How to Install an Under-Cabinet Fluorescent Light

When you are preparing dinner and working at your countertop chopping vegetables--do you ever find yourself wishing you had better lighting in your kitchen? When you are hovering over your cutting area with the cabinets directly above your prep area and the only light you have is from a ceiling light--you better be careful how fast you julienne--or that might not have been a carrot that just flew into the sink! Thanks to innovations in hideaway lighting, you can now easily install under-cabinet fluorescent lights that will provide more than ample lighting with which to prepare your food by. Here is how to install under-cabinet fluorescent lighting.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Voltage tester
• Screwdrivers
• Wire nuts (connectors)
• Electrical tape
• Wire strippers
• Electrical wire strippers
• Screws
• Flexible conduit
• Drywall saw
• Non-metallic fish tape
• Switch box (old-work)
• Single-pole switch
• Fluorescent fixtures and tubes

1. Determine where you are going to be picking up the electrical feed. In most cases, you can pick up a feed from the floor below. Find the circuit you are going to be grabbing the feed from and turn the circuit breaker that controls it OFF. Leave a note on the electrical panel indicating that you are working on the electric as a safety precaution.

2. Determine where in the kitchen you want to install the switch for the under-cabinet lights. Trace the switch box at the location and cut the pattern out using the drywall saw. Be sure to check for any studs before making your cut.

3. Fish the feed wire from the downstairs junction box to the access hole you just cut for the switch. You may have to drill an access hole in the sole plate of the wall in order to deliver the wire upstairs. If that is necessary, you are going to have to measure the approximate location on which to drill your hole. If this is too difficult, you can always pick up a feed off of one of the receptacles above your counters if you have any.

4. Once the wire is fed to the hole for the switch box, your next move is to feed a switch leg from the switch box hole to the location you are going to install the under-cabinet lights. You are going to have to drill a hole through the back of the underside of your cabinets. Using the non-metallic fish tape, bring the wire from the switch box through the hole under the cabinet.

5. Now you can install your switch box and switch. Fish the wires into the box, tighten down the wire connectors inside and push the box into the access hole until flush. Then, tighten down on the two "wing" screws until the box is secured. Use the electrical wire strippers to remove the outer sheath and then the wire strippers to remove about 3/4 inches of insulation from each wire. Wire nut the two white wires together and stuff them inside the box. Connect one black wire to each of the side screws on the switch. make a pigtail with your ground wires by connecting a separate length of ground wire to the other two inside the box and connect the separate length to the ground screw on the switch. Wrap electrical tape around the terminals on the switch, secure it to the box and install the switch plate.

6. Run the switch leg wire into the fluorescent fixture through one of the knockout holes. Some fluorescent fixtures come with pre-installed bushings, but if yours does not, then you will have to use a electrical wire connector to secure the wire to the fixture body.

7. Secure the fixture to the underside of the cabinet using small wood screws. Be careful not to use long ones or they will poke up through the bottom of the inside of your cabinets! Use the electrical wire strippers to remove the outer sheath of the electrical wire and then use the wire strippers to remove about 3/4 inches of insulation from each wire.

8. If you are installing more than one fixture, you will have to drill an access hole through the bottom legs of the cabinet in order to get the wire into the next fixture area. Connect both fixtures using the flexible conduit.

9. Make your wire connections at the first fixture. Use wire nuts to secure all of the white wires together, all of the black wires together and all of the ground wires together. Wrap each wire nut with electrical tape where the edge of the connector meets the wire.

10. At the next fixture in the line, make the same wire connections. Next, install the ballast covers, the fluorescent tubes and the diffusers (plastic covers).

11. Restore power to the circuit and flip the switch. Now your countertop should be all aglow with glorious light and you will never have a hard time distinguishing your fingers from the carrots!