I need some advice on components to use for my new project: Kitchen Under Cabinet LED’s
The plan is to use existing wall counter outlets to provide the power for the LEDs by fishing wire from the outlets to under the cabinets. I will have to do this at 5 places based on the setup of the wall cabinets. I will have to wire a module in place at each of the 5 locations and it needs to be out of sight - I dont want to use an appliance module that plugs into the outlet and runs a wire up the wall. I have 6 Insteon in-line linc’s from a previous install in a previous house, but they need to be wired into an outlet box. Don’t think I can hide those under the cabinets…
I also need recommendations on LED lights that would look good. I know there is a huge variety of options but not sure which types to look at based on the tie in with z-wave. And then lastly I need a switch I can wire into the existing light outlet box to control the LEDs that will obviously not be on the same circuit as the LEDs.
I realize this is an expensive proposition and would obviously like to keep cost in control.
I tapped into an existing outlet and put a switched z-wave outlet directly above the existing outlet inside a cabinet. I then installed Ikea dioder LED lights underneath the cabinet. Dioder lights are available in puck and strip style. You can choose from white or RGB. The RGB lights remember the last setting when powered off and on.
These work great and are completely hidden and bright. I have 7 cabinets wired to a hidden receiver in a cabinet near an outlet. The lights are controlled by a car alarm remote that has dim and alarm flashing functions great for dancing in the kitchen. It would be real easy to integrate to Vera.
I think the aeon labs micro controller(s) would work best in my situation. But I also need to install a wall switch (or scene controller) on a different circuit to control the micro controllers. And it should be instantaneous so they need to be directly linked instead of through vera. Any suggestions?
My question to the OP is… do you really need a module at each location? Or can you get by with one? Is the limitation that you don’t want to pull power from the single module to all of the other locations?
I recently replaced three standard light switches powering three banks of undercabinet lights with a single Monster (Leviton Vizia RF) 1000W Z-wave relay switch. I pulled the romex from that box to all of the other locations. That was definitely a pain, so I can understand why you would want to avoid it. However, it’s (IMO) a more reliable solution.
The second thing I did was put accent lights (LED strings) above the cabinets. Those are plugged into a hidden Z-wave module that is set by a scene to turn on when the under-cabinet lights go on, and off when the under-cabinet lights go off.
Next, I want to replace the old under-cabinet fixtures. I still have the original fluorescents; they’re awful. The LED solution above looks good; but I have 120V going to each location. I would need a separate 12V power supply for each.
Everything that is 120 volts needs to be run in conduit, BX armored cable, surface raceway etc or be buried in the wall. But everything that is 12V LED can be more or less “open” wiring (unless your local code gets all squirmy about that too)
So, in this case, you can put a surface-mount extension box on ONE of the wall outlets, run a new surface mount conduit up and INSIDE the rear of the kitchen cabinet to the top of the cabinet (oh, do you have soffits above the cabinets? all bets are off)
Then, on the top of the cabinet, install a duplex receptacle in a box, plug-in a z-wave controller and then from there run the 12V transformer and wiring to all the LED strips
My kitchen is open plan so ultimately I have the following limitations;
I would need multiple z-wave devices as there is no way except through floor or ceiling to get from one side of the kitchen to the other with wiring.
The outlets that I will tap into for power for the lights is on a separate circuit from the existing lights in the kitchen and thus the wiring available at the existing switches. So switch and led’s on separate circuits
BTW i have the stupid soffit above the cabinets
Ultimately what I need is a switch and controller that can be directly linked so that I don’t have wait for the vera delay. I have done this before in a previous house with insteon (keypad and io linc) and still have all the parts, but would prefer z-wave. Plus I can’t figure out how to hide the io linc’s (they fit into an outlet box)
Looking for advice on a similar setup i’d like to retrofit. I have a long strip of LED lights from ElementaLED, attached to a small rotary dimmer, then to the transformer plugged into a normal wall outlet. All mounted/hidden under the cabinet.
I’m just looking for the easiest way to integrate these into my Zwave setup. Seems like I can either put in an appliance module, and control the on/off only, leaving the dimmer on and at the level I would normally want it. I can get to same result with a zwave outlet if I want to rewire it, or an aeon labs micro controller for the same result.
All of which give me no dimmable control over the strip itself. My understanding is that a dimmable module will not work because of the low load.
What i’d really like is something that goes inbetween (or replaces) the current dimmer/transformer that gives me full dimmable control, that I can just plug into the outlet… but I haven’t seen anything that does that.
Any other clever ideas on how I might be able to do this?
Re Lighting Hardware:
How about the Hue Lightstrips (6’) with the Vera Plugin? Amazon.com (cheaper on Apple Store)
You’ll need a Hue base station and the Vera plugin to make this work in addition to the cost of the lightstrips. While the Ikea RGB are a great value, you can’t control them using a scene in Vera to change the color. All together, higher solution cost…but you wouldn’t need to worry as much about the Aeon, just the DC power brick for the lightstrips. If you put standard external mount AC outlets under the cabinets for this, you can use the AC power for other fixed items like coffee makers too without taking up a wall outlet. Add an AC outlet with USB ports and you now have a charging area where the wires can hide underneath the cabinet.
That is pretty sweet. Electrically it sounds like it will work, but I haven’t seen anyone try with the Vera. Shouldn’t need a plugin if it shows up as a dimmable switch.
That Kichler zwave module is designed to plug directly in line with their fixtures. I guess one could butcher the plug-in cord to adapt it for other uses.
Fyi, this dropped on price significantly at Amazon, although it looks like the actually lighting hasn’t. I never called them, as I’ve got a Fibaro module coming.
[quote=“tomgru, post:17, topic:171360”]Fyi, this dropped on price significantly at Amazon, although it looks like the actually lighting hasn’t. I never called them, as I’ve got a Fibaro module coming.
Doing something similar in my laundry room. Hoping to purchase a ikea dioder setup and fibaro module. Wondering how your project turned out and if you could offer any tips or tricks?
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