Mount the strip in the front half of the cabinet, 50–100mm back from the door line, inside an aluminium profile with an opal diffuser. Get that one decision right and most of what people ask about how to install LED strip lights under kitchen cabinets answers itself. Our under cabinet lights range covers the hardware; this page covers the decisions we get asked about every week.
ATOM LED COB strip is CRI90+, runs from 2700K to 6500K, and every run is custom cut to order: give us your cabinet measurements and a 600mm unit gets a bespoke 550mm strip, not a coil and scissors. Single-colour COB carries up to a 7-year warranty; RGB COB is 5 years.
CRI90+ COB · 24V · custom cut to order · IP20 or IP65 · up to 7-year warranty · free UK delivery
- Where should LED strip lights go under kitchen cabinets?
- What do you need to fit under-cabinet LED strip lights?
- What colour temperature and brightness suit a worktop?
- Do you need an aluminium profile and diffuser?
- What size LED driver do you need, and where does it go?
- How do you wire, switch and dim it in the UK?
- What are the most common mistakes?
Quick decision summary
- Dry run under wall units: IP20 24V COB in a surface profile with an opal diffuser.
- Over the sink: IP65 so it wipes clean; over a hob, keep the strip out of the heat zone.
- Gloss splashback or polished quartz: COB, not dotted SMD tape, at the front.
Fitting sequence
- Measure each run and plan where the cable enters the cabinet.
- Fix the profile to the underside, front half, with the supply off.
- Fit the strip, clip on the diffuser, cap the ends.
- Wire each run back to the driver in parallel, correct polarity.
- Connect the driver: plug-in, or a spur by an electrician.
For UK homeowners and fitters. Not for battery pucks, bathrooms or 230V mains strip.
Where should LED strip lights go under kitchen cabinets?
Fit the strip in the front half of the cabinet base, roughly 50–100mm back from the front edge and behind the door line. Front mounting lights the depth of worktop you actually chop on and keeps your own shadow off the board. A strip pushed back to the wall lights the splashback and leaves your hands in the dark.
UK wall units typically hang 450–500mm above a 600mm-deep worktop and you work on the front 450mm of it, so a back-mounted strip is behind your head.
- Stop each run about 25mm short of the cabinet gables so the end caps fit.
- Run the full lit length of every unit. A 400mm strip under a 600mm cabinet leaves two dark corners.
- Under an island or breakfast bar, recess the profile so nobody looks straight up into it.
What do you need to fit under-cabinet LED strip lights?
Six things: COB strip custom cut to each cabinet run, an aluminium profile with an opal diffuser, a constant-voltage driver with 20% headroom, low-voltage cable and connectors, and a switch or dimmer. A typical UK kitchen comes to roughly £110–£160 in parts.
Start with a tape measure, not a basket. Measure each wall unit and take off about 50mm for end caps: a 600mm single gives 550mm of light.
- 24V single-colour COB strip from £9.85 per metre.
- Silver aluminium surface profile with opal diffuser from £8.95 per metre.
- A 24V 60W IP67 driver at £39.85 covers most kitchens; the plug-in 60W version is £33.85.
- Solderless 2-pin connectors from £6.95 (IP20) to bridge the gap between cabinets.
IP20 for a dry run. BS 7671 has no kitchen zones, so the sink is a judgement: we fit IP65 there because it survives a wet cloth. An IP rating says nothing about heat, so keep the strip out of the hob's rising air.
What colour temperature and brightness suit a worktop?
3000K or 4000K, and 800–1,000 lumens per metre if the strip is the main light you prepare food under. 4000K reads neutral and clean; 3000K flatters timber and stone. CRI90+ keeps food its real colour under either.
- 3000K warm white: soft and flattering, right for timber, stone and open-plan rooms.
- 4000K natural white: neutral, neither warm nor cool, right for white or grey kitchens and serious cooking.
- 800–1,000 lm/m when the strip is the only light over the worktop; 400–600 lm/m when good downlights already exist.
At CRI90+ a tomato looks red; CRI80 tape renders saturated reds poorly, so food reads slightly grey.
Do you need an aluminium profile and diffuser?
Yes, for three reasons that have nothing to do with looks. The aluminium sinks heat so the LEDs run cooler and last longer, the profile holds the strip straight, and the opal diffuser turns a hard stripe into a soft band, so a gloss splashback shows a soft glow instead of a mirrored strip.
Bare tape on chipboard looks cheap, and its adhesive typically lets go within a couple of summers, usually at the hob end. An aluminium profile with an opal diffuser costs less than the strip inside it. Pair it with our dot-free COB range so any reflection is a clean line, not dots.
What size LED driver do you need, and where does it go?
Add up the metres, multiply by the watts per metre, then add 20%. A kitchen with 2.6m of lit run on 14.4W/m COB draws 37.4W, times 1.2 is 44.9W, so a 60W driver. Put it in the cabinet above, ventilated and reachable without tools.
Hide it on top of a wall unit behind the cornice, or in the cupboard above the extractor where air moves; a sealed kickboard void is where drivers go to die. Wire each cabinet back to the driver in parallel; running one long chain from unit to unit stacks the voltage drop and the far cabinet reads dimmer.
How do you wire, switch and dim it in the UK?
Two honest routes. A plug-in 24V driver into an existing socket inside a cabinet is within DIY reach. A fused spur off the kitchen ring is mains work: it must meet BS 7671 and we recommend a qualified electrician, whatever Part P in England or Wales requires.
Switch it from a door-contact inside the cupboard, a rocker under the wall unit, or a PIR that works until the cat sets it off at 3am. Single-colour COB dims cleanly from a trailing-edge dimmable driver; leading-edge dimmers left from halogen days frequently cause flicker. RGB and RGBW strip need a non-dimmable constant-voltage driver, with the controller doing the dimming.
What are the most common mistakes?
Mounting at the back of the cabinet, skipping the profile, cutting a reel on the worktop, undersizing the driver, and chaining cabinets instead of feeding them in parallel. All five come from treating the strip as a sticker rather than a light fitting.
- Strip against the wall: your shadow on the board and a mirrored stripe in the splashback.
- Bare tape on chipboard: dots, glare and adhesive that typically fails within two summers.
- Cutting IP65 strip on site: the seal is broken at the cut. Send us the lengths and we cut and seal to order.
- Driver at 100% load: runs hot and fails early.
- One long chain instead of parallel feeds: the cabinet furthest from the driver visibly dimmer.
For shadow gaps where a profile will not fit, our made-to-measure joinery and furniture lighting service uses neon flex as thin as 4.5mm, set straight into a routed groove.
Frequently asked questions
Can I fit under-cabinet lighting without an electrician?
- Yes, if a plug-in driver goes into an existing socket inside a cabinet. Everything after the driver is 24V.
- A fused spur or any new mains connection is a job for a qualified electrician under BS 7671.
Warm white or cool white for a kitchen worktop?
- 4000K for a neutral white and a white or grey kitchen; CRI90+ keeps food colour true.
- 3000K for timber and stone, and for kitchens that open onto a living space.
Can you dim it?
- Single-colour strip dims from a trailing-edge dimmable driver.
- RGB and RGBW strip need a non-dimmable constant-voltage driver and a controller; the controller does the dimming.
What IP rating do I need in a kitchen?
- IP20 for a dry run under wall units.
- IP65 for the section over the sink so it can be wiped down; keep any strip clear of hob heat.
How much does it cost?
- Around £110–£160 in parts for 2.6m of lit run: strip from £9.85 a metre, profile from £8.95 a metre, a 60W driver at £39.85, connectors from £6.95.
Why buy from ATOM LED?
Bespoke, made-to-order lighting is what we do. Every run is custom cut at the strip's marked points to the nearest length on your list and sealed before dispatch. Standard lengths ordered before 2pm leave Telford the same day; custom cuts add a working day. Send us your unit widths for a bespoke quote: 01952 370028 or operations@atomled.co.uk.