quite comparable to that of halogen, and it doesn't run quite as hot. I guess I'd also be open to incandescent if I could find a nice unit. Anyway, can anyone point me in the right direction as to which company to go with? Pegasus, American Lighting, Hera, Bellacor, Seagull, Juno, Kickler(?). I hear Hera is very good, but their pucks don't seem to have ventilation holes. Is that something I should care about? I wouldn't mind spending $20 - $40 a puck. Thanks much!
- posted
18 years ago