Plug in under cabinet lighting

[Mrs Pingu]

By which I mean task lighting for illuminating kitchen worktops, only 1 or 2 at most. This will be a stop gap measure to retain some sanity in a crap kitchen for the meantime.

So I'm looking for something I can fix the light under the cabinet but it's powered from a bog standard kitchen socket, no electrical skills required. Functional. I've just been and looked at Ikea and I'm sure probably they have something suitable but it's not obvious how long the cables are etc (surprised they don't provide that info).

(Other option is to get rechargeable ones but that sounds like a PITA).

[Danu]

LED light strips, I fitted these under our kitchen cabinets

[Canardly]

Lidl atm £5.99 all inc. 800 lumens. Seem perfectly ok can daisy chain and link cable provided.

[Mrs Pingu]

LED light strips, I fitted these under our kitchen cabinets

I was looking for something specific, half the websites I can't easily tell how the stuff is powered...

To clarify, if I could run 2 lights off one socket somehow (the lights would be either side of the cooker so cables would have to run over the cabinets) that would be the ideal. Obviously I can get 2 seperate ones and use 2 sockets.

[CAMRAMan]

I've got some IKEA lights and driver sitting in a bag doing nothing. The cables are long. PM if you'd like them. F.O.C.

[grams]

Poundland or eBay will sell you some USB LED strips for a couple of quid. Then rummage in your household’s drawer of usb chargers.

[Diver300]

IKEA offer these:-
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/vaxmyra-led-spotlight-white-10421868/
They need these to power them up:-
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/ansluta-led-driver-with-cord-white-70405865/
That power supply is transformer plug, a switch and low voltage 6 way distribution, and 3.5 m of cable so it should reach most places.

There are more complicated ones with wireless remote control.

[Mrs Pingu]

Thank you Diver300, I had looked at those but failed to find any information on the cord length.

[aidan.f]

It is possible to fit a 3 pin plug to anabaric string. In dayz gone by we were all taught how to at skool so not specifically Kim level skillz, tho' the reason for moulded plugs becoming a 'thing' is that results were 'variable'. Buying a rewirable plug and 3 Amp fuse may not be so easy these days. Can sent you one or two for the postage cost.

[robgul]

Any of these are just brilliant  https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/under-cabinet-strip-lights/cat840982?cm_sp=managedredirect-_-lighting-_-undercabinetstriplight   - just connect them any existing wiring or via a plug in a wall socket, stringing them together.

We replaced old fluo light with these - and the light output is stunning for almost no juice consumption

[Kim]

It is possible to fit a 3 pin plug to anabaric string. In dayz gone by we were all taught how to at skool so not specifically Kim level skillz, tho' the reason for moulded plugs becoming a 'thing' is that results were 'variable'. Buying a rewirable plug and 3 Amp fuse may not be so easy these days. Can sent you one or two for the postage cost.

People actually *pay* for plugs?  I have a box of such things rescued from condemned appliances (and plenty of kettle leads that could have the IEC end removed^[1] if you need bare wires).  A couple of weeks ago I actually used one for something.

(Do they still teach you how to wire a plug at school?  Shortly after my day they'd gone full health & safety, with special plugs with vandalised earth pins that wouldn't fit in sockets, the trailing end of the cable neatly terminated with heat-shrink, and the classroom's circuit breakers all firmly in the 'off' position for the duration of the lesson.  This was probably a result of $physics_teacher previously demonstrating the principle of RCDs by giving himself an electric shock from the only socket in the room not protected by an RCD...)


_{[1] About half the time what happens is you strip the wire, bin it in disgust at the feeble amount of copper found within, and grab another from the power cables box kettle lead breeding programme.}

[Diver300]

People actually *pay* for plugs?

I've certainly got a good collection. Any with uninsulated pins get the brass bits in the scrap brass box. The breeding box for C7 (figure of 8 ) mains leads has got up to about 20 so far, and many of those have rewireable plugs.

Do they still teach you how to wire a plug at school?

No, due to fitted plugs and YouTube.

[Mr Larrington]

It wasn’t that long ago that I bought an extension lead from Mr Sainsbury’s House of Toothy Comestibles with a removable plug, to provide voles for the cupboard-o-network.  Rumours of the DETH of this type of useful thing seem to have been exaggerated.  Though I did have a moulded plug on a Russell Hobbs travel kettle, which was promptly sliced off and replaced with a USAnian one.

[Kim]

Rewireable plugs seem to be alive and well on extension leads and similar - especially the more rugged ones (which where notably absent from my box of mains power things when I went a-rummaging for something suitable for the BHPC LAZER DISPLAY BOARD), and the really cheap 4-ways that make you wonder if someone imported a consignment from one of those Middle-Eastern countries that use a home-grown cargo-cult version of BRITISH mains sockets, without any of the usual safety features.

Of course so many things side-step the plug issue by using an IEC mains lead or a wall-wart.

[Mr Larrington]

Were I clearer of thought I could consign my travel adapter to the compost heap of history and just bung a USAnian plug on a BRITISH 4-gang instead of dragging along the unwieldy lash-up of string and knicker elastic that has in the past accompanied me to sunny Nevada.  It has only taken me twelve years to work this out

[Diver300]

Were I clearer of thought I could consign my travel adapter to the compost heap of history and just bung a USAnian plug on a BRITISH 4-gang instead of dragging along the unwieldy lash-up of string and knicker elastic that has in the past accompanied me to sunny Nevada.  It has only taken me twelve years to work this out

Another possibility is to cut the 13 A plug off a 4 gang adaptor, and replace with one of these:- https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/pel00577/iec-c14-rewireable-plug-black/dp/CN20580
You then find an IEC lead that matches the destination country. I have lots of European ones that came with monitors etc, and I've obtained USAnian and antipodean versions as well.