Under-cabinet lights have arrived

One thing we're looking forward to with this new kitchen, is having nice, usable light on the counter top while we're working.  We previously had one of those little 8" long fluorescent tubes, with the cord that comes down the back splash and plugs into the wall.  It obviously only lit up a small portion of the counter top, and was not dimmable. 

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to use LED's, but I just needed to pick the right ones.  Everything in the home improvement stores is nice, but very expensive.  Very.  At Lowe's, an 18" strip is $60, and a 27" strip is $80.  Considering we have around 21 linear feet that we need, quick calculation shows that it would be, oh, around $750 using what Lowe's sells, and aren't dimmable.  Even at our beloved IKEA, the LED's would be around $130, and still wouldn't be dimmable.

Doing some research, I found that if you don't mind doing a little low-voltage wiring, a popular way to light under your cabinets is using adhesive LED strips.  A little more research, some calculating, and a visit to ebay, and I found what I needed:  Three 9 foot long warm white LED strips (3 transformers included), and three 12v LED dimmers.  Total price, $76.35. 

The great part of these LED's is that they can be cut to size.  Every 3 LED's (approximately every 2") are solder pads, and a line showing you where to cut.  For example, over the oven there will be the microwave, so I don't need light there, but I do need light over the cabinet to the left.  I'll just cut the LED strips to size, solder low-voltage wire to the solder pads, and I'm done.  Also, where the cabinets go from running along the north wall, to the east and west walls, I'll cut the strips again, and solder wires between them so the LED's can "rotate" 90 degrees. 

The reason I got three of each item is that the south wall, the east/north, and west/north counter tops will each have their own outlets, installed in the back of the upper cabinets.  One switch next to the sink will turn on and off the east/north and west/north outlets, and another switch along the south cabinets will turn that strip on and off.  Each area will get its' own dimmer, mounted under the cabinet, to control each section of counter top.  I specifically over-estimated the amount of LED's needed, in hopes of having enough extra to light the inside of the south cabinets, since they will have glass fronts.  We'll see once the cabinets go in!  In the mean time, here's a few pictures and a sample video of the dimmer in action.

One strip, close up.

Wide shot at full brightness.  I think they'll be bright enough.

As far as the rest of the kitchen...  Now that I've read a book about drywall (sounds boring; wasn't), and know how much to get, I'll be picking up drywall this week and starting on a couple sections that I don't need framing/drywall inspections for.