kitchen confidential

LAST WORD IN LIGHTING
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL
Our expert serves up juicy details on his own kitchen,
plus tips for making this room the most inviting in the house.
Warm-colored LED linear
and recessed lighting
illuminates the countertop,
while dimmable screwin LED lamps (which are
hidden behind translucent
shades) offer both
decorative and ambient
light. Photo by Dennis
Anderson.
Q: I’m renovating my kitchen and am ready to install undercabinet
dimmable LED lights. I’ve read everything I could find on the Internet that
you have written or videoed to guide me to the company that makes
undercabinet LED dimmable lights with 2700K and a 90 CRI, which is
what I think you recommend. I cannot find a source. Could you please
give me some guidance?
A: I am happy to help. I just redid the undercabinet lighting in my
own kitchen. The company that I used and I recommend is Aion LED
(www.aionled.com).
Just make sure that they dim
smoothly, have that CRI of 90 or higher, and have a color temperature that
is comfortable for you. I’m partial to warmer colors that are close in feel to
incandescent light. That’s why I recommend the 2700K or warmer.
Both of these companies offer a triangular extrusion that pushes the light
out at a 45-degree angle, instead of straight down, which is the way most
task lights are oriented. I hate it when I sit down at the dining room table
or the kitchen table and catch the glare of the undercabinet lights. These
fixtures are available with specialized extrusions that are designed to be
mounted toward the front of the cabinets, facing the backsplash.
Aion LED offers three intensities of LED linear lighting. I would go with the
brightest one, which is the 8000 Series, and order a dimming driver. I used
the 2650K, 97 CRI version in my kitchen because it’s open to the other rooms
and I wanted to have the same warm color quality. If you’re using cooler
colors like greens, blues and whites, you can bump it up to the 3000K.
If you have a countertop like polished granite, you’re going to see the
reflection no matter what the light source is. My recommendation would be
to specify one that has a honed, matte, leather or flamed finish. The look is
sophisticated and diffuses the reflection of the lighting.
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FEBRUARY 2015 | www.ResidentialLighting.com
Q: I feel that when it comes to boosting
mood, bright light is really helpful for
me in the morning, so I want to make
my kitchen the brightest room in the
house. What do you think?
A: I like bright, but not scary bright.
A bright light source that is too intense
makes you uncomfortable, so just taking
your existing fixtures and putting in
higher wattage bulbs is not the solution.
My recommendation is to add a layer of
ambient light. This fills the room with an
even illumination that invites people into
the space. They may even offer to take
out the trash.
An easy technique for adding
ambient light in the kitchen is to install
indirect lighting on top of your upper
cabinets.
I feel that the kitchen is the heart of
the home. Many kitchens these days are
open to other areas of the home so you
want the lighting to be as inviting as the
rest of the house. You also want the light
levels to be dimmable so that you have
control over the levels of illumination.
ASK
RANDALL
His diodes are especially delicious.
Submit questions online at:
www.ResidentialLighting.com
Randall Whitehead, IALD,
is a professional lighting
designer, author and
recognized expert. Visit
www.randallwhitehead.
com for more information
on his books, upcoming
seminars and the latest
lighting trends.