Summarize
- Kitchen lighting upgraded with LED strip lighting for display cabinets
- The installation included an indirect, general
- and working light for the kitchen
- Led strips were selected as colour temperature adjustable and with high CRI
- Wireless control with Zigbee integrated into Philips HUE
- Customer satisfaction with improved lighting and functionality
The installation of a Led strip light in a display cabinet is also possible with the right tools. The kitchen received mood lighting and task lighting in one go. Read here how we got new lighting in the kitchen.
Led strip light for more light in the kitchen
The old kitchen was lacking in lighting and needed to be updated. There were several display cabinets in the kitchen and they wanted to make lamps out of them. The aim was also to significantly improve the general lighting in the kitchen and the lighting on the worktop.
All this was completed for the customer at LedStore’s workshop and the installation and commissioning was carried out on site. How? Read on.
Light on different levels
The white cabinets in the kitchen, of course, largely determined the colour of the light profiles, but also allowed for multi-level lighting.
Overhead lights on top of the kitchen cupboard
Indirect lighting was wanted on top of the kitchen cabinets. The light is directed upwards along light-coloured surfaces and from there, through reflections, it descends into space. I chose a low white profile, so that the light is directed perpendicularly upwards.
Showcase lights inside the cabinet
Led strip lights were installed inside the cabinet, backlit, so that no light source would be visible in the glass. A straight profile at the front edge of the cabinet will strongly illuminate the glass and can therefore be stronger at the top of the glass than at the bottom. Therefore, a 45 degree angle profile was chosen as the led profile.
Downlights for worktops
Direct general lighting for worktops. Led strip lights were installed at the bottom of the cabinet to provide good task lighting. The installation point was approx. 5cm from the front edge and the LED profile was the same white low profile as on the cabinets.
LedBand for the kitchen, made in the LedPajka or at home
When the need and desire for kitchen lighting arose, it was time to move forward. For this project, LedPaja prepared everything as agreed and the steps were as follows
- Led strip light selection
- Transformer and button selection (Zigbee)
- Checking the dimensions
- Cutting profiles
- Cutting the Led strip light to the right length.
- Measuring the connecting wire to the transformer and soldering it to the LED strip light.
- Gluing the strip to the profile and the cover on top
So you can do all of the above yourself at home if you have a tin cutter, cutters and a small hacksaw in your toolbox.
Led strip light installation for display cabinets and cupboards
The installation was done in the kitchen and no matter how we went through the measurements, of course we found that a couple of profiles were too long. So the first thing to do is spread out on the floor with your stuff and get out the tin can. Profile shortening and soldering. Then the installation started. The installation proceeded as follows:
Led profile matching
First we checked that the profiles would fit, and not all of them…
Correction of a pair of profiles
…so we had to do some tweaking of the profiles on the spot. Luckily, I had a tin clay piston and a small saw with me.
Screwing the profile brackets in place
Inside the cabinets, the brackets were screwed in place, quite close to the front edge.
Drilling of cable penetrations
The wires for the Led profiles had to be drilled through holes to get the wire to the transformer. The hole size was 6mm
Pressing the Led profile into the brackets
Led profiles were pressed into brackets underneath the cabinets and inside the cabinets. There was no need to fix the profiles on top of the cabinets in any way.
Running the wires as unobtrusively as possible to the transformer
Once the wires were pulled through they had to be transported and shortened to fit. Finally, the wires inside the cabinet were covered with a protective grating and once the shelves and goods were in place, they were not visible.
Connecting the wires to the transformer.
Since the wires come from several profiles to the same transformer, the wires were first connected outside the transformer with WAGO connectors in the AP9 box and then with a single wire to the transformer. The transformers were powered from the fridge plug and the microwave. Power is continuous, but control is via a wireless controller.
Wireless control pairing between the controller (Zigbee) and the transformer.
A wireless button needs to be paired so that it knows what it is controlling. So the pairing had to be done for all three Zigbee led transformers. The controller of choice was a 4 group CCT controller AND in addition the lights are controlled by Philips HUE, which has timers created to automate the lights.
There is always an additional challenge to pairing when the lights are also controlled by the application. We have written an article on how to pair this way.
Temperature adjustable led strip light suitable for kitchen
The LED strip used was a 14.4W LED strip with a high colour rendering index (CRI98) and adjustable colour temperature. The advantage of a colour temperature adjustable strip is that it always gives you the right temperature in the living room, depending on your mood or the outdoor light.
A metre of CCT 14.4 W/m LED strip provides around 1000 lumens, so there’s enough light output for the worktop, but fortunately it can also be dimmed to suit the mood, which is especially important for display cabinets. The Led SOLO CCT LED strip is easy to cut every 5cm, bend into a bend and therefore fits anywhere.
Add a little atmosphere to your kitchen by adjusting the colour temperature
The colour temperature of the light can be easily adjusted with a wireless controller. For example, a warm dimmed light just to create a mood, or a slightly cooler and brighter light to wake up in the morning. The controller is a wireless Zigbee controller paired with a Zigbee receiver/transformer.
So the handheld controller can be used to control a single light, but it also has three presets for all lights that can be stored. In practice, therefore, only the status buttons on the controller are used.
As I mentioned earlier, Philips HUE can also control lights and has automatic control by hue and wattage programmed in. So in the morning the lights automatically turn on cool and in the evening the tone changes to warm and dims. Convenient automation.
Light levels in the kitchen
For the kitchen, 200-300 lux is usually enough for general lighting, but 500-1000 lux for the worktop, so you can see what you’re doing. There was plenty of light coming into the kitchen from all directions and it was seen as a huge improvement on the old one. The amount of light is sufficient for normal work.
Indirect lighting in the kitchen can never be the only source of light, as the lighting should consist of three layers. Indirect, general and task light. All complement each other and now we have all three! Work light (flat lights), general light (glass in the display case) and indirect light (on top of the cabinet).
A successful outcome
The customer was very satisfied with the result. The lighting in the kitchen was significantly improved and provides a nice functional or atmospheric lighting. We were particularly pleased that the lighting integrated seamlessly with the existing Philips HUE system. We may continue with the rest of the lighting on the site in the future. Which atmosphere do you like? Warm or fresh?
Other destinations
If you are looking for light for your living room or cottage with exposed beams, read how to get indirect light in your living room using beams. Indirect light for the ceiling with a retrofit profile can also be achieved on the ceiling border or lower on the wall (light in two directions).
You can also do drop-down elements on the ceiling, creating a very graphic look and elegance, as in this twin renovation.
Led lighting expert
LedStore has been an expert in led lighting since 2010. We have our own product design, so our products are technologically state-of-the-art.
We focus on light colour temperature controlled and high colour rendering index lights. We do around 500 lighting designs in a year.
We offer a service of custom-made led strips, i.e. made-to-order, easy to install led strips in profiles for everyone. Also installed.
Remember that we are always ready to offer our help to you along the way, by email (myynti@ledstore.fi) and by phone (045 251 4510). As always, feel free to share photos of your own projects on social media at ledstore.fi at Instagram and ledstore.fi at Meta. We love to see the cool things done by our LEDs, and it also helps to provide inspiration for those who are not sure about the power and awesomeness of LEDs. Did you know that we already have over 3500 pictures of our LED installations in our Gallery!
Gallery of Led lights:
Product gallery: Pictures of products in different installation locations
Indirect light: Indirect light in different spaces
Room-specific: Light in different rooms
References: Complete houses that have been photographed
