#Led warm light strip under cabinet free#
Pull the fish tape through the knockout until about 10 inches of wire is exposed, then free the fish tape. Hook the ground to the fish tape and cover the connection with electrical tape, as shown. With pliers, strip the insulation off the length of 12⁄2 wire. Step 3 Pull Down the Wire Photo by Kolin Smith If you’re adding an outlet, locating the new one in the same stud bay as an existing outlet makes using the fish tape easier. Tip: Plan to use an accessible but hidden outlet to run the LED power supply, like one above or inside a cabinet. Feed the fish tape up through the knockout, as shown, and out of the new hole in the drywall. Use a drywall saw to cut a hole for the remodeling box in the wall above the cabinet. Pull out the outlet and, with a screwdriver, bang free one of the metal knockouts in the box. Start by flipping off the breaker to the existing outlet, then check with a tester that the electricity is off. To power the lights, we installed a remodeling wiring box above an upper cabinet and borrowed from the dedicated circuit powering the microwave. Step 2 Feed Up the Fish Tape Photo by Kolin Smith SUNDAY Run wiring for the lights (Steps 9–14). SATURDAY Add the new outlet and power supply (Steps 1–8). Step 1 Overview Illustration by Gregory Nemec Thanks to Zach Covington and Beau Birch, Armacost Lighting Baltimore, Maryland. All by Armacost Lighting, The Home Depot. LED lighting power supply (not shown), $40. Warm-white LED tape lighting, about $5 per linear foot.
#Led warm light strip under cabinet how to#
Follow along as This Old House senior technical editor Mark Powers shows you how to let in the warm light. The wiring is thin enough to hide behind the cabinet face frames, so you’ll never see it, and a wireless dimmer switch puts the control where you want it without putting holes in your walls. Because the system daisy-chains light strips together, it’s customizable to any kitchen configuration, including our L-shaped layout with wall cabinets of varying heights.
But with low-voltage wiring, brightening a kitchen is easy: Press some LED-lined tape in place, and soft-white light will beam down and show off your countertop and backsplash. There was a time when installing undercabinet lighting meant picking between chunky, flickering fluorescent tubes or burning-hot halogens.