Looking for a cabinet door light switch

[Scott Leclerc]

I'm building some floor to ceiling cabinets that will have glass doors with sheer curtains behind the glass. The cabinets will be lit on the inside with low voltage lighting and I would like to be able to switch the lights on and off using a switch that is incorporated into the door. The really tough requirement is that I occasionally would also like to be able to manually turn the lights on even when the doors are closed so that the cabinets will be back-lit from behind.

So I haven't been able to find any door switches that have a manual on/off capability. Does anyone know where I can find one?

As an alternative I was considering a magnetic door switch, thinking that I might be able to place something between the two magnetic contacts to break the connection when the doors are all closed. Does anyone have any experience with this option or have any other advice?

Thanks,

Scott

[Jamie Buxton]

You don't need to find a switch which has both door control and manual control. Use a door switch plus some other switch. The door switch makes and breaks a circuit. Wire the other switch in parallel with the door switch, so it makes and breaks the same circuit. The door switch could be installed where it is least visible, which might be out of reach near the ceiling. The over-ride switch could be placed some convenient location, probably on the outside of the cabinet at hand height.

[Scott Leclerc]

Thanks, I was just thinking about that same solution. Very simple, and probably more inexpensive than if the switch had that capability built right in.

[Todd Burch]

I build touch switches into my built-ins. You buy the low voltage light kit with a touch-pad, throw the touch pad a away, and run the wire to a hinge on a door. Touching the hinge toggles the light (on-off, or low-med-hi-off).

Todd