Ottawa Electrical Services: What Is Under-Cabinet Lighting?

Lighting plays a huge role in the kitchen. It ensures you can safely prepare food and creates a specific atmosphere. It can even affect the appearance of your decor. As a result, you must think carefully about what type of lighting you want before contacting an electrician in Ottawa.

One often-overlooked option is under-cabinet lighting. It doesn’t replace overhead or ambient fixtures but complements them for an enhanced kitchen experience. If you’re considering under-cabinet lighting, here’s everything you should know.

What Is Under-Cabinet Lighting?

The name implies that this type of lighting goes underneath hanging cabinets, and that’s true to an extent. However, you can also place fixtures along the underside of shelves or even countertops. The idea is to illuminate spaces that don’t get the full effect of overhead lighting.

What Are the Different Types?

Under-cabinet lighting comes in a wide range of styles, sizes and power sources. With so many choices, it’s essential to evaluate your needs first. For example, which room will they be in? While under the cabinet lights are popular for the kitchen, they also have a lot to offer in workshops, garages and laundry rooms.

Next, what tasks will you use this light for? You may need an intense beam working on car parts while chopping vegetables only requires medium power.

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can look at fixture styles:

• Tape
• Puck
• Bar

The tape is long and thin, making it easy to hide. However, it doesn’t produce the strongest light. Pucks are disk-shaped; you can choose how many you want and how they’re spaced. Finally, bars are long, thin and provide intense beams.

Most of these styles come in several lighting types:

• Halogen
• Fluorescent
• Incandescent
• LED

You can also choose whether the light is cool, warm or neutral. Additionally, you can decide whether you want a light switch, dimmer switch or motion activation. Motion activation is an excellent choice if you want to save electricity, while dimmer switches are fantastic at creating different atmospheres.

Why Install Under-Cabinet Lighting?

Adding under-cabinet lights can increase convenience, as you can work in your preferred space without dealing with clunky lamps that take up counter space. Under-cabinet lighting can even increase your home’s value if it’s well done. Since it functions as both task and ambient lighting, it opens up a plethora of decor possibilities.

Why Hire a Professional Electrician in Ottawa?

If you want direct-wired under-cabinet lighting, you need to call a professional. While installation may seem simple, it’s never a good idea to take the do-it-yourself approach with electrical wiring. Faulty wiring is a fire hazard, and if you’re not a trained electrician, you probably don’t know the required safety codes that prevent this disaster.

Wiring that isn’t up to code also poses a problem if you want to sell your house. If the inspector discovers issues, you’ll have to fix them before the home can change hands. That means paying a professional anyway.

Going with an electrician in the first place not only saves you money but also time. The experts are so practiced that installing fixtures is a breeze for them, and they can guarantee a job done right the first time. Under-cabinet lights can be installed anywhere on the underside of cabinets, shelves or counters, so a professional can advise the best placement for your needs.

Handyman Connection is a top choice for homeowners seeking renovation and electrical repair services in Ottawa. We’re dedicated to delivering top-quality results, no matter the scope of your home improvement project. Call us or reach out online to get your no-obligation, an estimate.