7. Independence Dimmer Setup

This kitchen is a plug and play system that is using power supplies, an Independence dimmer with two receivers, interconnect cables and custom flex strips.

Measure available space for flex:

Start by measuring out the entire length of the area where the flex strips will be mounted. Once you have the full measurement of an area, you will need to subtract 3” in order to make room for the cable connectors on each side. Before measuring the cabinets, it is a good idea to know where you plan on mounting the flex strips.

Mounting Options for flex strips:

There are two common mounting options when it comes to under cabinet flex strips. The first option is mounting the flex strip on the front trim of the cabinet with the LEDs facing towards the backsplash. Mounting the flex this way will highlight the backsplash and help to eliminate a reflection off of the counter tops. The second option is to mount the flex strip 2” from the front of the cabinet facing straight down. Having the flex mounted this way will give the most task light under your cabinets. For this job the customer decided to go with the second option of mounting the flex strips 2” from the front of the cabinets facing straight down on the counter top.  

Dividers under cabinets:

In most cases, there will be dividers under and on top of the cabinets that separate them from each other. When there are dividers under the cabinets you can make a slight modification to them to make installing the LED flex easier and more affordable. The two modification options are to either make a slot in these dividers for the flex to fit in or drill a ½” hole in them for the flex strip to slide through.

Providing Power:

After knowing where and how the lights will be mounted, it is a good idea to figure out where the power supply will be mounted so that you can figure out how to run the cables. For this install there are two power supplies used. One of them is plugged into an outlet that was installed above the fridge and the second one is plugged into an outlet that is above the cabinet that holds the microwave. 

Installing the Independence Dimmer:

Both of the outlets that the power supplies are plugged into are not switched outlets, so the customer needed a different method for controlling the lights. For this job the customer ended up using an Independence dimmer and two receivers. The Independence Dimmer uses RF signals to control the receivers, so the receivers can be mounted anywhere without having to worry about being in the line of sight of the dimmer switch. For this reason, the customer was able to place the independence receivers inside the same cabinets that the power supplies were located. The power supplies will plug into the “power in” input of the receivers and then interconnect cables are plugged into the “zone 1” output and ran to the first LED strip in the series.

Wiring Cables:

This kitchen set up had two runs of LED flex strips but both of the runs are fairly short. In both cases, the cable will start in cabinets that are above the first flex strip of the run. To get down to where the LED flex strip is mounted a 3/8” hole will need to be drilled into the side cabinet next to it so that the cable can be hidden behind the front stile. When drilling into the sides of cabinets, you will want to try and hide them as best as possible. The best way to make this happen is to use the stile of cabinets and try to take advantage of the top and bottom corners of cabinets so it can stay hidden when the cabinet doors are open. When connecting flex strips under the cabinets, such as the ones to the left of the stove, you will want to use the cable clamps to hide the cables. The cable clamps have an adhesive backing to stick to the cabinets and come with screws so that they can be permanently installed. These cable clamps can help to hold up a extra slack from cables so that they are not hanging down from the bottoms of cabinets.