Ceiling lights sit behind you when you stand at a worktop, which is why so many kitchens feel dim exactly where the work happens. Under cabinet lighting fixes that. The difference between a good installation and a poor one comes down to the type of fitting, where it is positioned front to back, and how the driver and switching are arranged.
Strips, profiles and pucks
LED strip in an aluminium profile with a diffuser is the best general answer. The profile spreads heat, protects the strip and, with a frosted diffuser, produces a continuous line of light with no visible dots reflected in a gloss splashback. Bare strip stuck to the underside of a cabinet looks cheap and shows every individual diode.
Puck lights create pools rather than an even wash and are better suited to display shelving or glass cabinets than to worktops. Linear battens are a budget option but are usually bulkier and harder to conceal.
Position front to back
Mount the light towards the front edge of the cabinet underside, not against the back wall. Set back, the light throws down the splashback and leaves the front of the worktop, where you actually chop, in relative shade. Forward mounting also keeps the strip out of direct view when you are standing.
A shadow gap trim or a small recessed channel in the cabinet underside gives the cleanest result and keeps the strip completely hidden from normal eye level.
Drivers, positions and access
Every LED strip needs a driver, and the driver needs somewhere accessible. Burying it in a sealed void behind tiles guarantees an awkward job in five years when it fails. Good positions are inside a base unit, in a plinth void with ventilation, or in an adjacent cupboard.
Match driver wattage to total strip load with headroom, and keep the low voltage run short. Long low voltage runs cause visible dimming at the far end of a strip, which people often mistake for a faulty strip.
- Keep the driver accessible without removing tiles or worktop
- Allow ventilation around the driver
- Size the driver above the actual load, not exactly at it
- Keep low voltage cable runs short and adequately sized
Switching and control
Under cabinet lighting should be on its own switch, separate from the ceiling. That is the whole point: low level task and evening lighting without lighting the entire room. A rocker switch beside the main kitchen switch is the simplest arrangement.
Dimming is worthwhile and requires a dimmable driver plus a compatible dimmer. Door or motion sensors work well inside pantries and larders, less well on open worktops where they trigger every time someone walks past.
Colour temperature and rendering
Around 3000K suits most kitchens: warm enough to feel domestic, clean enough to see what you are doing. 4000K can look clinical against warm timber but works with cool grey and white schemes.
Look for a colour rendering index of 90 or above for worktop lighting. Food and skin tones look markedly better, and the difference is obvious side by side even to people who have never thought about it.
Fitting during and after a kitchen install
The ideal time is during the kitchen fit, before the splashback goes on and while cabinet backs are accessible. Cables can be routed through cabinet sides and the driver positioned properly with no visible trunking.
Retrofitting to a finished kitchen is entirely possible. Cables run through cabinet dividers, and the supply comes from a spur behind a base unit. The compromise is usually driver location and slightly more visible cable inside cupboards.
What to avoid
Cheap kits with adhesive strip, an undersized plug in driver and no profile look impressive on day one and disappointing within a year as the adhesive lets go and the strip dims unevenly. Spend the extra on profile, diffuser and a properly sized driver; the strip itself is the cheapest part of the job.
Cost and where the money goes
The strip itself is the cheapest component. Most of the cost is the aluminium profile, a properly sized dimmable driver, the switching arrangement and the labour to route cable neatly through cabinet carcasses. Fitting during a kitchen installation is cheaper than retrofitting because the cabinet backs and the wall behind the splashback are still accessible, so it is worth deciding at design stage rather than after the tiles go on.
Common questions
- Strip or puck lights?
- Strip in a diffused profile for worktops. Pucks suit display shelving and glass cabinets.
- Can it be retrofitted to a finished kitchen?
- Yes, routing through cabinet dividers with a spur from a base unit.
- Why does one end of my strip look dimmer?
- Usually voltage drop from a long or undersized low voltage run, or an underpowered driver.
- Should it be dimmable?
- It is worth it. Full brightness for cooking and low level for evenings are genuinely different needs.
- What colour temperature is best?
- Around 3000K with a high colour rendering index suits most kitchens.
Planning a kitchen? We fit profiled, diffused under cabinet lighting with accessible drivers and separate switching.
Related guides
- Electrics for a Kitchen RefitThe kitchen carries more electrical load than any other room, and gets the least planning time.
- Downlight Spacing and Layout That Actually WorksMost bad downlight schemes are not too dim. They are evenly spaced in the wrong places.
- Getting LED Dimming RightMost LED dimming complaints are a compatibility problem, not a faulty lamp.