Cabinet lights

R

Rutger Puts

Novice
We often need a flashlight to find things in the cabinets, so I installed LED lights. Its been a great improvement!
They turn on individually. There is a little door switch in each cabinet door corner. Short adhesive strip of 6 LEDs above each door. I powered them from the 12V socket under the cabinets. That way I can always unplug them and it avoided drilling through the wall. I used T-connectors, similar to what Campinn uses. And adhesive wire clips from Amazon (black ones in the picture). They have held for 12 months so far.
Rutger
 

Attachments

Thank you! I feel honored to have a mod suggested to Campinn. It would be fun if there is a yearly competition for the best modification w as prize inclusion in the Campinn offering and major bragging rights for the originator (and maybe a free bottle of Walbernize or something …).

Re the LED, I think they’ll last a long time. They are not on much and they are low wattage. A few minutes at most. I’ve read that prolonged on-time has a much bigger impact on LED lifetime than frequent on/off.

Rutger
 
Rutger Puts said:
Thank you! I feel honored to have a mod suggested to Campinn. It would be fun if there is a yearly competition for the best modification w as prize inclusion in the Campinn offering and major bragging rights for the originator (and maybe a free bottle of Walbernize or something …).

Re the LED, I think they’ll last a long time. They are not on much and they are low wattage. A few minutes at most. I’ve read that prolonged on-time has a much bigger impact on LED lifetime than frequent on/off.

Rutger
Click to expand...
Rutger, you are right LED last a long time. But I have a pet peeve with them - my kitchen has two lights that are 'out' or work intermittently. They no longer make that fixture, so I need to change 8 of them at a price of $100 each. An incandescent lamp would have cost me a few dollars. A tail light made of LED's for a car costs $1500 to replace because they don' sell the 'bulb' you have to replace the entire fixture -- and likely, will have to take it to the shop to be "programmed"

My guess is that this hasn't been done for the same reason you can't put an incandescent light fixture in a closet anymore. Fire Risk.
 
Sweeney said:
Rutger, you are right LED last a long time. But I have a pet peeve with them - my kitchen has two lights that are 'out' or work intermittently. They no longer make that fixture, so I need to change 8 of them at a price of $100 each. An incandescent lamp would have cost me a few dollars. A tail light made of LED's for a car costs $1500 to replace because they don' sell the 'bulb' you have to replace the entire fixture -- and likely, will have to take it to the shop to be "programmed"

My guess is that this hasn't been done for the same reason you can't put an incandescent light fixture in a closet anymore. Fire Risk.
Click to expand...
I hear you. I just had to purchase a replacement taillight led module for my car. Crazy price. For the cabinet I used adhesive backed led strips. No socket that needs to be matched. Cheap, readily available. I used crip connectors so the strips are easy to replace.
 
Sweeney said:
Rutger, you are right LED last a long time. But I have a pet peeve with them - my kitchen has two lights that are 'out' or work intermittently. They no longer make that fixture, so I need to change 8 of them at a price of $100 each. An incandescent lamp would have cost me a few dollars. A tail light made of LED's for a car costs $1500 to replace because they don' sell the 'bulb' you have to replace the entire fixture -- and likely, will have to take it to the shop to be "programmed"

My guess is that this hasn't been done for the same reason you can't put an incandescent light fixture in a closet anymore. Fire Risk.
Click to expand...
Yes, but the problem here is not LEDs, it is a shift towards manufacturing entire fixtures as modular items versus items with replaceable components. And the 1500 taillight fixture compared to LEDs in a 560 cabinet is like comparing the maintenance for a ferrari to a bicycle. You could buy a 3 foot strip of USB powered LEDs on Amazon that plug directly into the USB outlet and glue onto the interior cabinet of the 560/550 for …. seven dollars.
 
dirty6 said:
Yes, but the problem here is not LEDs, it is a shift towards manufacturing entire fixtures as modular items versus items with replaceable components. And the 1500 taillight fixture compared to LEDs in a 560 cabinet is like comparing the maintenance for a ferrari to a bicycle. You could buy a 3 foot strip of USB powered LEDs on Amazon that plug directly into the USB outlet and glue onto the interior cabinet of the 560/550 for …. seven dollars.
Click to expand...

Its engineering that is the problem -- or lack there of. If you line the LEDs up in series, and one blows the entire fixture dies. These need to be paralleled which would prevent that. But that is expensive.

My perspective is different -- I'm looking at it for ease of repair. I really don't like the idea of having to tear things apart more than I have to, and I like to avoid working in small spaces. Its maddening to me. But, you are right -- its probably not a big deal - it just grind my gears when I have to actually DO the repair.
 
Yes, I agree it’s a repair challenge and there’s a philosophical shift driven by shortsighted economics that favors replace over repair.

I’m just saying that 7 dollars of LEDs that I literally slap on the side of a cabinet isn’t the same repair challenge as other situations. In fact, the very last thing I want is the ability to individually replace one of the LEDs in a 3 foot strip of lights!

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top