the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.


songbird

On Monday, January 11, 2016 at 2:09:54 PM UTC-5, songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.


songbird

Did you consider LED strips that can be cut to length and also dimmed?

Just some examples...

LEDs:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/1519388...chn=ps&lpid=82

Remote Control Dimmer:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Touch-Contro...AOSwA4dWIId Q

Power Supply For System:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-100-240V-...EAAOSw-vlVllDG

When we go camping, I run a string of LED's through the framework of my
pop-up canopy and power it with a jump-start pack. A dimmer allows for
full brightness while cooking and mellower light when desired. The full
brightness of a 5M strip is actually more than we need, even while
preparing meals.

When we get done painting the kitchen, I'm going to install strips and
a dimmer control over the counters.

songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.


songbird

When light fixtures in the camper (12V) fried the bulb bases/plugs to the
point they no longer made contact , I replaced a couple of the fixtures with
LEDs . Liked 'em so much I ordered more for the other 2 most-used fixtures .

--
Snag

DerbyDad03 wrote:
....
Did you consider LED strips that can be cut to length and also dimmed?

i looked at them, but when i mentioned to the
manager she said she didn't want anything like
that and for sure not another remote control!


songbird

On 1/11/2016 12:09 PM, songbird wrote:
direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

We want to put (LED) "strip" lighting under the counters
but have debated the wiring issue. In our case, we'd prefer
to hide the power supply up behind the valence over the
sink -- accessible (repair/replace) yet unobtrusive.

But, getting from there to the light strips leaves the
cosmetics of the wiring up for grabs. Easiest approach may be
to run it through the ceiling and walls to exit just
adjacent to the strips (one on each side of the sink).

I think we've decided that we don't have to "remote" the
intensity control -- just reach up behind the valence and
adjust it to suit our needs, then just treat the lights
as "on (at that intensity)" or "off". Already have too
many friggin' dimmers around the house and they seldom
find use beyond: off, on/full, on/dim (i.e., you could
*pick* a "dimness" for each and always resort to that
intensity)

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

We've found any direct line-of-sight to the lamps
is hard on our aging eyes (don't respond to changes in
intensity as rapidly as when younger). So, want to
make sure there's no/little chance of ever "looking into"
a lamp.

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.

We cling to commercial (130V) incandescents in most of the
living areas. They allow us to turn the lights "almost off"
and have the equivalent of a night light sort of intensity
throughout the room (you'd never notice the lights as being
"on" in any sort of daylight!). So far, the dimmable LEDs
don't have that same low end intensity capability.

On Monday, January 11, 2016 at 4:19:05 PM UTC-5, songbird wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:
...
Did you consider LED strips that can be cut to length and also dimmed?

i looked at them, but when i mentioned to the
manager she said she didn't want anything like
that and for sure not another remote control!


songbird

You can also get rotary dimmers, which is what I bought for our camping set up. The
one I bought is "industrial" in nature, which is fine for camping or a workshop, etc. but
probably not as an exposed unit in a finished room. That is why I suggested the remote.
I'm sure that there are better looking dimmers available, but I haven't looked - yet.

On Mon, 11 Jan 2016, DerbyDad03 wrote:

Did you consider LED strips that can be cut to length and also dimmed?

The problem is you get a dot effect. Especially on anything shiny. For
example, if the head of your faucet is chrome and ball shaped, every dot in
the lights will be reflected on the head.

Some have plastic covers to reduce the effect.

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

On 1/11/2016 2:09 PM, songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.


songbird

About 2 years ago I replace 3 - 7 watt fluorescent lamps with LED
strips. I used 2 strips because cool white was too white and warm white
was too yellow ... I know I'm a nerd. Anyway, I used a 12 volt switching
power supply (like from a printer) to power the strips. I put a few
regular diodes in series with each set of strips to adjust the
brightness and overall color rendition balance between the cool and warm
strips. There are actually 2 power supplies as it was not easy to get 12
volts from one string of cabinets to another, but as there was already
120VAC for the old fluorescents, it was easy to do. The old switch,
which turned on all 3 original lights, now turns on the LED strips.
Actually, the old switch was replaced, years ago, with an X10 wall
switch, but I digress. I even put the LED strips under the range hood to
light the cooktop area. The results are outstanding; extremely even
lighting across all the cabinets. Because of the X10 thing, they go on
at dusk and off around 11:30PM.

On 1/11/2016 1:09 PM, songbird wrote:

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking???

They're thinking rechargeable batteries. I have a number of
motion-sensor LED lights around the house that run on batteries. The
rechargeable batteries last for weeks and cost next to nothing to
recharge. Obviously, I wouldn't use them where it would be
inconvenient to access them for replacing the batteries, but I've got
them where I want some lighting to automatically turn on when I enter
the area. Great for quick trips to the kitchen or bathroom at night,
or to my storage areas when I'm just going to grab or store something.
Or to safely navigate the stairs even when the power has gone out.

On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 7:23:54 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/11/2016 2:09 PM, songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.


songbird

About 2 years ago I replace 3 - 7 watt fluorescent lamps with LED
strips. I used 2 strips because cool white was too white and warm white
was too yellow ... I know I'm a nerd. Anyway, I used a 12 volt switching
power supply (like from a printer) to power the strips. I put a few
regular diodes in series with each set of strips to adjust the
brightness and overall color rendition balance between the cool and warm
strips. There are actually 2 power supplies as it was not easy to get 12
volts from one string of cabinets to another, but as there was already
120VAC for the old fluorescents, it was easy to do. The old switch,
which turned on all 3 original lights, now turns on the LED strips.
Actually, the old switch was replaced, years ago, with an X10 wall
switch, but I digress. I even put the LED strips under the range hood to
light the cooktop area. The results are outstanding; extremely even
lighting across all the cabinets. Because of the X10 thing, they go on
at dusk and off around 11:30PM.

That is so cool but I wonder about the effect heat would have on the LED strips under the range hood. O_o

[8~{} Uncle LED Monster

On 1/13/2016 5:11 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 7:23:54 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/11/2016 2:09 PM, songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.


songbird

About 2 years ago I replace 3 - 7 watt fluorescent lamps with LED
strips. I used 2 strips because cool white was too white and warm white
was too yellow ... I know I'm a nerd. Anyway, I used a 12 volt switching
power supply (like from a printer) to power the strips. I put a few
regular diodes in series with each set of strips to adjust the
brightness and overall color rendition balance between the cool and warm
strips. There are actually 2 power supplies as it was not easy to get 12
volts from one string of cabinets to another, but as there was already
120VAC for the old fluorescents, it was easy to do. The old switch,
which turned on all 3 original lights, now turns on the LED strips.
Actually, the old switch was replaced, years ago, with an X10 wall
switch, but I digress. I even put the LED strips under the range hood to
light the cooktop area. The results are outstanding; extremely even
lighting across all the cabinets. Because of the X10 thing, they go on
at dusk and off around 11:30PM.

That is so cool but I wonder about the effect heat would have on the LED strips under the range hood. O_o

[8~{} Uncle LED Monster

Well, as I said, it's been there for 2 years and we do a lot of cooking.
The cooktop is gas, actually, propane. We do have an electric
toaster/oven on the counter. The LED strip are much closer to the heat
source than those above the cooktop, and no problems there either. One
other plus feature; many LED light bulbs tend to flicker at times ... I
really don't know why. My guess is that the LED light bulbs are made to
be very cheep and don't have really good filtering. But these never
flicker as they are on a tightly regulated 12 volt supply.

On Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 6:49:22 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/13/2016 5:11 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 7:23:54 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/11/2016 2:09 PM, songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.


songbird

About 2 years ago I replace 3 - 7 watt fluorescent lamps with LED
strips. I used 2 strips because cool white was too white and warm white
was too yellow ... I know I'm a nerd. Anyway, I used a 12 volt switching
power supply (like from a printer) to power the strips. I put a few
regular diodes in series with each set of strips to adjust the
brightness and overall color rendition balance between the cool and warm
strips. There are actually 2 power supplies as it was not easy to get 12
volts from one string of cabinets to another, but as there was already
120VAC for the old fluorescents, it was easy to do. The old switch,
which turned on all 3 original lights, now turns on the LED strips.
Actually, the old switch was replaced, years ago, with an X10 wall
switch, but I digress. I even put the LED strips under the range hood to
light the cooktop area. The results are outstanding; extremely even
lighting across all the cabinets. Because of the X10 thing, they go on
at dusk and off around 11:30PM.

That is so cool but I wonder about the effect heat would have on the LED strips under the range hood. O_o

[8~{} Uncle LED Monster

Well, as I said, it's been there for 2 years and we do a lot of cooking.
The cooktop is gas, actually, propane. We do have an electric
toaster/oven on the counter. The LED strip are much closer to the heat
source than those above the cooktop, and no problems there either. One
other plus feature; many LED light bulbs tend to flicker at times ... I
really don't know why. My guess is that the LED light bulbs are made to
be very cheep and don't have really good filtering. But these never
flicker as they are on a tightly regulated 12 volt supply.

That's fantastic, you should do an instructional video and put it on YouTube. I'm sure a lot of people like to see how you did it and how it's working out. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Impressed Monster

On Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 6:49:22 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/13/2016 5:11 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 7:23:54 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/11/2016 2:09 PM, songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.

songbird

About 2 years ago I replace 3 - 7 watt fluorescent lamps with LED
strips. I used 2 strips because cool white was too white and warm white
was too yellow ... I know I'm a nerd. Anyway, I used a 12 volt switching
power supply (like from a printer) to power the strips. I put a few
regular diodes in series with each set of strips to adjust the
brightness and overall color rendition balance between the cool and warm
strips. There are actually 2 power supplies as it was not easy to get 12
volts from one string of cabinets to another, but as there was already
120VAC for the old fluorescents, it was easy to do. The old switch,
which turned on all 3 original lights, now turns on the LED strips.
Actually, the old switch was replaced, years ago, with an X10 wall
switch, but I digress. I even put the LED strips under the range hood to
light the cooktop area. The results are outstanding; extremely even
lighting across all the cabinets. Because of the X10 thing, they go on
at dusk and off around 11:30PM.

That is so cool but I wonder about the effect heat would have on the LED strips under the range hood. O_o

[8~{} Uncle LED Monster

Well, as I said, it's been there for 2 years and we do a lot of cooking.
The cooktop is gas, actually, propane. We do have an electric
toaster/oven on the counter. The LED strip are much closer to the heat
source than those above the cooktop, and no problems there either. One
other plus feature; many LED light bulbs tend to flicker at times ... I
really don't know why. My guess is that the LED light bulbs are made to
be very cheep and don't have really good filtering. But these never
flicker as they are on a tightly regulated 12 volt supply.

That's fantastic, you should do an instructional video and put it on YouTube. I'm sure a lot of people like to see how you did it and how it's working out. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Impressed Monster

On 1/13/2016 4:31 PM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 6:49:22 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/13/2016 5:11 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 7:23:54 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/11/2016 2:09 PM, songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.

songbird

About 2 years ago I replace 3 - 7 watt fluorescent lamps with LED
strips. I used 2 strips because cool white was too white and warm white
was too yellow ... I know I'm a nerd. Anyway, I used a 12 volt switching
power supply (like from a printer) to power the strips. I put a few
regular diodes in series with each set of strips to adjust the
brightness and overall color rendition balance between the cool and warm
strips. There are actually 2 power supplies as it was not easy to get 12
volts from one string of cabinets to another, but as there was already
120VAC for the old fluorescents, it was easy to do. The old switch,
which turned on all 3 original lights, now turns on the LED strips.
Actually, the old switch was replaced, years ago, with an X10 wall
switch, but I digress. I even put the LED strips under the range hood to
light the cooktop area. The results are outstanding; extremely even
lighting across all the cabinets. Because of the X10 thing, they go on
at dusk and off around 11:30PM.

That is so cool but I wonder about the effect heat would have on the LED strips under the range hood. O_o

[8~{} Uncle LED Monster

Well, as I said, it's been there for 2 years and we do a lot of cooking.
The cooktop is gas, actually, propane. We do have an electric
toaster/oven on the counter. The LED strip are much closer to the heat
source than those above the cooktop, and no problems there either. One
other plus feature; many LED light bulbs tend to flicker at times ... I
really don't know why. My guess is that the LED light bulbs are made to
be very cheep and don't have really good filtering. But these never
flicker as they are on a tightly regulated 12 volt supply.

That's fantastic, you should do an instructional video and put it on YouTube. I'm sure a lot of people like to see how you did it and how it's working out. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Impressed Monster

Well I'm not really an 'in front of' video person, although I did many
video productions in my former life. But, here's a link to some pics of
the LED strips in my kitchen:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1Q...lomn4h30yKPqiv
Let me know if the link works. BTW, I put some comments on each pic, but
they somehow don't appear now.

On Wed, 13 Jan 2016 13:31:09 -0800 (PST), Uncle Monster
wrote:

On Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 6:49:22 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/13/2016 5:11 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 7:23:54 AM UTC-6, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/11/2016 2:09 PM, songbird wrote:
the past week, after being repeatedly told we were
living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around
to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets
(and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work).
it's the most frequently and most extensively used
light in the house.

a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've
replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few
years and even replaced the light too when the old
one fried some component so it was time to look
at LED replacement options. the battery operated
stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why
spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and
then waste the benefits by using batteries? i
mean, what are they thinking??? the other options
were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type
like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep,
but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be
ahead after a few years.

direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get
the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is
short and the wire connectors inside the light are also
not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to
become more extreme to get some more wire length out of
the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch
on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i
twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about
the process along the way.

however, once it was back up and the power turned
back on the new light certainly is much brighter
than what we had before. in fact, it is almost
too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it...

LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least
expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what
they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used
them to replace the useless lights over the sink with
much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i
can test it for a photography project. eventually
the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.

songbird

About 2 years ago I replace 3 - 7 watt fluorescent lamps with LED
strips. I used 2 strips because cool white was too white and warm white
was too yellow ... I know I'm a nerd. Anyway, I used a 12 volt switching
power supply (like from a printer) to power the strips. I put a few
regular diodes in series with each set of strips to adjust the
brightness and overall color rendition balance between the cool and warm
strips. There are actually 2 power supplies as it was not easy to get 12
volts from one string of cabinets to another, but as there was already
120VAC for the old fluorescents, it was easy to do. The old switch,
which turned on all 3 original lights, now turns on the LED strips.
Actually, the old switch was replaced, years ago, with an X10 wall
switch, but I digress. I even put the LED strips under the range hood to
light the cooktop area. The results are outstanding; extremely even
lighting across all the cabinets. Because of the X10 thing, they go on
at dusk and off around 11:30PM.

That is so cool but I wonder about the effect heat would have on the LED strips under the range hood. O_o

[8~{} Uncle LED Monster

Well, as I said, it's been there for 2 years and we do a lot of cooking.
The cooktop is gas, actually, propane. We do have an electric
toaster/oven on the counter. The LED strip are much closer to the heat
source than those above the cooktop, and no problems there either. One
other plus feature; many LED light bulbs tend to flicker at times ... I
really don't know why. My guess is that the LED light bulbs are made to
be very cheep and don't have really good filtering. But these never
flicker as they are on a tightly regulated 12 volt supply.

That's fantastic, you should do an instructional video and put it on YouTube. I'm sure a lot of people like to see how you did it and how it's working out. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Impressed Monster

I have a strip of 9 LEDS over a small bar, under the upper cabinet.
They are the typical LED you see in a cheap flashlight (where I got
them) running off a 4.5v wall wart and they have been fine for years.
No real heat tho.