Kitchen sockets: stylish new design

[Bert Coules]

Phil,

The pyramidal sockets can either go where you describe or lower, at the angle between the worktop surface and the wall; but in fact I'm still undecided between using them and conventional flush mounted sockets; hence the discussion about false walls and hollow-wall mounting boxes.

That makes sense, but my units don't have a pelmet (and would look slightly odd with one fitted, I think.) What about downlighters set into the base of the wall units? Are there any shallow enough? I suppose I could fit false cupboard floors to cover the lights and cabling.

Sorry, that strikes no chord with me at all. I have absolutely no idea what you mean... (g)

Bert

[Phil Addison]

set into the base??? The bases of my wall units are only 15 or 18mm thick, so can't se how that works - unless you cut right through and put the light inside the cupboard.

I think these are the ones andy usually recommends

I think mine came from B&Q. They look similar to the Hera ones, and they have clips that allow them to be fitted either upright or flat. They are

18 x 45mm in cross-section, so can be fitted with the 24mm side vertical, or horizontal. In the later case they have 12mm clearance from the cupboard base. They really are a great boon as otherwise you are nearly always in your own light. (Shouldn't that be in your own shadow?)

:-)

Phil The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at

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[Stefek Zaba]

IK*A do some very shallow fittings, with a 10W capsule lamp in 'em, total thickness round about the 18mm of yer typical bit of IKEA chipboard. Being IKEA, they sell them for 8? 10? quid a pair, under some pronounceable-after-a-few-aqavits couple of vaguely Scandinavian syllables. If you used them in/under kitchen units, you'd need to think a little about where the little bit of heat goes - at 10W it's not a lot, but your idea of false floors might be desirable, more so if you're storing food right above the lamps.

HTH - Stefek

[Bert Coules]

Phil,

Under-wall-unit lights...

That's pretty much what I was visualising, though I wondered if any fittings existed which were indeed 15-18mm thick in total. From your response, I imagine not.

In the absence of a custom-made pelmet I suppose I could produce my own, possibly using a cut-down plinth. But it's a very exposed component and I doubt if I could cut the material as accurately and neatly as I would like.

Thanks for the link but that sort of fitting - however neat in itself - would look rather untidy without a pelmet to hide it, I think.

Bert

[Phil Addison]

Won't that mean you can't put much, or anything, in the bottom half of the cupboard? I would be concerned about weakening the bottom shelf, given the heavy pile of crockery we have stacked in ours. Or are you thinking of boxing it in making a false bottom shelf? That will still waste valuable storage space.

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but MFI stocked only a very small number of pelmet styles to go with their multitude of cabinet styles, and they sold all their components separately too, though that's not obvious from the catalogue. You might find one of those suitable, and I daresay the other sheds policies are similar.

Agreed.

Phil The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at

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[Dave Plowman (News)]

2" architrave can make a decent pelmet. Depending on the style of your doors etc.

[Bert Coules]

Dave,

My cabinets are (or will be) very plain and rather hard-edged in a sort of silver-grey finish. I think that only a strip of the same material would really look right as a pelmet, though another possibility might be to use the metallic-finish edging strip that goes on the worktops, if that's available separately. It's the kind of thing that can't be properly assessed until it's actually in place, unfortunately.

Bert

[Bert Coules]

Phil,

I didn't think that a couple of small holes per cabinet would weaken the structure significantly, but I wouldn't want anything protruding into the cupboard space. So yes, I did consider constructing a false base, though I accept that this approach would cut down on storage.

I'll have a hunt around for potential pelmet material; one possibility, as I said to Dave, is to use the metallic-finish worktop edging sold for the range.

Bert

[Owain]

"Bert Coules" wrote | My cabinets are (or will be) very plain and rather hard-edged in a | sort of silver-grey finish.

If you're going for the techno look, what about narrow beam walk-over LED clusters mounted in the worktop along the back wall, pointing upwards, with a reflective coating to the soffit of the wall units.

Owain

[Lurch]

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 09:49:09 -0000, "Bert Coules" strung together this:

Something similar to these?

Click on the lighting cat on the left, lighting, under cabinet fittings, cabinet fittings. The y can be surface as the pic or the rear part removes and they can be recessed. I've fitted quite a few of theses.

[Bert Coules]

Owain,

An intriguing idea, but wouldn't items on the worktop obscure the lights at source?

Bert

[Bert Coules]

Lurch,

Thanks for the reply.

They look interesting but it's a pity there's no technical spec or dimensions. How big are they?

Bert

[Lurch]

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 18:48:10 -0000, "Bert Coules" strung together this:

From memory, about 50-60mm in diameter and about 20mm deep. Without looking at one I can't be anymore specific than that but I think that for recessing they require appx. 15mm depth.

[Bert Coules]

Lurch,

Thanks very much.

Bert

[Timothy Murphy]

Not quite the same issue - but someone told me there were kitchen switch/sockets now which fit exactly into the space of 2 tiles (each 10cm square in my case).

I looked around but didn't see any in the shops here.

Incidentally, what is the "stylish new design" that this thread is concerned with - I went back as far as I could but never found the answer.

[Bert Coules]

Timothy,

Take a look here:

[Owain]

"Bert Coules" wrote | > If you're going for the techno look, what about narrow beam | > walk-over LED clusters mounted in the worktop along the back | > wall, pointing upwards, with a reflective coating to the | > soffit of the wall units. | An intriguing idea, but wouldn't items on the worktop obscure | the lights at source?

Well, there is that. But it would be an incentive to keep the place tidy.

Owain

[Lurch]

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 20:47:48 +0000, Timothy Murphy strung together this:

That's a fair sized socket! Can't say as I've ever seen one anywhere.

[Timothy Murphy]

I probably didn't explain myself properly. The standard cooker switch + socket presently in my kitchen measures 11.5cm x 17cm, so 10cm x 20cm is quite plausible.

[Timothy Murphy]

think I prefer sockets on the wall, though! It must be quite awkward plugging into sockets underneath cupboards, if I understood the idea correctly.