Recommendations for under cabinet lighting?

[Alex Borshov]

I'm building a built-in book case and want to put some lights in the top of it to shine down on the shelves. I was looking at the xenon puck lights that Home Depot and Lowes sell but they have bad reviews; they seem to have really poor construction and stop working after a while. Do you have any suggestions on what's worked for you? I'd prefer puck lights but I'm open to other styles. Something like this:

[Matt Meiser]

I'd go with LEDs. Those pucks at Lowes, even in LED, look really junky. 1/2 the ones in our store were broken.

I'd stop by a real lighting store. Last spring when we started planning a kitchen remodel we found some really nice Kichler LED undercabinet lights. They weren't going to be cheap, but they were much, much better built than anything at the big boxes.

That said for my daughter's desk I did by an LED fixture at Lowes. Its a plastic housing but seems reasonably well made and gives off a nice light.

[Curt Harms]

I agree with Matt. We got 6 xenon puck lights on clearance at Lowes. They work okay, seem to go through bulbs quicker than I'd like. The problem is the design of piece that holds the lens assembly to the puck. It's two little ears that fit over flats on the puck then twist. On 2 lights, one of these ears has broken off. The lens assemblies fit tight enough that they stay in place---sorta. The xenon lights also get pretty warm if they're on for more than a few minutes. I would hope better quality fixtures wouldn't have these issues. I think LEDs are the way to go, they can be compact and operate cool but right now LEDs are spendy.

[Jamie Buxton]

Halogens and xenons give great color of light, but people tend to use them at 20 watt size. That makes a lot of heat in a small package -- enought to melt or distort plastic housings. If you can find a metal-housing halogen you like, 20 watt bulbs are okay. Otherwise stick to 10 watt bulbs. I like the Seagull Ambiance linear system. http://www.seagulllighting.com/Linear-Lighting.htm You can buy 10 watt bulbs from anybody that sells the system.

[Thomas Bank]

I used a pair of these to light up a shelving unit: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30119314

Nice light quality and I haven't had any problems with them in several years of use. IKEA has a number of other such options for integrated lighting: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/ca...ing_room/16280