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Thread: Indoor rock lights

  1. #11

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    I'm not knocking at all, because these look outstanding, and I can appreciate the fun of a good home improvement project. ....But you know they do make LED under cabinet lights, right?

    I have used the standard halogen low voltage puck type lights under the cabinets in our house before, and was very satisfied with them. I'm sure thought that you have more fun and experience with the LED's and going this route. Just out of curiosity, what was your cost on the project?
    -Chris
    2004 DoubleCab Tacoma PreRunner: 3.4 V6-Auto, DD/Tow Rig
    1997 Lexus LX450: 4.5 I6-Auto, DD
    1984 4Runner: 22R-5 speed, 14 inch bob, 5.29's, lincoln locked rear, lockright front, Armored and Caged by Mossyrocks Fabrication, total disregard for body damage.
    1997 4Runner: GONE
    1996 FZJ80 Land Cruiser: GONE

  2. #12

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    Quote Originally Posted by 04 Rocko Taco
    I'm not knocking at all, because these look outstanding, and I can appreciate the fun of a good home improvement project. ....But you know they do make LED under cabinet lights, right?

    I have used the standard halogen low voltage puck type lights under the cabinets in our house before, and was very satisfied with them. I'm sure thought that you have more fun and experience with the LED's and going this route. Just out of curiosity, what was your cost on the project?
    Cost for the project was about $50 all said and done. Fifty bucks at home depot or lowes would have gotten me 3 little blue lights, an ugly plug and a bunch of wires. LEDs are becoming widely available and most home improvement stores have scores of different types (under cabinet, security lights, lamps, ceiling lights, etc). For the most part the under cabinet lights are generic and look temporary to me. My fixture is close to 12 feet long and totally custom. I could have bought and taken apart a ready made one but I'd still be out money to build it into my cabinets. In my case I chose my color/tint of led, driver/brightness and mounting option. We figured these will cost me about 7 dollars a year to operate for being on 7 hours a day. I'll try to dig up the pictures I took at Lowes of their offerings.

  3. #13

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    This is some of the offerings from Lowes.





    These LED lights are 50, 60 and 70 dollars and are pretty short, much less than the 12 feet I need.

  4. #14

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    I see your point, I have used the puck style lights in the first picture on the shelf under step 1 step 2 and step 3.
    -Chris
    2004 DoubleCab Tacoma PreRunner: 3.4 V6-Auto, DD/Tow Rig
    1997 Lexus LX450: 4.5 I6-Auto, DD
    1984 4Runner: 22R-5 speed, 14 inch bob, 5.29's, lincoln locked rear, lockright front, Armored and Caged by Mossyrocks Fabrication, total disregard for body damage.
    1997 4Runner: GONE
    1996 FZJ80 Land Cruiser: GONE

  5. #15

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    Quote Originally Posted by 4x4mike
    For the most part the under cabinet lights are generic and look temporary to me. My fixture is close to 12 feet long and totally custom.
    Gotta agree there, the installation looks very good, very professional.
    -------------------------
    Steve
    1993 4runner, SAS, 3.0L, Auto Tranny
    2007 4runner, stock. For now.

  6. #16

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    I even surprised myself with the install as I tend to rush things.

    I just got inside from snapping some pics of my outdoor eave lights. I've been dragging my feet about plugging them in because if I messed up somewhere the leds would be toast and I'd basically have to start over (read: time and money). The power source is temporary right now but I wanted to make sure they all worked before I finalized things and cleaned it all up.

    Again Ken helped on the power source and idea of doing all this. He's doing it as well but he's got bigger indoor projects than I.

    Outside backyard shot.



    The very left led is just behind the gate that goes to the driveway/front of the house. There is a security light motion detector light over the garage so that side is covered. The 5th led (right side) is over the BBQ. I BBQ year round and it sucks at night. I wheel the BBQ away from the house and go at it, now I have light and a dark portion of the house is now lit. I also have 2 lights further around the corner where it's really bright but those need adjusting and just shine at a wall of the house.


    The front yard got 4 lights up to the front door. Like I said the install isn't complete so these are held up with yellow masking tape, hence the very warm color. The 4th light, closet to the front door is not hooked up because that's the LED I robbed the power leads from. Once I figure that out I'll seal the 4 lights and remove the tape. The porch light before was a 13w CFL that was too bright and not all that good looking. I hope that once I add some led yard lighting it will all blend and look much better.


  7. #17

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    Regarding purchasing LED cabinet lights, Mike is right. We were both shopping for them and the old rule of "you get what you pay for" comes into play with LEDs more than any other product I have encountered. You can spend $50 per 18" strip for a really ugly blue light with a mass of wires or you can pay $186 for an 18.5" long strip of Kichler under cabinet lights. A properly built Cree setup like Mike's is at least equal to a Kichler fixture, only the price comes in at less than the junky stuff. That's why we did a combined order for a ton of LEDs for under and over cabinet lighting and our eave projects.

    The challenge with the indoor projects is making them look nice and not burning the house down. You basically cannot meet electrical code with a home-built fixture. The LED driver is UL listed, but everything after that it is only Ken-listed. Luckily the voltage and amperage we are dealing with is low, but you still have to adequately heatsink the fixture and match your wire size to the amount of current and length of wire you are dealing with.

    My outdoor eave project will require some additional home wiring. I could tap a plug in my attic, but that plug is for the HVAC unit and by code it has to be on its own circuit. I have an outdoor plug for my spa, but same story there, it needs a dedicated circuit shared with nothing else. So I decided the best course of action was to add a new outlet in my attic using an existing garage circuit. There is a plug in my ceiling for the garage door opener, so I can add a junction box and add a duplex outlet, which will also allow me to plug in an additional overhead fluorescent light in my attic. Even though my home-built fixtures will never meet code, I want it as close as possible. So now you all know what my life consists of right now.

  8. #18

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    that is so f'g sweet

  9. #19

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    I was hanging out in my front yard last night and snapped a few recent pics. Here is the covered walkway without the yellow masking tape over the leds.





    It's not really that bright. I didn't have time to mess with camera settings so it's on auto with no flash.

    I've recently added some 12v led up lights and path lights and want to see how they were doing. Now that it is getting darker earlier it's easier for me to go out and make adjustments. Again they are not this bright. The 3 up lights close together are only 2.5 watt units but the photo makes them seem like 20-30 watts. The single up light on the left is 7 watts.



    I think it looks better in person but more than anything I wanted to update the thread.


  10. #20

    Re: Indoor rock lights

    You have an open invitation to come hang out in my attic to help me wire mine. I love vaulted ceilings until it's time to work up there...

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