A well-lit work surface is one of the components of a comfortable working environment in the kitchen. During cooking, the hostess usually sits with her back to the central lamp, blocking the cutting table, sink or stove with herself. Properly installed LED lighting for kitchen cabinets will help correct this defect. What lamps to use, where to place the devices and how to mount them correctly - in this material.

The use of LEDs in the kitchen is not so much a tribute to fashion as it is the right economic decision. Easy to install, durable lighting fixtures with duralight consume a minimum amount of electricity.

Let's take a closer look at the advantages of such a backlight:

LED lighting for the kitchen under the cabinets: types of lamps

In order for the lighting to be comfortable, you should select lamps of the same type: halogen, fluorescent or LED. In an exceptional case, you can use two types, but they should be located in different zones.

In addition, it is necessary to select lamps with the same color temperature. It comes in three types: warm, natural and cold. For the kitchen, it is optimal to use the natural and warm spectrum.

Most users recommend installing LED appliances in the kitchen. Incandescent lamps are short-lived and consume a lot of electricity. The halogen illumination of the kitchen unit has an unpleasant property - the ripple. Such light exposure negatively affects the eyes. And, although such devices are inexpensive and last long, they should not be installed in residential premises.

Thus, the best choice is duralight. The leader among LED luminaires is tape. This type of surface-mounted LED kitchen cabinet lights is fixed with an adhesive layer. The light strip can be positioned anywhere: along the edge of the apron, under shelves, above cabinets, around the sink, along the plinth of the ceiling or floor.

For a humid and hot room, you will need to buy kitchen lighting for cabinets marked IP 44 or more. It is covered with a layer that protects the diodes from adverse effects. It is possible to hide the tape in special trays with a transparent wall, so the crystals will retain their original brightness for a long time. But part of the luminous flux will still be lost due to the obstacle.

Some features of surface-mounted LED kitchen lamps under cabinets

LED strips differ in a number of ways:

1. By the number of crystals - from one to four.
2. Chroma - monochrome or colored glow.
3. Degrees of protection against moisture from 20 to 68 units. The strip with an IP 68 rating can be used to illuminate a pond or pool.

A suitable power supply unit must be selected for the diode strip. Its power is calculated using the formula 12 W x strip length x coefficient 1.25. As a result, we get the required power of the transformer.

The location of surface-mounted and recessed furniture LED lamps and the basic principles of lighting

The location of the lighting fixtures in the kitchen must match its function. Rarely does any room do without a central chandelier. The kitchen area is no exception. If it is not square, but elongated, a chandelier with a long shoulder is selected. A flat lighting device is fixed to low ceilings. If the ceiling is hinged, you can use spotting devices around the perimeter or place them in any other convenient way.

For your information! Built-in lamps make the room look higher. The same effect can be achieved by placing the LED strip around the perimeter above the skirting board or lighting for the kitchen above the cabinets.

The dining area can be illuminated with wall lights or ceiling fixtures suspended directly above the table. The wall option is used if the tabletop is located against the wall. So that the chandelier above the table does not interfere, it is suspended at a distance of at least sixty centimeters above the table top. For overall harmony, sconces and chandeliers are selected in the same style.

LED lighting in the kitchen is used in the following cases:

• for illumination inside drawers and kitchen cabinets;
• decorative design of glass shelves and stained-glass windows;
• creating the effect of "floating" kitchen furniture;
• illumination of multilevel ceilings.

The placement of LED kitchen lamps above the work surface should follow certain rules. First of all, the optimal arrangement of the lighting is under the bottom of the wall cabinets.

Such a lighting scenario will allow, among other things, to zone the room, dividing it into a dining area and a work area.

Place the LEDs closer to the apron or the outside of the shelves. Experts recommend choosing the latter option. In this case, you will get a minimum of shadows.

Advice! So that bright LEDs do not interfere with people sitting at the dining table, you can install plinths on the edge of the shelves or use built-in appliances recessed into the surface of the cabinet with a double bottom.

Instead of tape, you can use spotlights or tubular lights. They are more difficult to install, but this option looks very attractive.

Secrets of installing diode lighting

To organize the illumination of the working area, you will need:

• one or more LED strips;
• electric cord;
• power supply unit for connecting to a 220 V network, a transformer ;;
• soldering iron;
• double-sided adhesive tape;
• insulating tape.

Algorithm of actions:

1. First, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the surface from dirt and grease, treat it with a solvent.

1. If necessary, the tape is cut into pieces of the required length. On each side, wires are exposed by one and a half centimeters, a cable is soldered to them. All joints are protected with several layers of electrical tape.

1. Double-sided tape is glued to the selected surface of the shelves and tape is attached. In most cases, there is already a sticky layer on the tape, but it is not strong enough. Before fixing the tape, the cable is attached to the transformer. It is necessary to check the lower voltage of the device before installation. Accordingly, it should be remembered that when installing wires, minus is attached to minus, plus to plus.

1. A small hole is made in the back of the cabinet, into which all unnecessary cables are tucked. To keep them out of the way, they are hidden in a plastic box.
2. The final step is to install the switch and connect the device to an outlet above the work surface. LED kitchen lights are sold complete with a remote control that not only turns the backlight on and off, but also changes its color.

• LED lighting for the kitchen under the cabinets should be purchased in specialized stores. You shouldn't take the cheapest copy. The best choice would be the middle price category.
• Special attention should be paid to insulating wires. At their location, on the sink and near the stove, there is always high humidity.
• On the diode tapes there are signs "plus" and "minus", they will help to correctly connect the cable during installation.

• When buying a duralight, you should discuss with the seller the power supply capacity and purchase a unit suitable for the selected tape.
• If the house does not have a blowtorch, it is permissible to use connectors to hold the wires together.
• If you plan to adjust the backlight intensity, you will need to additionally purchase amplifiers and a dimmer.
• The combination of different colors will allow you to create lighting scenarios for your mood.

Summing up

LED lighting for the kitchen under the cabinets is a beautiful and practical lighting option. This arrangement of the lamps allows you to fully illuminate the working area without interfering with bright light.

These devices consume a minimum amount of electricity and, at the same time, are capable of operating for at least fifteen years, even in high humidity conditions. Installing a diode tape under the shelves of kitchen cabinets is not difficult, even a novice master can cope with this task.

We offer you a video instruction for installing LED strip in the kitchen: