Kitchen lighting system - take 2

RE: Kitchen lighting system - take 2

genebren — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 22:48:10 GMT

I finished the installation of the PIR board and the upgraded controller board. Everything looks like it is working well. I still need to verify delayed power down, but as I have already tested in on the bench I am assuming that it will work fine.

The LEDs throw enough light to offset the shadows from the cabinets. Each puck contains 3 LED with about 2500 mcd each (slightly defused lens).

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Here is finished product. The overhead lights (also warm LEDs) are off in this picture. Note: this late afternoon on a cloudy day.

Gene

RE: Kitchen lighting system - take 2

jw0752 — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 04:17:29 GMT

Hi Gene,

That looks like a challenging project with one arm tied up. Working under cabinets is problematic even with two arms. I look forward to your well lit update.

John

RE: Kitchen lighting system - take 2

mcb1 — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 01:37:54 GMT

Nice solution in the end.

On a trip to Australia we made the mistake (only because it was 4hrs later we got out) of visiting an IKEA shop ... and their under cabinet lighting range was rather good.

Unlike our Asian friends they included decent looking profiles to either guide the light, or at least obscure the light source.

NORRFLY LED light strip - 36 " - IKEA

This is one example but they did have others ...

We were looking at them to place under a cabinet and above a work desk. They needed to be shielded as the user was affected by direct light source even in her periferal vision.

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I suspect your leds are suffering from either overdriving, or what I've seen on many other LED products, a lack of proper current regulation to each LED.

The expoxy is probably not helping with heat dissapation.

You could always try NeoPixel strips, that way you can regulate the light and the colour if you want.

Mark

RE: Kitchen lighting system - take 2

shabaz — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:49:25 GMT

Hi Gene,

That's very cool : ) A PIR version is a great idea. Very neat that it all fits where the batteries were.

Actually, like you, I went for a modified solution in the kitchen too, because at the time the commercial offerings were quite expensive. So, I took some basic 12V white LED strips, and cast them inside clear epoxy, and mounted under the cabinets. I wired a small waterproof push-button into a tile.

My design wasn't very great, over the years some LEDs failed (maybe due to the epoxy) and faded too, so now they give weak illumination : (

RE: Kitchen lighting system - take 2

rctho — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:12:35 GMT

Nice work Gene. that's a pretty tight setup you made. I hope it works out for a long time. Not too much power consumption they should last forever! much better than having to swap out batteries.